CircleHunter's Haunter Collection (TCGP Genetic Apex binder update)

[circlehunter]

It’s occurred to me that I never posted photos of the non-TCG stuff I’ve gathered so far. So I’m gonna do that now.

First of all, the assortment of game pieces, pins, pretty much anything not strictly made of paper that can fit into the second binder (more on that in a moment).

While I do know what most of these items are (Master Trainer tokens, Artbox lenticular pieces, Meiji battle coin, Battrio and Ga-Ole tiles), I haven’t taken care to identify the two Korean pieces on the right. There’s also a few unofficial pins I’ve picked up along the bottom.

Next up, my plushes:

There’s only two so far, but I plan to change that soon. I particularly love the little one that sits inside the Dusk Ball.

Next, some paper:

Everything here is kept inside of photo pages in a second binder. I haven’t taken care to identify most of the items here and wasn’t the best at keeping track of non-TCG when these were acquired seven or so years ago, so really all I can pinpoint are Artbox on page 1 and the Merlin on page 3.

That’s all I have for now. Thank you for–

Wait.

THAT’S A NEW FRONT PAGE FOR MY SPREADSHEET!

OK, some background. I’d already been working on a nice-looking landing page for anyone who visits the spreadsheet, just to explain what’s what. During my time this past week lurking and observing some of the wonderful species collectors’ threads, I was struck by inspiration when I got to @eeveeteam’s and saw the collection tracker. It was such a cool feature that it simultaneously inspired me to update my long-dead All Languages sheet and to steal adapt the tracker to my own spreadsheet.

All this is to say, thank you for the continued inspiration. Seeing all of the species collectors grow closer to their goals has made me want that for myself again. In particular, thank you to the slime army, team of Eevees, herd of Piplup, rapidly-growing sea of Starmie and Dragalge, unreasonably large gathering of Pikachu and Seviper, and that extremely nice Umbreon room. Because of how your collections make me feel, perhaps I’ll begin the All Languages journey soon, now that I’ve achieved 112/113 in my main collection.

[eeveeteam]

Thanks for the mention. But all credit for the collection tracker goes to @citriina for writing the formulas and formatting and then @chefonaquest for making it specific to Eevee.

[DarthEevee]

Sweet update. I don’t collect much non tcg but i always appreciate seeing very niche items. Good luck getting those last japanese cards

[joponnes]

Awesome to see you take a dive in non tcg too and i’m glad if my slime army has been able to inspire you, it’s fun how communal species collecting can be and how even quite different kinds of species collections can light our own fires too on a whole new level

Just adding some of the non tcg ones for you to identify, the korean ones are ddakji tiles and i absolutely adore them, great that they have found their way in your collection! On paper photo 1 the sticker below the artbox sticker is iirc from amada hyper sticker collection 2, and in photo 2 both the yellow and orange sticker are sandylion stickers. The orange one looks to be cut out of the same sheet that has muk on it too, and the yellow one looks like it has clean edges so it should be from a booster and not a perforated one from a sheet

[circlehunter]

Today’s update is huge. Specifically, it’s the most significant milestone I’ve achieved thus far.

We’ll start with the small stuff.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

THE SMALL STUFF

Here, two new side collection additions, a Ga-Ole tile (GR2-048, Ultra Ball) and a yet-unidentified Queen of Spades playing card (if anyone can identify, please let me know!).

Next up, TCG Pocket. I haven’t addressed this yet, but as of right now I have obtained the Haunter from Genetic Apex in both English and Korean, and I have enough pack points to purchase it in each of the 7 remaining languages, which I will do…soon. Similarly, I have obtained the Promo-A Haunter in English, Spanish, French, and German. And because of the generosity of @mrpandachum , @DarthEevee, and @bbobrob, I will have the remaining Haunters once trading becomes available.

Now, the big one.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

THE BIG ONE

As of today, because of the generosity (AGAIN) of @bbobrob, I have received the final Japanese card and, as a result, completed my main collection of Haunter cards. The elusive unlimited XY8 Blue Shock has entered the binder.

This note is going into the binder as well. Thank you, so much. Because of your help, I have finally obtained the final piece of my main collection and I cannot express enough how much this means to me.

It is done.

…for now, at least. There is technically one more card that can (and probably should) be added to this collection, but it has been hidden away in the list of cards I don’t think I’ll ever see (see my new and improved spreadsheet here for more on that). It’s the Fossil 3rd Print, which I’ve so far been unable to track down outside of lots that go for way more than I’m willing to pay or slabs that go for…way, way more than I’m willing to pay. So, until the day comes that I find one outside of a slab or lot, the number of cards in my main collection will not be affected by its presence (or lack thereof).

I’ve been waiting a long time to say this:

CURRENT MAIN COLLECTION TOTAL: 113/113

[Mewthree]

Wow, that’s wild - congrats!

[DarthEevee]

Congrats!!

[orannge]

Congratulations, I am very happy for you. Are there any other goals besides the one missing card? Or do you take a break from collecting?

[circlehunter]

I’ve been considering going for all languages, or perhaps one language at a time. Maybe the languages that have the fewest first. Lately I have been taking a bit of a break from active searches, but I do occasionally buy random Haunter-related stuff I come across. Still trying to figure out my next move though.

I just came back from a several-year break from collecting Haunter, so I’d like to keep it rolling in some way.

[eeveeteam]

Before going into all languages, I recommend making a list of all cards needed, figuring out general peices for them, and see what is readily avaialble.

I kinda just hit the go button and didn’t realize how hard some cards are to find until I was already deep into it

[citriina]

Congratulations, unlimited XY8 is huge!! I know how much of a pain those can be to track down. Amazing milestone to hit right before the new year.

If you decide to go for all languages, best of luck! There are a lot of cool printings of cards in general out there.

[circlehunter]

@eeveeteam

Before going into all languages, I recommend making a list of all cards needed, figuring out general peices for them, and see what is readily avaialble.

Way ahead of you! I’m fairly sure that my list is comprehensive, but I could very well be wrong. I just finished my original goal though so I don’t plan on letting it consume me quite yet.

@citriina

If you decide to go for all languages, best of luck! There are a lot of cool printings of cards in general out there.

Thanks! I’m probably going to just focus on one language at a time for now, not sure how best to go about it actually. It’s kinda new territory since I only have three non-EN/JP cards, but it’s hard not to be inspired by all of the species collectors doing it, yourself included.

[citriina]

I agree with @eeveeteam here- definitely get a feel for what’s readily available vs what you should snap off on sight. I’ve found that for me at least, it’s better to pick up what I can of any of the cards I still need, that way I’m not regretting losing time or opportunities to pick up the harder to find cards. Gotta do what’s best for you and your own goals though for sure!

Cardtrader is great (especially for Italian) if you’re in the US, and Cardmarket/Cardmarket middlemanning is always an option too. Other than that, good old eBay saved searches will do wonders for your sanity, haha. I’ll keep an eye out for any Haunters for you when I go about my search rounds!

(And that’s very kind of you to say- I’m glad I could be of a little inspiration!)

[mrbubbles]

Congratulations @circlehunter on the this achievement. Really great to see you get all of the mainline cards. Wishing you success in your other languages endeavour and will eagerly wait for the progress updates. Thanks for sharing.

Cheers!

[joponnes]

Big congrats, it’s an awesome feeling to complete a collection after such long time it always more special too when friends have helped to finish it, bbobrob sure is a golden one!

[bbobrob]

Again, glad I could help you reach the finish line for the main collection goal

Wherever you decide to go next with the collection, there are a bunch of great people here to help you out. Hope to see more updates in the future!

[TheMarillFoundation]

Congrats! That’s huge!!

[Quuador]

@circlehunter

CURRENT MAIN COLLECTION TOTAL: 113/113

Big congrats! Unlimited XY8 is huge. When you said it’s one of the few you were missing a few weeks ago I tried to find it, but couldn’t find any unfortunately. Glad to hear @bbobrob has been able to help you complete your goal. Just in time for Christmas.

Greetz,
Quuador

[brendantheclayboy]

Such an amazing collection my man. Haunter, the best ghost, this binder is so satisfying to see and no one else here on E4 has highlighted such a species collection. I have to also tip my hat to “split dimension haunter” which of course is the ink error fossil, the greatest ink error ever. It’s so conceptual, and always reminds me of David Cronenberg’s Videodrome. As if the ghost Haunter is on a tv screen and is creating static, trying to get out, or blurring the lines of reality.

Congrats on the completion!

[circlehunter]

Meant to put an updated binder compilation in the initial update post but got too excited to remember. Flipping through the pages is now the most satisfying feeling. Need better lighting for the future though.

@brendantheclayboy

Such an amazing collection my man. Haunter, the best ghost, this binder is so satisfying to see and no one else here on E4 has highlighted such a species collection.

Kind of you to say! I’m surprised there aren’t more Ghost-type collections in general, but I have to agree with your take on Haunter here.

@Quuador

Big congrats! Unlimited XY8 is huge. When you said it’s one of the few you were missing a few weeks ago I tried to find it, but couldn’t find any unfortunately. Glad to hear bbobrob has been able to help you complete your goal. Just in time for Christmas.

It really caught me off guard once I got deeper into the journey just how hard this set is to track down. I really appreciate you looking out regardless of whether you found one or not. Guess it’s all down to luck on these shorter runs.

Guess there’s only one way to go from here: