Thank you so much! And absolutely, I completely agree with you there.
1 Like
Today’s wonderful update is courtesy of @TorterraSimp, who reached out to ask if I would be interested in the Piplups from a bulk lot of simplified Chinese cards. Thank you again for your help!
Also included was a nice surprise in the form of a coin gachapon insert (thank you again)! I don’t typically go looking for flats like these, but I love including them in the binder when I stumble across them.
17 Likes
Im so glad they arrived safely, I can’t wait to see the spreadsheet progress bar move up!!
I saw that I had an extra coin insert and had to include it!
5 Likes
Just 5 more Simplified cards to track down now! I’ve got 3 of them on the way, so I just need to find the last two to get caught up again!
I absolutely love the inserts- it was a lovely surprise!
9 Likes
After over two months in purgatory (order and shipping logistics), my Harumio order arrived with 12(!!) new Korean cards!
I ordered a few of these not knowing what they were, since my documentation had previously only found reverse holos for the Korean SM5+ set, but the listing description said non-holo with stock photos on TCGBox. It turns out they were also printed in non holo as well, so I’m glad I picked them up! At this point, I’m still on the hunt for the non-holo Empoleon in Korean since there weren’t any in stock at the time.
I’ve updated the spreadsheet accordingly as well. This order marks over 50% complete in Korean so far, even with the added prints!
I’m typing up a review post of the Harumio shipping proxy as we speak because this was definitely not a pleasant experience and way, way too long for an update post, but I’m happy to add a good chunk of what I was missing before the new year.
13 Likes
So close to being 50%+ complete in every language, that would be a nice milestone to hit
6 Likes
Haha I didn’t even notice that- yeah it would be great to hit that sometime in the next year. I’ve got a few Spanish cards from a middleman on their way to me soon, so I should be able to hit that milestone soon in everything but Polish.
3 Likes
2024 Year in Review
This past year has been a great year for collecting, so I thought I’d add some of my stats for fellow data and spreadsheet enthusiasts here for the new year, as well as reminisce before we continue head-first into 2025.
I started out 2024 with 368 cards in the binder, adding a total of 338 cards this year alone! As of January 1st, 2025, I have 706 cards in total, not including signatures and misprints. Many of these cards were bulk commons and the like in various non-English and non-Japanese languages, and I couldn’t have done it without the help of many wonderful members here, especially @joponnes for kindly middlemanning for me.
In February, I upgraded my binder from a 3x3 9-pocket to a 4x4 16 pocket. This thing is an absolute monster, and I love it so. It’s a little ridiculous, but it gets the job done with my entire species collection available in one place.
In May of this past year, I completed my mini goal of obtaining every English set card within the bounds of my collection thanks to @Dyl, who so very kindly gifted me the last card I was on the lookout for. I still love taking it out and just staring at how the foil catches the light- thank you again!
Before the new Simplified Chinese cards released, I completed 100% of my first language (only for them to release new cards like a week later, haha). I have all but 1 ordered for the time being, so hopefully I’m able to mark that back up to 100% soon!
As for rare releases, I was able to source a total of 3 Russian cards, 3 Polish cards, and 2 XY8 unlimited prints! I also added my first two(!!!) Tropical Wind 2007 copies to the collection- Portuguese and Spanish. Spring Battle Road Roseanne’s Research was also a wonderful find at a fraction of market this year.
Finally, I’ve made a minor change to my Spreadsheet to help me better focus on goals for the new year. Previously, I had all prints, whether or not they’d be obtainable for me, lumped in together, but I’ve decided to separate the most unobtainable ones from the rest of the tracker. Cards over $500 USD market are now in their own category with a separate tracker, and if/when I acquire them, they’ll be moved to the main counts. Right now, that makes 26 cards no longer part of the tally for 100%ing languages, which I think will be good for how I continue to approach this collection. I’ll still be staring at them from afar, of course, but now in a more contained way.
Typing all of this out has made me appreciate how far I’ve come with this silly little penguin collection, and how much I love being a part of the community that is e4. Thank you all for a wonderful 2024, and here’s to an even more wonderful 2025. Happy collecting, everyone!
11 Likes
Congratulations on having a phenomenal year, including your spreadsheet which is a fantastic resource. Almost doubling your collection in a single year is a great feat. I also like the retrospects going into the new year, more focus and less clutter. I wish you great success in hunting for your collection in 2025.
Cheers!
4 Likes
According the posts during last year and this final collage post it sure looks like you had a great year regarding collecting (i hope otherwise too!), as gen 4 is already quite far away i hope that the separate list of difficult to obtain cards doesn’t get any new additions but instead you’ll get some new cheap ones in near future, perhaps even an AR piplup to accompany the CHR one👌
4 Likes
338 cards, 366 days last year. I’m struggling to find words to describe that.
Congratulations for nearly doubling your collection’s size! Can’t wait to see how much it grows in the coming year.
Also,
6 Likes
Thank you so much, that means a ton! I’ve gotten several DMs over the past year about others using my spreadsheet for their own Piplup collections, and that just makes me so happy. 
I even met someone at an event that recognized me from my spreadsheet here, which was absolutely wild, but that’s a story for another time, haha.
But yes, the goal for 2025 is to be a little more focused with the lower end so I can later focus on the higher end in the coming years.
It was a great year for sure! My wife and I moved, I added a bunch of new cards, and I met some amazing people both on and off the fourum. I’m holding out hope for a Dawn’s Piplup somewhere in the future now that we’re getting owner’s Pokemon again, but I would love an AR or similar! Best of luck on your own goals for the year as well- you’ve been a huge inspiration, especially this past year, and I can’t wait to see how your own collection evolves as well.
Genuinely, I have no idea how that happened either! Looking at the numbers, it’s a little wild to me how many cards I’ve been able to check off with the help of so many members here. 10 cards here, 20 there, and it starts to add up when you look at it all together! (Granted, a huge chunk of that was like 10 cent bulk so it’s a little less impressive when you remember that 
)
And yes, both you and @eeveeteam have convinced me on the separation front, haha. I was looking at my sheet and was like, “Well actually I do want to eventually 100% everything” which just isn’t feasible with the SDCC Piplup existing, frankly. I still wanted them documented as existing, though, so I think having both tallies is a good direction for my own collection!
5 Likes
Congrats on the progress, legend. Fun to see the varied artworks and some niche items you’ve picked up along the way. Look forward to more blue penguin content in 2025.
4 Likes
Thanks so much! I’ve had a blast this past year, and I’m looking forward to growing my collection alongside all of the other wonderful species collectors here in 2025. Looking forward to your eevees as well!
4 Likes
Hopefully another time happens at some point, would love to hear that!
Also great to hear you had a good time otherwise too, and i’m again glad if my collection journey brings enjoyment for others too and i’m joining you in the excitement about seeing how it shapes up this year 
2 Likes
It’s not a super interesting story, but my wife and I went to locals at what ended up becoming our LGS one night pretty shortly after we moved. A guy came in for pick up games, and we were chatting for a bit, talking about our favorite Pokemon and whatnot, had a good laugh about how both of our favorite Pokemon was Piplup, and my wife mentioned my spreadsheet dedication. His eyes lit up and he went, “Wait, you’re THAT Citrina? I think I’ve been using your spreadsheet!” He had this thread and a copy of my sheet pulled up on his phone to show me, which was totally wild and definitely sounds like an “and they all clapped” moment, but he asked for a photo together, so there’s proof out there somewhere, haha.
Our now friends (acquaintances at the time) there asked if I was famous or something. I had to explain no, I just love Piplup an unreasonable amount and shout into the void of the internet about it sometimes. We had a few games and some good conversation about rare prints and information he was trying to find, and it was a very wholesome (albeit surprising) encounter.
Absolutely! I still have the energy card you signed for me in the back of the Piplup binder as motivation and inspiration, haha. Hopefully it’ll be a great year all around!
9 Likes
You are wrong, it was i’m not sure why you explained to them not being famous since that’s exactly what being famous is!
4 Likes
Very small update today in the form of a surprisingly hard-to-find card: the Korean Starbirth (Brilliant Stars) Piplup!
For some unknown reason, this card has been eluding me for nearly two years. The other Korean Starbirth cards were as easy to find as you’d expect bulk to be, but Piplup has been consistently sold out at all of the regular places I check. There was nothing on CardTrader, eBay, Mercari (JP and EN), YJA, or even direct from Korea via TCGBox for almost two years, checking daily/near daily, and I have no idea why, when all of the other Korean set cards from Starbirth have been readily available. Finally this one popped up in my eBay saved searches a few weeks ago, and here we are!
I’m so happy to be completely finished with Starbirth in all languages. I have a few Spanish cards coming in soon to complete Brilliant Stars set cards as well, which I’m looking forward to, but it feels so good to check off this set as complete,
15 Likes