Explorer's collection journey

Collecting
1

After scrolling this forum for a few months I thought it was time for me to post my collection thread. I hope to use this thread to share a little bit of history about me, my collecting mindset and of course some pieces of my collection.

Like many others I was fully into the hobby in 1999-early 2000s. After the hype faded, my collection got left somewhere and then either given away, sold on eBay, at a carboot sale or something else. Apart from a few random cards that got saved in a Yugioh box, everything else has had to be collected since my return to the hobby as an adult.

One of the saved cards was a base set Charizard. In around 2010 I went on eBay and bought a Blastoise and a Venusaur for a couple of quid. I remember looking at Shining Magikarps and Neo Lugias for around £10 and thought they were too expensive. I took the three starters and literally stuck them onto cardboard using double sided sticky tape to put them in a frame… At this point in my life I had never seen or even heard of card sleeves. Obviously I’m kicking myself for a lot of decisions around this time period and how it could have gone a lot differently.

In 2016 I fully came back to the hobby thanks to Generations. I collected purely modern cards and got reasonably involved in competitive play which I’ve absolutely loved. Unfortunately, I had no interest in vintage throughout this period.

2020, as we all know, put a stop to all competitive events As such, I’ve channelled all that enthusiasm back into collecting. Now, to be honest, I see my main focus in the hobby being collecting, even when events and competitive play return!

I’ll start with these pieces of my collection that I think are a great summary of how I feel in the hobby at the moment:-

These were the first items I picked up when I got back into serious collecting in May so they’ll always mean a lot to me. I love them as they work as a mini collection on their own. They also taught me the valuable lesson that there’s no point collecting for the sake of it. The insane price and rarity of the PSA 9 Clefable means I’ll always value adding to other areas of my collection over completing this set.

This for me is the number one nostalgic item in the whole hobby. I don’t even really remember what cards I had as a kid, but I know that me and my brother both had one of these binders. The funny thing is, this one I picked up is in waaayyy better condition than the one I had way back in 1999, I trashed that in 6 months. This is what took me down the path of more niche items.

Finally, we come to my Gold Star Metagross. This is my 1st ed Charizard. If you see my avatar you might be able to guess that shiny Metagross is my favourite Pokemon of all time. This is the card that taught me if you truly love something in this hobby, it’s best to just bite the damn bullet!

Hope to share more pieces of my collection shortly! :grin:

22 Likes
2

Thanks for sharing. I have similar memories of that little 4-pocket binder. Iconic artwork with that deep swirling blue backdrop. Every time I see it, I get taken back in time.

How did you come to selecting Metagross as your top Pokemon?

1 Like
3

Metagross gold star is THE most underrated gold star, IMO. Didn’t realize how beautiful it was until I first saw it in person. Awesome collection so far; looking forward to seeing more!

1 Like
4

Collect the card. Not always about the grade.

You can achieve the Clefable. 2 or 3 PSA 7s on eBay right now. It may not be the best grade in the world but it’s far rarer than the others. Think of it that way. Go for it champ!

1 Like
5

I love Metagross as I see it as the perfect balance of imposing, powerful design, while still having the simplicity and charm that makes it unmistakably a Pokemon.

As for favourite Pokemon, he has tough competition from Blastoise, Tyranitar, Crobat and a couple of others but his shiny form is just so perfect that it takes that variant over the edge.

@gen1a, for sure, picking up the Clefable as a 7 is definitely achievable. At current prices though I’d rather be putting the funds towards other goals. Maybe one day.

2 Likes
6

Two of the most gorgeous cards ever made in my opinion, and a perfect pair together.

4032Ă—3024 3.54 MB

When I said that in my intro post, this Crystal Ho-Oh was one of them. I have no idea where it came from, I don’t remember it. To understand how much of a miracle this is, the other cards in that box were un/commons, a couple of creased unlimited base holos, a Gengar that was literally taped together and a few cards with human bite marks…

I picked the Lugia up last year for a good deal to complete the pair.

These are the first cards I ever graded and they came back today, I went with CGC as I anticipated PSA would give a 5 on the Ho-Oh and a 6 on the Lugia as my research suggested they were harsher on micro dents/creases. I was hoping for a 5.5 and a 6.5/7 from CGC so I got half way there.

I learned a lot from this; these are my first CGC slabs and they’re beautiful, compared to my PSA ones the lack of frosting makes them looks much more sleek. CGC are super harsh on corners, I was expecting 8s on the corners any damage is nowhere near these areas, I think they did me a little dirty there when I compare to ones on eBay. The eye-appeal on these cards is gorgeous and really reinforces buying the card not the grade to me, they have more eye appeal than some of my 7s.

Anyway just a small update for me but one I’ve been waiting a couple of months for. Hopefully be able to share some bigger goals shortly :blush:

12 Likes
7

Boy, they really do pair incredibly well together. Color compliment, background landscape angles through their composition, etc.

One might say they need to be symmetrical to really appeal this way, but I find it better that they face each other and yet their background horizons are at the same angle. Whimsical, brilliant.

God, that Lugia is unbelievable. Friggin’ Kimura, man.

5 Likes
8

Those look great for 5/6’s. Awesome pair of cards to go together!

9

Sometimes lower grades are the way to go.

2 Likes
10

Wow, it’s been over a year since I updated my thread here. Since last year I bought my first house, one project turned into another and it has ended up being near enough a top-to-bottom renovation. No pennies for Pokémon.

I’m just about able to return to the hobby now, albeit in a slow and steady manner.

One of my two main projects in the hobby is a binder I’m building that I’m calling my “Complete History of the English TCG Binder”. The idea being to avoid the pitfalls of set collecting, where you end up buying cards that you don’t actually like, and just concentrate on my absolute 480 favourite cards from the history of the hobby, all in one place.

Each era is represented, most rarities are represented, competitive icons are recognized (Celebrations stole my vibe here), eras I’m more fond of get more pages, it’s really the purest form of the hobby for me. Only buying the cards that I love, and arranging them in the most visually striking way.

Anyway, I have just completed my first era page of my binder - XY. To be honest, off the top of my head, I don’t recall XY being a great era… But when I see all my favourites spread out like this, as a lover of cards with multiple Pokémon on them, and a lover of shiny Pokémon (with shiny Metagross as my #1 favourite Pokémon), the highs of this gen were REALLY damn high.

7 Likes