Hi Everyone,
I was pointed to this forum by a friend on Instagram and am super happy I was pointed in this direction!
Thought I would make this post to introduce myself, my collection goals and what I am looking most forward to this year.
I am a 90’s kid that grew up eating, breathing and sleeping Pokemon. When I was a teenager, I sold my entire collection and focused on other hobbies outside of TCG Collecting…boy am I kicking myself for that…
I recently got back into the hobby during COVID with my girlfriend and have one very specific goal - to collect all versions of Gyarados in existence. I choose Gyarados because this was the first holo I remember packing as a kid and it ultimately became my favourtie Pokemon… this is 100% Nostalgic. I started this goal from scratch in October and have gotten a lot deeper into this in a short amount of time than I ever imagined.
Since kicking off the collection, I have made two adjustments to my goals
Looking to have every card graded in at least an 8 (PSA/BGS)
Also chasing down all of the WOTC base holos
I took this video of my progress about 2 weeks ago. I have since purchased a few additional cards that are in the mail or have recently arrived. I look forward to connecting with those on similar journey’s, checking out the different collections goals each of you have, and making some friends in the community.
Looking forward to hearing and connecting with many of you!
So glad you could make it man, and love seeing your progress already despite only starting in October. Over the years I’ve seen a couple more Gyarados collectors join these forums and it warms my heart to see so much love for the Pokemon. What would you say is your favorite Gyarados card of all time?
If you ever need a visual checklist, I have a WIP catalog of all versions available in English and Japanese that you can check out here. I hope to get a scanner this year so I can make a project of creating a guide to Gyarados cards as well as a more apt visual checklist for other Gyarados collectors so stay tuned for that.
I’ve said it many times and i’ll say it again, i love collections that concentrate on one pokemon are you planning to collect only tcg or adding also non-tcg ones also?
Thank you and appreciate the warm welcome. Appreciate the visual checklist, I have been working off of my own excel document.
Definitely have to say the Shining Gyarados and the Ancient Origins Promo are my fave artworks/cards of all time… still working on getting my hands on both
Thanks! I am planning on collecting some non-tcg as well. I have a few cards from the Bandaii Vending series and I have the Topps Gyarados. Current Priorities right now are 1) completing English set 2) completing Japanese set 3) non-tcg cards/stickers.
Welcome, love to see another Gyarados collector, and also a great start for that short period of time. My personal goal is to have a raw copy of all Gyarados from WOTC era, all versions, all languages (no matter what condition), and 1 of each art of the rest of them (being the 1st copy released so in general that would be japanese 1st edition). I also include all non-tcg cards of the era if they are around the same size of a card, plus infinite copies of base japanese (I have like 13 now) and shadowless (41 copies and going). First I started with all WOTC era, then I added all Magikarps no matter which version or language or era, then I added the 1 copy of each new Gyarados print just to see the art. It is very important imo to have personal rules and stick to them. Wish you the best of luck and enjoy the hobby!
This sounds amazing. I have been looking into the alternate language Gyarados and think I will most likely pursue those as well. I have also naturally gravitated towards the Magikarp
Which ones did you find the most difficult to obtain?
Gyarados that would be the chinese and korean Base Set, I still don’t own any (specially the unlimited korean). I have no access to cardmarket or things like that so I have to lure low price foreign wotc cards on ebay from time to time. Magikarp maybe a difficult one is the french 1st ed shining (also for gyarados)
It has been what feels like an eternity since I made any updates to this thread. I have been busy and have been fortunate to connect and communicate with many of you here.
I have collected every Gyarados artwork released thus far with the exception of two. (1) Lance’s Gyarados (focused on English first, it’s coming soon) and (2) Snap Gyarados, which is out of question for the foreseeable future.
I am currently working on all of the remaining variants, print runs (1st edition, 4th print, etc.), and Japanese releases.
After filming the video I realized I didn’t include any of my Japanese release cards with the exception of a couple slabs… I will make another video showcasing those.
It’s so nice seeing how far you’ve come, man! It’s a rare sight to see all of those Gary’s showcased one by one so it was a nice visual! I wish you the best of luck on your variant hunt! At least you got the Ex-Dragon pre-release! Will keep a lookout for some of them when they go for cheap!
Thanks brother, your support has certainly helped me stay on track during this journey. Hoping by this time next year that the only missing piece is the Gyarados Snap.
@gyarados416, happy to have helped, man. Keep the dream alive! Let me know if you need help finding any specific ones. Some of the unlimiteds in Japanese are squirrely.
are you planning to collect only tcg or adding also non-tcg ones also?
