So here is my story - my kids got me into Pokemon back in late 2016. They were watching all these Youtube channels with the usual suspects that focused on just excitement of opening booster packs (like Ando), regardless of any sense of cost or value or returns. That was the parent’s problem, apparently. This was concerning to me as a parent, as I saw it as creating an entitlement generation doing fun things regardless of any sense of cost or returns. So I wanted to teach my kids (then 9 and 5 years old) the actual trading aspects of the game. So we bought 12 tins from the Battle Hearts Collection, opened up every booster single pack, created a YouTube video, took inventory, researched prices, opened an eBay account and a Paypal account, and basically sold all the cards and tracked the returns. It was a fascinating experiment for the kids and me, and we collectively learned a lot of basic economics and the online market place.
The byproduct of this experiment is that I ended up with an eBay account and a fascination for Pokemon. Since then, I have built a collection on my own. Along the way of building my collection, I bought and sold many cards, graded many more. I still remember buying my first PSA 10 card (a M Blastoise Ex 102/108) for $30 just to see what a PSA 10 card was all about. And I was thinking - “Wow! I just spent $30 buying a Pokemon card!” Those are funny and now distant memories. My entire collection is worth less than one of Gary’s 1st ed Chars for sure, but to me, it is my world.
Then I watched Gem Mint Pokemon’s youtube video on how to grade your own cards. Opened a PSA account. Through many experiments, I learned what constituted a good submission, and what to look for when buying cards on eBay. At this point, I have graded well over 2000 cards, and have another 1000 out with PSA, and another 200+ ready for shipment.
It has been so much fun to get into Pokemon for me personally. It brought out the kid in me. I did not grow up with Pokemon, and collected stamps and coins instead. I have spent many hours on this e4 site learning about Pokemon.
What you see here are my mostly self-graded collection. I have many binders full of other sets, from Topsun to base set etc to Hidden Fates …
What you see are cards that I personally bought and graded, with a very very few exceptions. Hope you guys enjoy.
