I was going to post this in the ārecent purchasesā thread but in light of this topic getting some air time it seemed fitting to put it here instead.
Today, on the indirect recommendation of forum members in other threads (@Dyl comes to mind, so thanks), I branched out a tad and went to one of my local game stores here in Jacksonville, FL, after seeing an Instagram ad for the store. Never been to this one before, never met the people there, or really even frequented that part of town so I felt a touch out of my usual element. I walked in to a boatload of Pokemon items (and other various games), and was greeted by several friendly fellow hobbyists as well as the store owner and immediately started talking about collecting, what sets weāre into, the nostalgia of being a kid, the Harada signing coming up in Orlando, etc. I went in to the store on a whim just to see what was there. After 3.5 hours of chatting, viewing cards, meeting locals, and even watching some football, I ended up walking out with this (though I somehow forgot to include the holo unlimited Poliwrath I bought as well):
After scouring 20+ binders filled with Pokemon cards, I ended up finding raw singles that filled all sorts of collecting goals I had set out on but not yet finished: base shadowless, base unlimited, Komiya cards (my favorite artist), some e-reader common cards solely because I think the art is awesome, and a sealed Special Delivery Charizard just for kicks since I donāt own one yet. The most expensive card was the Special Delivery Charizard for $50, and with the exception of the holo Poliwrath nearly everything else was $1 or less.
I share this all here because my hope is this story can serve as a useful example for someone new to the hobby, one that they can fall back on and be excited for all of the goals that can be found within the world of Pokemon. Are Illustrators, Mario Pikachus, Moonbreons and 1st Edition Base Set Charizard awesome cards to acquire? Of course! There is no denying that. But you know what? I paid next to nothing for most of these cards which will all find a home in my collection, despite the fact that I also chase and purchase cards that are thousands of dollars. On top of that I had a blast meeting new people in my local community, seeing some cards I had never seen before, learning more about the hobby I have come to enjoy so much, and also supporting local business! And to be completely honest, truly the best part of the whole thing was something I wasnāt really expecting to matter much to me: watching a few 7 and 8 year old kids playing with the cards they just got with some loose pocket change. They didnāt care about how much a PSA 10 Scream Mimikyu costs or if Evolving Skies is going to get a reprint. They just wanted to show each other their new Pikachu card and play with each other, which made them feel like they had a front row seat to the top of the world. Sometimes it takes just a small change in perspective from the inadvertent wisdom of a child to gain some new found gratitude and pleasure in the things right in front of us.
So is the barrier to entry too high? Maybe, maybe not. But I know for not much out of my wallet and a few hours of my time I gained more than anticipated today, and I hope others take the time to do the same.
Now, Iām gunna go build my 50-cent-priced-cards Komiya binder.
