Mr.Garrison's Collection Journey

Your nephew is awesome. Probably takes after his uncle :wink: he clearly recognizes your enthusiasm for Pokemon and is growing to be super generous. I remember you had made the safety Pokeballs for Halloween trick or treat for the same nephew I imagine? The plush looks really good. Thanks for sharing the story.

Cheers!

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Haha thanks! Yup same little guy. I’ve certainly “corrupted” him lol! I actually feel kind of bad for my brother. He’s a big comic collector and his son only cares about Pokemon. Whoops :smirking_face:

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Very cute story :slightly_smiling_face: And the Charmander plush looks really nice too! Thanks for sharing these nice everyday stories connected with collecting!

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Thanks for the kind words!

I include the stories so I can look back on this thread years down the road and remember details I will have surely forgotten by then. I have to assume most don’t care for the sappy stories so it’s always nice to hear when someone does :slight_smile:

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I’m honestly impressed; the collection is truly beautiful and incredible. But what I liked most is that it tells a story: I felt nostalgia for certain cards, and the emotion and affection in each and every piece in the collection. Finding posts like this makes me enjoy this hobby even more. Thank you!

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Thank you for the kind words @Rubenpkmn !

While I have an affinity for everything posted in this thread, writing things out has helped me identify the objects I have a true connection to.

I’m truly happy you enjoyed the read :heart:

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Crying, laughing, impressed by the formatting.

Beautiful collection thread! I think many can agree, some of the most special pieces are those with the most sentimental value. Very inspiring as I draft and redraft my own! :slight_smile:

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The weather had been terrible and flooding was rampant in St. Louis. I was exhausted. My package for the signature exchange was lost in the mail so I scrambled to get another package out. Just when I sat down to rest it hit me. It’s April 15…I have about 12 hours to file my taxes. I was in quite a bad mood…

After finishing my taxes, I grabbed the mail and found a package from Australia. I got a tad excited because I knew it had to be the E4 Chain Letter Across the World. When I opened it, my mood instantly changed.

Next to some beautiful cards for my binder (more on that later) was a 1/1 hand illustrated Alakazam. It’s truly humbling to think about the time and effort people put in when they have no obligation to do so. I feel like a YouTube thumbnail when I’m looking at it

As I’m packing up the chain letter for the next recipient, I can’t help but to think about how special this place is. I honestly don’t think it can be replicated.

@D3F14NC3

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Thank you so much @tediorso ! I look forward to reading it!

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I’m happy to know this card is now in your collection. Reading through this thread is what inspired me to draw Alakazam.

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Last year I decided wanted a collection goal that would keep me satiated long term. I figured collecting my dude Butterfree would be perfect, but I put some parameters on how I could acquire them to keep it interesting.

  1. I can only purchase Butterfree’s I find in person (no online purchases)
  2. Through gifts from e4 members (Secret Santa and the like)

On one hand I’m kind of embarrassed that e4 members out paced me 5/4 for the first binder page. On the other hand, I’m extremely grateful and eager to keep going.

Either way I’m excited to start page 2.

Notes are on the penny sleeves & for my personal records. Not on the cards :slight_smile:

@TorterraSimp @D3F14NC3

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Very nice first page! Is this only for tcg or are you also looking at collecting non tcg items for your collection? Really nice goal eitherways and looking forward to your stories since there will be many with your parameters. Thanks for sharing.

Cheers!

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That’s a neat way to spice up a species collection- best of luck filling out your butterfree binder!

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I’m sure it will evolve as I go but my initial idea was any Butterfree card TCG or otherwise. I haven’t done a ton of research on what is out there but I know I’ve seen some Topps Butterfree’s before. Since it’s just getting started it’s easier for me to track what I do have vs tracking what I don’t. Basically if I come across a Butterfree I don’t own I buy it haha.

The finding in person aspect is proving to be a little more difficult than I anticipated because it’s not a species that shops tend to have displayed front and center or track inventory on so it’s a lot of sifting through binders/bulk and hoping I get lucky. :laughing:

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Hello @Mr.Garrison

I am.on a journey to Collect every Butterfree, in all variants & all languages! There is currently 325 within the world. Im on 310/325
Are you from the UK, i’d love to gift you a card to add to such a beautiful collection

If you have Instagram feel free to follow me, and join me on the journey; ButterfreeCollector01

:heart::handshake:

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Hi @Butterfree.12 ! I’ve seen your collection and it is something to behold! :heart_eyes:

That’s very generous of you but I live in the USA. I certainly don’t want to be a hassle (or solicit free cards :sweat_smile:) BUT I’d be more than happy to cover shipping if you’d be open to that. The more mementos from e4 members the better!

No pressure at all though! I genuinely appreciate the thought either way :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

I don’t currently have instagram but I’ve recently decided to sign up. When I get around to that I’ll definitely give you a follow!

Also, if you don’t mind me asking, what has been the most difficult variant/variant(s) for you to find? What are some of your favorite Butterfree artworks?

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Hey mate!

Yeah, ill drop you a message over the weekend and we can sort out postage

As for the hardest, Russian XY Flashfire was my first pain in the rear, but also now Latin American Spanish is becoming a pain

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The unlikely tale of 3 Gengars (long story warning :grinning_face:)

My 2024 Secret Santa assignment was a bit of a challenge because the member is a person of few words. I knew their 3 favorite Pokemon and that they were interested in vintage Japanese cards, error cards, & unique holo patterns. That was about it.

I started by researching their 3 favorite Pokemon, one of which was Gengar. I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I’ve never been a huge fan of Gengar. I don’t dislike it. I’ve just always been partial to Haunter and the market seems to value Gengar higher than I do so it’s never really been on my radar.

When everything was said and done, I settled on a Japanese Sabrina’s Gengar. It checked all the boxes, was within my budget and I think it’s a cool card. I made a case for it and sent it on it’s way to the new owner. (Gift below)


During my research, two other Gengar cards stood out to me for very different reasons. The first of which was the Skyridge Gengar. I immediately gravitated toward the artwork of this card. I like unusually ‘bright’ depiction of Gengar, the vibrant holo pattern, and the temple like structure in the background that reveals statues of Articuno and Zapdos when you shift the holo. It was out of my price range for the secret santa but I thought ‘maybe I’ll pick one up for myself someday’. While I had no plans of actively pursing this card for my collection, it has stayed in the back of my mind ever since.

The second was the Fire Red & Leaf Gengar Ex. I really like Gengar’s ‘pose’ in this artwork, but the ‘CGI’ style art just isn’t for me. After looking into this card, I was shocked to see how much it costs and didn’t give it a second thought. Different strokes for different folks I guess.

FFWD to early 2025>>

I stopped into a comic book shop and was thumbing through a binder that they had just taken in on trade that hadn’t been priced yet. Inside the binder I found a Fire Red & Leaf Green Gengar that had a bit of dirt on it. I still wasn’t a fan of the card, but knowing it’s hot commodity from my SS research, I saw it as an opportunity to make a little money that I could funnel into cards that I do want for my PC. I offered $150 and they accepted.

I cleaned off the dirt, graded it and put on the shelf. Over the following months the card rose in value significantly and I decided it was time to auction it off. It sold for $768. Not bad.



The day I received confirmation that the auction was paid for, I was driving to a campground and took a detour to check out a vintage video game shop in a rural town. I knew they didn’t have a large selection of Pokemon cards so I didn’t have high hopes of finding anything special but figured it couldn’t hurt.

When I walked into the shop I couldn’t believe my eyes. They only had about 10 vintage cards. One of which was a clean Skyridge Gengar. They were asking $775. I offered them $675 (the net proceeds from the Gengar Ex sale) and they accepted. I was giddy.

I hate to admit it, but part of my initial excitement was the potential financial implications of the purchase. I am pretty confident this copy will hit a PSA 7 which is worth about 2k in today’s market, and it was funded by a $150 purchase I made a few months ago. The thought of grading and selling it for a profit briefly crossed my mind but I like the card and the story behind it too much to sell it.

Into the collection it goes!

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