One goal I felt like despite all the craziness, I could realistically complete, was to get all the numbered black star promos. It seems like a pretty clear goal. It also lets you see a slice of all the eras in a compact form.
But here is the rub, some of these cards are not like the others. Tournament promos…
For example
The reasons are a few, but mainly of course, their general rarity and price. However from a real deep place, to me, cards that are awarded to people for playing and attending events of organized play are in a totally different category than the other numbered black star promos. With just about every other promo, the cards are something you can get by buying a product. Rarely there are some here and there which are handed out for going to the movies in person, but that trend ended early. To this day, the most elusive black star promos are these cards given to attendees of the events. And I have to wonder if I even care to fuss with the idea, or to leave their spots blank.
Obviously its up to me. But I’m curious if anyone else sees them this way too. They don’t feel like they are in the same world as the other cards. And the truth is, it would hurt my wallet less to exclude them. So I’m curious if anyone else has thought of this at all, and what your feelings are. Setting prices aside, do these feel like they are out of place as being alongside other black stars?
When collecting Japanese promos, most of the battle road promos are just handed out as participation award or prize cards to players and contestants who participated in the events. This really is a huge chunk of the promo cards from Japan since they really have a lot of emphasis on handing out cards during tournament play. Even the modern gym promos which are the more abundant and cheaper end of the promo chain are technically handed out to people who are participating in gym events and essentially are not handed with products.
My approach will always be based on my budget and card availability. I leave spots blank in my binder and if I find a good deal, I will buy it. I personally do not bother if it was a prize card or handed out with a McDonald’s happy meal. Not all promos are created equal, but when the stars align, a promo card will always have a place in my binder.
I hope you can find a resolution to your conundrum!
Having a blank spot in the binder for a overly expensive card is always 100% ok. Don’t feel the requirement to be complete. It’s Pokémon, you never really catch them all
I agree with mrbubbles and eeveeteam. There is nothing wrong with leaving blank spaces in your binder. Some cards will always be unachievable for one reason or another, but that shouldn’t prevent you from wanting to complete the rest of the set.
This is a good philosophy for collecting and life.
Someone will always have more, bigger, and grander things than you. Be it cars, real estate, collections, or even muscle. We can’t compare what we have to others, as our means of acquisition are fundamentally different, and will lead to a lot of mental turmoil.
Collect what you enjoy. If they feel like of place to you, then they’re out of place.
Set your goals and work towards them, whilst setting new ones as you achieve and grow. Hope you complete that binder in the way that befits you, OP
You can collect all the promos minus the tournament ones first then work on the tournament ones.
For the worlds cards you can get the non English/Japanese language ones to save money. I started getting Portuguese cards because my yt channel gets Portuguese viewers for some reason lol.
