Other than my childhood cards that were lost to time (at least according to my mom), I first started collecting around 6 months ago. I’ve always loved Pokémon and had just played Sword and Shield and loved it, so when I saw a Darkness Ablaze pack for $4 on Walmart I couldn’t resist buying it. Pulled a full art Crobat V and was instantly hooked. That night I researched the Pokémon TCG to the extent of my capabilities at the time and ended up in TCGplayer. I remember thinking it was crazy cards were going for that much money. I looked up Dragonite (maybe my favorite Pokémon) and stared at the art used in the highest priced card for a looooong time. It was soooo different from any official depiction I had seen before! At the time however, I wasn’t sure I wanted to spend that much on Pokémon cards (even more so on a single one!) so I decided to pass and only bought a LP (lol) Dragonite WB movie promo.
Today I finally acquired a copy in excellent condition of the card that I stared so much at that night, so what better time to start a collection thread than now? It’s been an eventful journey and I plan to keep going for life, so I hope this serves as an archive of it.
Agree, couldn’t have started with much better option even though i don’t mainly collect dragonite (besides wotc cards only a binder page) i have really soft spot for it, and this is one of the absolute top tier ones made of it
Back when I started (around 6 months ago), just like our favorite imaginary characters I went through several stages. First it was the pack ripper. I was absolutely hooked to the gamble, and I ended up spending quite some money without much to show up for it, as I’d end up selling the couple hits I got to buy more product.
After realizing I had to choose between some resemblance of financial responsibility and my beloved hobby, I became an “investor”; I’d manage to buy sealed product and resell it some weeks after for moderate profit (turns out my luck at getting stuff for good prices is way better than my pack opening luck).
It was around this time when I had the greatest opportunity of my short career: on a trip back home (outside the US) I ran into the opportunity of buying a Plasma Storm box for well under market price. The box was a little beat up, but I knew if I could flip it even at below market price I’d immediately double my money. In order to properly sell the box I started researching it, its cards and the BW era (the only other thread I’ve started here is about the safest ways of selling a box: this one).
This box turned out to be the evolution stone I needed at the time. After learning about how it came out during an era when no one was excited about modern Pokémon, how the set contains the only shiny Blastoise card (my favorite gen 1 starter) and falling in love with the gorgeous secret golden half arts (more elegant than gold full arts IMO), I started to appreciate it much more. While of course, the financial aspects of the box also influenced my decision, in the end I decided to keep it because I had become really attached to it. This box turned me into a TRU COLLECTOR, as it made me start to focus on the real important aspects (financial and not) of this beautiful hobby.
Right now I’m debating whether to send this to PWCC. While it’s the dearest item in my collection, it’s also the most expensive and I feel like it deserves to be well kept somewhere environmental factors won’t affect its physical integrity. In the end, if I end up sending it away, I’ll at least have this record and the feeling that can only come from knowing you own something that’s way more valuable to you than any price could ever reflect.
My favorite art as I’ve said somewhere before, I managed to scoop these two up for about half the price of what I would’ve paid just for the McDonalds one (no idea what it should go for as there’s no recent sales data, I only know what I was ready to pay haha).
The original alt arts, I love both of these and that they tell a story. Can’t wait to get the Eevee Heroes one as well.
Not a lot of words for these ones. I saw an opportunity and took it. All of them are in beautiful shape and will be sent to PSA immediately. They’ve never been my chase but boy does it feel amazing to have them.
even though i don’t mainly collect dragonite (besides wotc cards only a binder page) i have really soft spot for it, and this is one of the absolute top tier ones made of it 
