@jakester18, lots of helpful advice and people here Good to hear that you’re getting into the hobby!
My quick piece of advice is to just get what you like. There’s a million ways to collect Pokemon. I collect things that are nostalgic to me (Ruby/Sapphire-era), and Pokemon that I like (Blastoise), and trainers that I like (Misty/Cynthia).
It would help immensely to first establish how much money you’re willing to part with, either in lumpsum or on a monthly basis, to prevent overspending.
Also, do understand why PSA grading confers a premium onto any card in question, and what exactly the difference is between “8”, “9”, and “10”. It’ll help you to better understand what you value in this hobby, versus what others value (and it’s ok to be different). For example, I love sub-grades e.g. 8.5 instead of 8, but there are others who perhaps just hate it.
Wow! The response to my inquiry has me feeling extremely welcomed! Thank you all so much for the thoughtful replies, advice, suggestions and tips. This has been wonderful to read through and I am truly trying to soak in as much as I can.
After reflecting on the aforementioned advice of collecting what interests me I have decided to start my recollection focusing on base, fossil and jungle sets. Those are the sets I grew up with and bring back a ton of nostalgia. Condition isn’t a huge priority for me with this, but I definitely want to have the cards by in great condition or better. I impulsively bought a first edition jungle pack on ebay yesterday with the flareon art work. I feel a little bit of buyers remorse but I don’t plan on opening it and wanted to get it because flareon is one of my top 3 favorite pokemon LOL!
I’ve also been doing some research on what I am being drawn to in the most recent releases. For me, I have a bias to the first generation pokemon and am looking for sets that have a good number of them included. I also really enjoy opening the packs so I am planning to buy a booster box in one of those sets. I know it’s not the most fiscally responsible thing to do when collecting a set, but I think it would be a good starting point and most of the recent release boxes are pretty affordable.
I was also looking at individual card market values for some of the recent sets and am curious as to why some of the most recent releases (Sword and Shield) have cards that are valued much higher than many of the sun and moon sets. I know that just because it’s older doesn’t mean it’s more valuable, but thought I would ask anyways.
You’ve made a great start by the looks of it The research will def help & and just hanging around on the forum you’ll see all sorts of cards. I’m sure over time your collection goals will focus too as you get a better idea of whats out there, or maybe not, but that’s all good too.
Opening modern is great fun, especially if you’re ok with knowing it’s not the most cost effective method and you’re in it for the experience.
If you haven’t seen it yet, Evolutions was a reprint of Base set in XY era done for the 20th Anniversary, which is a fun middle ground.
In terms of why some SW/SH cards are so expensive, it’s often due to them being new strong & viable cards in the current format rotation for the trading card game itself. If a card is strong in the game and there’s a pretty version of it, it’ll normally fetch some big prices. When these rotate out of the standard format, they’ll often drop.
I’m also new and have decided to jump back into Pokémon collecting. I started out playing MTG in the early years then when Pokémon came out I jumped in in. Fast forward all these years later and it’s really exploded with new sets and unfamiliar Pokémon. I’ve just been doing research for the past month. I’ve bought some new sets just to bust open some packs (which I love) and get familiar. It’s a very active scene and I’m looking forward to learning.
Buy what you like, be engaged, have GENUINE interest, and you’ll never regret a purchase and ultimately have fun
Hi, I was you 8 months ago
It all started when I bought 2 Cosmic Eclipse packs at Target on a whim. I thought, “they still make Pokemon cards?”
Fast forward many months, thousands of Youtube hours, thousands of f5 refreshes on eBay, hundreds of hours reading… actively being engaged and I couldn’t be having more fun, in anything, today
Historically I’ve been into sneakers, cars, motorcycles, gaming, but in the end, Pokemon brings me the most joy
I know it sounds as cliche as “diet and exercise” but having genuine interest and being engaged is HUGE
@jakester18, thank you for asking this thread - I too just jumped back in since collecting in 2nd grade in the late 90s. This thread had the exact same questions I had and more - appreciate you being so down to earth and asking the questions!
First I would decide if I want to keep my collection vintage or not, then I would choose my top 3 max fav pokemons and check all the artworks and trophy cards available for them. That-s a start. You can do this test to find out your fav poke
This may have been said already, but it’s the journey not the destination! Just get a few cards that really appeal to you (even if they are the older ones you know), and you’ll be bound to come across new cards in your search - look up what set the card is from and start there!
The response to this thread has been truly amazing! You all have been so friendly and welcoming and it’s made my re-introduction even more fun!
So in addition to collecting the base, jungle and fossil sets and after a lot of research the past few days I think I am leaning towards the Hidden Fates set as well. The shiney pokemon look awesome and there are a ton of the “original pokemon” in the set.
I bought two tins from a local shop last night and pulled some pretty sweet cards! Scizor GX, Noivern GX, Wigglytuff GX, Onix GX, and a shiney magneton.
I plan on pre-ordering some tins from the local shop for the re-release of this set in September as well.
you ask a question about being overwhelmed and received an overwhelming response, lol
i also collected in the same time frame as you (although not pokemon) so have the collecting bug in my blood
when my kid brought home a pokemon card pkmncards.com/wp-content/uploads/old-amber-arceus-ar-89.jpg she asked about it, i got the bug and off we went. Having that “bug” was not good. Initially wanting every card I soon realized that was most probably unobtainable in so many ways! So I had to contain myself and figure what i liked and set some goals and help the kid too.
So finally I ended up with all the XY series master sets (we started in Furious Fists), Energy cards, a Pokedex, Coins and Pikachu cards for her.
Goodluck with finding what you like!
Good to hear that you’re getting into the hobby!
The research will def help & and just hanging around on the forum you’ll see all sorts of cards. I’m sure over time your collection goals will focus too as you get a better idea of whats out there, or maybe not, but that’s all good too.