Hello everyone! It’s finally time I got to posting my collection 
this has been a lot of fun to do. This first post will be my current graded collection then I’ll post my pulls collection later on, and adding to the post with each time I get more cards.
Cosmos Holos
These first cards are actually some I picked up recently! I really like the cosmos holo, and actually have a stronger connection to it than other holo types. That’s why I prefer Base Set 2, because not only does it have that *sweet* 2 on the side, it also has cosmos holo. I remember when I was a kid having a swirl on a card was so cool. I also remember someone saying “yeah, my friend pulled the Charizard and it even has a swirl on it!” And I thought that was such a cool thing.
A Note On CGC Pristines
I feel like I’m one of the only people who really liked the CGC blue labels. I liked how it matched the CGC graded comic labels and was connected to its history as a grading company through that. Before they changed their label actually I wanted to send all my pulls to CGC to encapsulate them forever, because I liked the way they looked and I liked how the slabs felt in my hand. After they changed their label though the only thing I think are aesthetically pleasing to display are the Pristines. I think the regular label looks really bland and doesn’t look like anything I would ever want to display. I do also like the idea of getting vintage promos as Pristines because I think they look great and you can get them for a significant price cut compared to PSA 10s.
Cool promos
I got this card because at the time I didn’t have any vintage grade cards, and I thought that it would be really cool to have a 24 year old (at the time) card in my collection. Plus it was pretty cute too I mean just look at dat widdol peetachhuuuuuu
I remember this card as a kid. I always find myself going back and forth between Entei and Suicune and which one is neater. I had crystal version growing up and I remember thinking that Suicune was so cool, but I also remember the 3rd movie and thinking that Entei was so sick. I was never able to get the Suicune in the game though so I don’t feel like I really have a connection to it, but I still think he looks sweet. And of course when I found that there was a swirl chance on this card I had to get one with a swirl (and if you look closely there’s actually another swirl on the top of the card 
so cool) Also I really love fire types. I remember when I was a kid and staring for long amount of time at the Fire Energy and thinking it was the coolest thing ever. (As a side note I also like the Fire Bionicle and wanted to be a Fire bender (or earth bender) because they always seemed really strong to me)
The 2 Year Set
These next cards are ones that I’m actually exceptionally proud of. It took me 2 years to complete and I’m very proud of my patience and perseverance in achieving it.
The first one is the Gold Lugia (GL). I bought this in a decision between a CGC pristine 10 or a PSA 10. I thought the pristine 10 looked better so I went ahead and bought it because I thought it might be a cool thing to have all 3 Lugia vstars in my collection in pristine 10s. I bought the GL first, with the regular Lugia (RL) being the least expensive and the rainbow Lugia (RBL) being the most. I also wanted to buy the GL because of the blue label CGC. To me, I like having that piece of history, and I also have in my head that blue label pristine were harder to earn, so there’s that too.
Shortly after the GL I bought the RL. Then shortly after that I decided to leave my 911 EMT job in a major metropolitan area, which was difficult but ultimately better for my family and I. I then decided to go back to school to pursue my masters in Clinical Mental Health. My son was born after a year in school and I hit the job market after that.
In that 2 year time frame I saw the RBL lugia pop up on eBay maybe…3 times? I didn’t realize the pop was pretty low and the cards that I did see either weren’t that great looking or priced absurdly high. However, I wasn’t working, so I decided to put off pokemans until I began working again, even if I saw the perfect card. This is because Pokemans wasn’t worth non-provision, and I didn’t want to not be able to feed my family because I bought a shiny piece of cardboard. His was tough because I kept seeing the card get more expensive with every listing, but, I kept referring back to a Phillip’s Collectable’s quote that I’ve really enjoyed with collecting.
“A $2,000 card that you can afford is better than a $1,000 card that you can’t”
So I trusted that, eventually, I would be at a spot where I could afford the higher priced card and it wouldn’t be a stretch for me or have to sacrifice anything to obtain it, and that waiting was a good thing.
Eventually though, I was able to afford the RBL…after 2 years of waiting. I still look back on this card and reflect on just how much it took to get it.
3 Chonkys Plus One
I can’t even begin to tell you how much money I spent on Vivid Voltage trynna pull that silly Pikachu. Never did.
So when I got back into collecting the second time (third time? I guess the first was when I was a kid) I was watching a PokeRev video where he was looking at graded cards. I really liked the idea of having graded cards because not only could I buy the card that I wanted, I also knew that it was going to be in exceptional quality, and as an added benefit, the reason why I stopped collecting after the first time (second time? I guess the first was when I was a kid) was because I hated spending money ripping packs and not getting anything. Specifically what I wanted. And even then it didn’t seem worth it to me because the card that I got there’s no way to guarantee the quality (Rip in peace BW era).
I thought to myself, “I could totally get into Pokemans again! I could do graded Pokemans! What card would I want to get?” And eventually the obvious answer would be a Chonky Bonk in a PSA 9. It was relatively inexpensive and it would be a GREAT start to my new collection. I eventually thought it would be cool to get the set of them in a 10, and I was able to do that for not that much money.
The Plus One is actually my first ever PSA 10 card! I sniped it at an auction for like $22 and felt the exhilarating rush of beating someone else in a betting competition. Of course it being the Shiny Ditto Vmax from Shining Fates made it even better.
When I got back into the hobby the first time (second time? I guess the first was when I was a kid) a chase card for my friend and I was that card, and I never pulled it. So having it in a 10 was so, so awesome.
What’s interesting to me is that I found myself looking at my Gem Mint 10 Ditto more than my PSA 9 Chonk Bonkin even though the Chonkeegee Pikeegee was more expensive. So eventually I sold the 9 plus cash and bought the 10 at a card show. Super happy with it.
Birthday Surprise
When I got back into Pokemon the second time (third time? I guess the first was when I was a kid) I would make pokemans lists and give them to my wife so she could surprise me with whenever cards were on the list but still be in the budget. These three were my top 3 cards because they were pretty inexpensive at the time and I thought the art was soooo cool. Also Sableye is one of my favorites and Tyranitar is also so sick. Cool thing about the Entei too is that, if you look at the description of the Entei promo from earlier, it describes what’s happening in the Entei illustration from Crown Zenith. Pretty cool!
Funny thing about the Deoxys is that, the night before my birthday I asked my wife if she had gotten the space man card. She told me she didn’t know what that was and said sorry she didn’t get it. The next day, it was the last card from the gifts and I lost
it when I turned it over and saw the space man. It was sitting in the nightstand the whole time and she got me so good that I actually loved that she lied to me and told me she didn’t know what that was lol I love her so much. She is an incredible woman and I feel so honored to call her my bride
Da Beasts
Getting the Entei, I always thought it would be cool to get all three from CZ.
Partial Shrouded Promo Set and Others
I gotta get that Kingdra graded. It’s one of the ones sitting in my tin that I pLaN tO gEt gRaDEd SOoN or whatever I tell myself.
I also got the Greninja, the Zapdos, and the Houndoom for Christmas one year and those gifts were awesome. I remember having the Zapdos in my collection when I was a kid, so it was cool to pick up a 9 for my collection as an adult when I started collection again…for the second time (third time? I guess the first was when I was a kid).
Houndoom is also one of my favorites. I have the IR that I pLaN tO gEt gRaDEd SOoN or whatever I tell myself.
Favorite Boys
My top 3 Pokemon are Charizard, Pikachu, and Mewtwo. I like a lot of Pokemon, but those three take the cake. I remember when I was 7, I wrote a letter to Santa asking for a Charizard for Christmas so I could fly it to school. I still very much feel the same thing I did then when I think about flying a Charizard to school.
I used to have this cork board as a kid
and I remember I would talk to Ash and Pikachu for hours just talking to them about my day and my childhood woes. Same thing goes for this pillow case
I would cry into this thing and therapy myself through whatever it was I was going through. Pikachu was always there for me, and I don’t know if there could ever be a pokemon quite as closely connected to me than Pikachu.
Mewtwo Boy
Mewtwo Vstar
This Mewtwo is one of the 3 vstars I’d like to get in a 10. The regular and rainbow aren’t terribly expensive so definitely doable.
This Mewtwo I honestly think looks so cool. He’s being all like BEEUUU and lookin all YOU GOT THREE SECONDS TO LIVE HOMIE like he about to end someone’s life and resurrect him because he’s serving a double life sentence typa way. I love it. I also got this card for Christmas and it’s awesome.
This is the oldest card in my collection. I know that the 1995 cOpYrIGhT dAtE isNt wHeN tHe cARd ReLEaSeD or whatever. One, I like the history of the old label. I think it looks great and it’s a cool piece to have. I also think it’s cool to have a version where PSA authenticated it as 1995 instead of 1997, so there’s a little more history there. And I also like how the Green Back CAME FIRST BECAUSE GARY SAID SO AND YOU CANT TAKE THAT AWAY FROM ME.
Pikachu Boy
Lurking Days
I remember seeing a post on here in my lurking days about getting full art cards of your favorite pokemon if you don’t know what to get or if something is too expensive. And I thought that was an awesome idea. So behold the Pikachu!
Burgerchu
I don’t care what anyone says this card is sick, okay? Dude look it at. It’s Pikachu reaching for a BIG MAC are you kidding me dude?? That is SO COOL. Bro, grade this card into oblivion so that everyone has the opportunity to have this BIG MAC EATIN PIKACHU in their collection. Goodness. So cool. I will die on this hill.
Cool Story
I love story. So much. I love what you can learn from it, what you can teach through it, and what you can experience through it. I like that I don’t have to be the character in the story to experience what they experience, I can learn from their choices and feel the weight of their choices as I follow along on their journey. That being said, one of the things I like about art is that you could tell a story through it, or at least see a story. These two Pikachu cards, to me, tell a really cool story. I bought these cards at a card show and sent them to get graded because I thought it would be cool to have them sequential, and they did! I really like these cards a lot.
Zard Boy
Charizard. He is so cool. He can fly, he’s strong, got a bit of an attitude, and you always feel like you can have hope when he shows up. Whats interesting though, is that in my first playthrough of Pokemon Blue, I picked Squirtle because I thought it was cool that Blastoise was the only one who could beat Charizard. However, I did especially like in the anime when Charizard beats Blastoise and I thought that was so cool.
Rainbow VStar
This was a chase card from Brilliant Stars…another set that I can’t tell you how much I opened. I remember opening a booster box of that set and getting 3 hits…so dumb. But yeah, I bought the card in a 10 and felt much better. Also, the plan is to buy the regular version and complete that set.
Glass Zards
I bought this card for $45 at my LGS and sent it in. Such a cool card and really glad I got it.
I originally had this card in a 9, but never looked at it because the centering always bothered me. I eventually sold the 9 and paid cash for the rest. I think total price was $200 for the card. And now I have both! Which is great
The Vmaxes
When I started collecting again the first time (second time? I guess the first was when I was a kid), the amount of dubwool boxes I opened to try and pull this card was unthinkable. But I never pulled it. This was the one I needed to complete my Vmax set, because I pulled the other two, which we’ll get to soon. I bought one, didn’t like the centering, traded it plus $30 at a card show for this one, sent it in, it got a 10. So stoked.
This next card is very special to me. See, in my single days, the Lord and I would open packs together. My friends all had wives and families and kids that they would open packs with, but all I’ve ever had is the Lord, so that’s who I spent time with when I opened packs. It was a lot of fun, and as I quick story I gave my Tyranitar Alt Art to my friend for his birthday because he really wanted it, and thought to myself, “if the Lord wants me to have another one, he can get me another one” and sure enough, I pulled another one. And stuff like that happened all the time when I opened packs. And even recently when @trainofthought asked if he would pull the Umbreon out of a booster box I remember praying, telling him yeah he would, then sure enough, he did lol
So with this card, I was opening Shining Fates and being like, Lord, you can get me the Charizard, then I pulled it and lost my mind. I was staying above a garage by myself and I’m not kidding when I tell you that I musta run a mile and a half around that tiny place because I was so excited. The back centering is skewed, but honestly I think that makes it really unique to me.
The last and my most favorite card…This Charizard. This Charizard is my favorite card in my whole collection and it always will be. See, as a kid I never pulled a Charizard. I always wanted to, but never did. I remember always wishing I had pulled the Charizard and always being a bit sad that o was never able to. So, then I got into collecting again the first time (second time? I guess the first was when I was a kid), Darkness Ablaze had just come out and the chase was this card. I had purchased some packs for my friend and I to open later that day, but I bought a couple 3 pack blisters to open beforehand by myself. As mentioned before, the Lord and I would open packs together, and when I started opening these packs I felt like a kid again. Seeing the Pokemon logo on the back, the smell of the cards, the feel in my hand. I felt like I was transported. And sure enough, the last card in the pack was this Charizard. I had done it! I finally pulled the Charizard! I kept looking back at it and not thinking it was real, or that I was seeing the wrong Pokemon, but the more I looked at it the more it didn’t leave. I felt like this card was the card I never pulled as a kid.
Fast forward to my first ever card show. They had a PSA drop off there and I thought it would be quite fitting to submit my first pull to PSA at my first card show. This was after I started collecting the second time (third time? I guess the first was when I was a kid). And how great was it, to turn that card around and see that it got a Gem Mint 10 grade! Could not be more ecstatic that this card, my Charizard, got a Gem Mint grade this card means so much to me. More than any card could. And I’m glad to share it with you all!
Thanks for reading this far if you have, and I’ll be sure to post updates and things as they happen!
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