Thought I would share my collection journey here on the forums. Just now getting back in to the hobby with the last time I was actively collecting being around base set and neo genesis. Needless to say, it has been awhile and I am now jumping back in because my love of the franchise and potential ‘investment’ opportunities down the road.
Growing up, my parents did not support my interest in the trading card game. Seeing Pokemon as a fad that would pass and that I would get over it. They were not wrong as I did eventually move on to Yu-Gi-Oh. A TCG that they did support as they saw that I was actively participating in local tournaments and making friends.
Fast forward a few decades and my now wife and I are playing Pokemon Go. Since Go, we have continued to be pretty active with the game. We both enjoy looking at the new monsters and catching our shinies. It was not until recently that I opened my old collection where I rediscovered my love for collecting. It was once I started looking up the prices for my cards that Pokemon could be a solid investment option for me way down the road.
I say ‘investment’ in that I am buying something that I know. Being familiar with the franchise and having some understanding of basic market fundamentals, I have decided to get back in to collecting with the justification that the cards may be worth something someday.
Going vintage was an easy choice. There are three cards that really stood out me after reviewing my childhood collection. They are my Japanese Rocket’s Mewtwo, Rocket’s Zapdos, and Sabrina’s Gengar. I never pulled any of the English base set starters. Those are simply not nostalgic for me.
Since realizing that I am seeking out Japanese vintage cards, I discovered that I would be collecting Vending Series, Masaki, VHS Intro Deck, Red/Green Quick Starter, Natta Wake, Kanto Gym Leaders, and the remaining Japanese Rocket’s cards. I started with the Vending series, where I managed to pick up every card from the set except the series three promos. This deal was found on Facebook and has saved me a lot of time collecting each card individually. Once I acquired the bulk of the Vending series, I decided to purchase a sealed VHS Intro Deck.
Much of my goals for Vending specifically are based around having a binder put together. That said, during my Vending quest, I have managed to pick up full unpeeled series two and three sheets. After picking up my Vending series sheets, I decided that I would need the Red/Green Quick Starter deck to round out my collection of cardboard with the black and white pokeball icon.
Ive managed to pick up an opened Red/Green Quick Starter box featuring the holographic cards in great condition. I have no intentions of sending anything to PSA but I would still like to have cards around the near mint ballpark for resale purposes down the road. The Quick Starter box did ship amazingly fast but it seemed that the seller mixed up five cards from various sets. This was obvious since five of the cards had rarity symbols when this collection is supposed to be without. The seller was so kind and allowed me to keep the cards he sent me and then also shipped me the correct cards I needed.
This leaves me with the Masaki cards. After searching for sometime, I finally found a Gengar and Alakazam bundle for what I believed to be a decent price given their condition. Soon after I found the Omastar at a price that I thought was great but the shipping was way too much for one card. Luckly, the same seller had the Golem I needed. The seller also had a Gym Leader lot that was being sold for a what I thought was a deal. We agreed that we would bundle all three listings as one. That made stomaching the high shipping price much more reasonable.
Fast forward to today. I have picked up most of my remaining Vending series three promos with the exception of a few and I am only missing a Masaki Machamp. I suppose I could also count the Worlds Fair vending sheet as well but im still up in the air on that one. Ive also made good on my Rocket’s collection by picking up the Japanese Scyther and Moltres with a few more from that set to go I believe.
All in all, this whole process has been very exciting. Looking forward to building new relationships and building my collection over time.
