I’m making this thread to not only motivate me in my chase for a gold star, but having a place to post my Rayquaza Gold Star once I’m able to buy one!
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You got this @Vertemes !
Go for Gold…Star 
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More of a lurker lately but I’m glad you made this thread Vert, Figured I’d share my story with you since I think you will be able to have a very similar journey as I did.
A bit of backstory,
I was a gen 3 kid around 2005 and loved Pokemon during these “dead years” when sets like EX Deoxys were modern. As a child I actually had Rayquaza gold star (!!) and I don’t know what ever happened to it. I either traded it on the playground for whatever random yugioh card or Pokemon card was the flavour of the week or perhaps it simply got thrown out/lost, not quite sure, but my peak love for the TCG as a kid was those Gens 3 and 4.
Gens 5&6 was a lull period for me but come 2016, Pokemon GO was released and I got back into Pokemon quite a bit and more specifically the TCG (as I tended to follow the video games more, and still do) and decided I really wanted to get the Rayquaza GS like I had when I was a kid as it’s my favourite shiny and one of my favourite Pokemon. When I realized how expensive this card was (from a 2016 lens lol) I was discouraged as I was a broke university student in 2016 and buying singles over $100 sounded crazy to me at that time and those circumstances. I didn’t have any collection goals or purpose, just ripped packs and bought cheap singles on Troll and Toad I thought were cool. Then comes the 2020 boom and I start thinking I missed the boat on acquiring this card, but from 2020-2023 and having a full time job and making “adult money” at this point, I also started selling old collection cards I’ve picked up. I also started buying more as well and just slowly working my way up to a fairly large collection (from my point of view on where I was prior).
In that time I had started accumulating a lot of random cards I didn’t truly want and just picked up for no reason other than mass popularity and/or value. Id say around 2022/2023 (around when I joined the forum as well) I sat down with my collection of a ton of random stuff and decided I was burnt out and needed to refine my collection and only collect stuff I had a connection to and truly valued. Which is when I decided if I didn’t act on cards like the Rayquaza GS I would likely never get the chance. I started going to Bi-annual sports card expos in my local city around this time of consolidating my collection as well and always had Rayquaza GS in the back of my mind but never had the cash to justify that purchase in one fell swoop.
Flash forward to April of 2024 and I found the right vendor at the right time, with a price I was willing to work around and them willing to work out a trade for some of the collection and cards I had. I traded a handful of PSA 9/10 SWSH alt arts, a few raw MP gold stars in Celebi&Flareon, some cash and other random stuff I had been accumulating prior to refining my collection goals (as you can see some of it in old collection posts I have here lol). So I worked out a trade for the one singular card I wanted in my collection over all else. This bad boy pictured below.
I am never going to be a big game collector, or spend thousands of dollars on individual cards, but with some focus and desire I managed to acquire my grail after many years of casual collecting and a few years of more dedicated focus on more meaningful and intentional cards.
Flash forward to current day, I am mostly just watching the hobby and not actively participating due to this new craze and selling even more of my collection because of it. With that being said, I do know that even though this card is worth a lot more in the few short years since I picked it up, I have never thought once to sell it as the journey to acquiring it was probably the biggest reason it’s so special.
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GL Vert
(get the english one)
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You going for English or Japanese Vert?
Posting as a memory.. Sold both Latios and Latias, and Ray was traded away for a better card 
It is now in the Kimmy’s amazing collection
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I will always be rooting for you lad and know you will have one soon. You don’t need luck you have what’s needed to acquire what you want in life and that is determination. Here’s to you getting the black danger noodle 
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its cheaper for a reason
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Rayquaza is Rayquaza no matter the language.
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30th anniversary gold star ray - would be funny.
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