Starting out

[livindavido]

Choose wisely which type of collector you will become

[stagecoach]

Lmao at this.

@Dyl Of course there are more options than the ones I suggested. Far be it from me to present the only options. There is no wrong way to collect Pokémon.

[Dyl]

This made me laugh really hard.

@stagecoach we are absolutely in agreement. I wanted to reiterate that some people have chaotic collections. There’s not a lot of that represented on e4, but it’s a great option for those with diverse interests.

I think there tends to be some preference for set, species, and artist collectors by the masses because their collecting narrative is a bit clearer to understand.

[codytcas]

Welcome!

Honestly, I’d do some research like others have mentioned, figure out what you like, then just buy those individual cards. To me, buying packs, ETBs, booster boxes, etc hoping to pull certain cards is just a money pit. Just buy the card in the condition or grade you want and it’ll be way cheaper in most cases.

Also, depending on what you decide to collect, keep an eye on auctions on ebay or auction houses like PWCC. I’ve bought tons of PSA 9s and 10s for 20 or 30 bucks.

Unless you enjoy the ripping aspect of it. In that case go for it. But I think the vast majority of the time buying ETBs or booster boxes and ripping packs is just a huge waste of time and money.

[thsigma]

one of the things that kept me around was learning about the history of the tcg and the cards, sets, errors, wotc vs post wotc, trophy cards, etc.

[knotchi]

Go to 🗳 Sets ‹ PkmnCards and go through the sets one by one.

It will take some time but you will determine which previous sets you have an affinity for. Try to buy your favorite cards from those sets on eBay.

Start with Classic (Base set, Jungle, etc) and work your way to the present.

The categories below Classic like Pop, Promos, Trainer Kits, etc are subsets or not mainline sets so you should maybe go through those last.

[PokeFanz]

But it could be fun tho

[xileets]

IF you want to crack packs, or rip and flip, try it a little.
I keep sealed around ALL the time for when I get the urge, but most every time, it’s disappointing. I wish someone’s video channel did a booster box game for PkMn sets. Once I have the expendable income, and time, I’m definitely doing it: Buy boxes, sell what you get. See if you make your money back…

[tcgCROSScollector]

Maybe you can find some guidance and ideas from this Guide on How to Collect Pokemon TCG:

Guide: How to Collect Pokemon TCG

When someone starts collecting Pokemon TCG, they often feel overwhelmed by the amount of information available… but the truth is, they haven’t even scratched the surface yet. It’s typical to see newcomers to the hobby buying and acquiring cards like headless chickens, without any sense or logic, spending money unnecessarily along the way. This often leads to regrets and, if this behavior continues for too long, it causes many to give up. Collecting, in any form, is something I believe should b…

Let me know if it’s useful!

[octaane]

I think they do in certain circumstances. Here’s a recent example of how the pop report was handy for me, even though it was in a mostly trivia-esque way. I’m finishing off my WOTC black star promos. The most expensive promos are 40 and 41, lucky stadium and pokemon center. Given some sleuthing done by E4 members (Estimated Total Supply of WOTC Promo #40 Pokemon Center? - #9 by livindavido), we know that there are only 5,000 - 10,000 copies of this card in existence - and I’m leaning towards the 5k number for reasons I won’t go into for this post.

If you look at the PSA pop report, you can see that only ~540 have been graded - about 10% of all of these cards. That’s useful to know.