Update 10/31, got a few Breakthrough packs early!

Collecting
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So today I’m in Target, and just because I had 5$ left on a gift card and didn’t know what else to get, I bought a single pack of pokemon cards, I opened it and got…

I was really really happy, and then I got home and had something waiting for me in the mail, a card I have been wanting for such a long time and FINALLY had the funds to make a purchase… and here it is!

My pride and joy right here! I love it so much. I am so glad to finally own one, the holo pattern is so pretty! It is definitely my favorite holo of any card out there, and at least at the moment, my absolute favorite card in my collection. I can’t wait to get the Fan Club version and Red Gyarados! I probably won’t be able to afford to the fan club for a very long while, but if anyone has a NM/M Japanese Neo 3 Gyarados for sale or trade, please let me know!

Thanks for looking!

-Nick

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I thought so too, but apparently the Energy do not come in 1ED (promo or set).

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Hey all, it’s been quite a while since I’ve posted here or have been involved in the Pokemon world. The past few years have been pretty rough on me, but finally I have gotten my life together and gotten a decent job, I never sold off my collection and have decided to start building again! Her are a few things I’ve obtained and added to my collection :blush:.

Firstly, before I quite collecting a few years ago, I got my hands on this

A NM Japanese Shining Gyarados, I was really lucky to snag this for about 40$ on eBay in around January 2014

Looks nice with my Magikarp :wink:

Shining Tyranitar. This came in a collection I bought off someone from Facebook, it’s in pretty good condition except for one small bend near the top of the card

Base Set Blastoise, Charizard, and Venusaur, also got these from a random collection I purchased off Facebook (I do that a lot, but peoples old collections from when they were young for really good prices). Definitely a staple for any collection.

NM 1/e German Blastoise

Randomly bought a box set at Target a while back that contained all the Eeveelutions, I thought they were pretty cool so I picked it up.

NM M Gengar EX Full Art. Now this is the card that kickstarted me getting back into collecting again. I was walking through the local flea market about 2 weekends ago when I found there was a new stand there with a guy selling Pokemon Cards. I saw this and just loved it so much I had to have it, so I bought it and started getting more and more cards. I really love this card, I intend on buying the Japanese version shortly since I prefer Japanese cards to English.

NM M Rayquaza EX Full Art. A week after buying the Gengar I had the thirst for more, so I went back to flea market and picked this guy up, beautiful artwork. Absolutely love this card.

Japanese 1/e Mew EX Full Art.

I got this a long while ago before I stopped collecting, I may have even already posted it on this thread, but it’s one of my favorite cards with such amazing art I just wanted to post it again.

Now for a little awesome story. I was in Target earlier tonight to get some groceries and didn’t intend on buying any Pokemon cards because I really just want Japanese cards and my new bank card just came in the mail, so I was gonna either pick a few off eBay to buy or just save up to get something I really want that’s a bit pricier, but as I was passing the Pokemon card aisle something caught my eye. It was a Rayquaza EX gift box, it came with a Rayquaza EX promo, and a jumbo version of the same promo, and being the impulsive person that I am and that I now have a decent job, I decided to spend 20$ on it.

This is the Rayquaza EX and it’s jumbo counterpart.

Well anyway, it has 4 packs, I wasn’t really expecting to get anything good out of them, so I open the first one and get a non-holo rare Togekiss, it was a pretty cool looking card, but then I open the second pack, I’m looking through the cards and POW, I see this in my hand

NM Primal Groudon EX

I was so excited, this one on to-buy list (in Japanese, but now I can hold off for a short while since I have it in English) It always feels so good to pull something good, but it didn’t stop there, the very next pack I open I’m going through the cards and then…

NM M Rayquaza EX

I still can’t believe my luck, the very first packs that I open in well over 18 months and I get two ultra rare cards out of a 4 pack box, and two cards that I really wanted to have at that. Such an awesome feeling. I can’t wait to order a box of Japanese cards to see if my luck carries over.

My Rayquaza’s


Page 1 and 2 out of my binder.

Well that’s my update for now, hopefully soon I’ll have some new additions to add to this thread. I’m hoping to eventually save enough to get a Japanese 1/e Crystal Celebi, that’s my current goal. But for now I’m just gonna get a few smaller things, I need to work on my Japanese Base set and more affordable things first before I start getting into buying more expensive cards. Thanks for looking!

-Nick

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Welcome back Nick! Glad to see you were able to hold onto your collection. You might be in danger of being a serious collector. :blush:

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I’m right there with you! Doesn’t it feel good to come back?

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Thanks guys! Yea I’m hoping to stick on the right path in life from now on, and collecting Pokemon has brought me happiness since I was child so I’m really gonna sink my teeth into and build up my collection.

For some reason some of my pictures aren’t posting right, I tried rotating them every which way through photobucket but they still show up sideways and upside down here, oh well lol. Thanks for the welcome back guys, you’ll probably be seeing a lot more of me around

EDIT - I fixed mt pictures by using a different upload service :blush:

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Always awesome to see someone pick back up the hobby after a hiatus. A lot of people plan to and it just never happens. Nice diversity, way to chase your interests, and welcome back!

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Awesome additions :blush: just to say I think due to it being so oc and that edge wear on the bottom right corner I don’t think that zapdos will be a candidate for a 9, jelly of how cheap you got it though still!

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Welcome back! We haven’t met. I am ThorGene, Son of odin, brother of loki, and heir to the throne of asgard.

AWESOME COLLECTION BTW!

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Thanks guys! Hoping to have some nice new stuff in the coming weeks! But for now, I just went to a local comic book store and it turned out they had a Pokemon singles binder, I picked up these two guys for a steal

NM/M Master Ball from the quick starter gift set(something I am hoping to one day buy a complete sealed set of)

and then amongst the mass amount of random base set holos I came across this

A LP Shadowless Ninetales, the condition isn’t perfect but it’s not bad either, and I love Ninetales, one of my favorite pokemon, so scoring a shadowless one was pretty sweet.

The best part of the whole thing, I picked these up for 3$ each. Not too bad a deal :wink:.

This stuff was priced great, but regular base set Charizards that weren’t even in the best condition they were charging 40$ for, it was a case of people just having a stock of cards and not really knowing the value, just making prices to make them. They also had a M Blastoise EX that I really wanted, but didn’t care to drop 20$ when I could get it in Japanese for roughly the same price if not cheaper.

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Nice to see you back, Nick :blush:

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So over the past few weeks I have been scouring eBay looking for things I really wanted for half decent prices, so I’ve actually been trying to win some auctions rather than doing buy-it-nows, and I picked up a few things. Including the card I have been chasing for a few years now that has been my top Pokemon Card want for a LOOOOOONG time that has long been out of reach due to scarcity and price, but I managed to snag one :wink:. There is also a guy at my local flea market who sells mostly newer English cards but just has AMAZING prices, so I’ve picked up a few things off him. So here’s the cards!


24x Japanese Holo No Rarity Erica Gym (ranging from EX - NM/M)

I was scouring eBay looking for the Japanese Holo Gym Leaders since I really want to complete a set of them in NM/M condition, and just happened to come across an auction 24 Holo Erica cards that wasn’t fetching too many bids, so I put in a bid myself and actually won the auction much to my surprise lol, so now I have 24 Erica’s! I didn’t even know that they were the no-rarity version until they arrived at my house! Also, definitely looking to trade some of these for the other holo Japanese Gym Leaders, let me know if you’re interested in swapping!


1/e Japanese Rocket’s Articuno EX 010/020 NM/M

I’ve always loved the Rocket Gang Strikes Back EX cards, and have recently decided I want a set of the birds and Mewtwo in 1/e, so far all the ones I can find are more expensive than I’m willing to pay, but I picked this guy up for a decent price. What I’m really upset about is my phone happened to be dead at the end of a 1/e Rocket’s Mewtwo EX auction that I was watching that ended up selling incredibly cheap with only 1 bid. Still kicking myself for that one…


1/e Japanese Bandit Ring Gyarados FA 021/081 NM/M

Ever since I saw this card I wanted one, and the other day at the Flea Market the guy who sells pokemon cards just happened to have one, and threw it on for free on a deal for a few other cards with me. Really awesome art on this card.


Phantom Forces Gengar EX FA 114/119 NM/M

A really awesome card, and I love Gengar. I was really happy to add this to my collection the other day, picked up for a really good price too. Can’t wait to get a 1/e Japanese version of it.


XY Base Set M Blastoise EX 30/146 NM/M

This is my favorite of gen 1 starter trio Mega cards, really love the artwork, got it for a steal too. Awesome card


1/e Japanese Bandit Ring M Tyranitar EX 043/081 NM/M

At first I didn’t really intend on getting the Tyranitar EX’s right away, but after a while of looking at a bunch of cards they really grew on me, and decided to put a low max bid on an auction for this and ended up winning, finally got a Japanese Mega card to put into my binder also lol.

And lastly, my prime Jewel, the new queen of my collection, an amazing card that I honestly didn’t think I would get my hands on for a looooooooong time



1/e Japanese Mysterious Mountains Crystal Celebi 091/088 PSA Graded 8 NM-MT

I saw this pop up on eBay and was like damnit another Japanese Crystal Celebi that’s just going to stare me in the face that I know I’m never gonna be able to afford like all the other ones, especially considering this one was graded and it was a good grade, as well is being 1/e, but I said screw it and put in a max bid that was really more than I could afford and I went to sleep. The next day I wake up and check my phone, and I have a notification saying that I won the auction, and at an AMAZING price. Now I don’t really collect PSA cards, I like being able to put cards in binder to display them but there is absolutely no arguments here, I am just ecstatic to own this card. I have wanted a 1/e Crystal Celebi for years now, it has been my most wanted card for such a long time, and I really thought I wouldn’t own one for years or possibly never.

I still can’t believe I got it, also, if anyone has an ungraded 1/e Crystal Celebi that is in NM/M condition I would be willing to trade this for that one plus maybe a few other things.

Also, like I said I don’t collect graded cards, so I guess I can’t really spot tiny hardly noticeable imperfections, but I have been closely examining this card since I got it and I literally can not find a single flaw, it looks perfect. I really think if I were to send this back to PSA I could potentially get a higher grade. Either way, I am soooooo happy to finally have this elusive card that I have been chasing for years, the only way it’s leaving me is if someone has another Mint condition ungraded one and wants to trade me that one + some other stuff lol.

Now I need to find a new card to set my sights on that I really really want lol, it has been this for so long I don’t really have a #2 to go after. Time to figure something out lol.

Anyways that’s my update! Probably won’t have much more things for a few weeks since Otakon(big anime convention in my city) is happening this weekend and I have pretty much put buying cards on hold until after that con. Thanks for looking!

-Nick

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Wow! Awesome :grin: im glad my celebi went to a good home!

Small world! Haha :blush:

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Oh wow yes it is a small world lol, I should have guessed that someone selling this Gem would be on UPCCC.

Yes it’s definitely going to be cherished over here lol, it is automatically the favorite card of my collection, you have no idea how long I have wanted this card. I am so happy lol. And that shipping was quick dude, I wasn’t expecting it until at least tomorrow. Thanks so much man!

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I was suprised too! USPS stepped their game up haha :blush:

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Awesome addition mate! Good to see people achieve their goals. Time to figure out the new number 1 card to hunt down!

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Thanks man, yea I absolutely love this card, I just keep finding myself just staring at it. It’s such a beautiful card, I honestly thought this would be the last card I obtained in my quest for the 1/e Japanese Crystal cards, but it ended up being the first, AND it’s graded an 8. I just can’t believe I actually own this, for years and years I have been trying to get this card and could just never afford it when it popped up, I can not believe the price I got it for either. Worth every penny that I really didn’t have lol.

I did, however, figure out my next most wanted card. Another card that I have wanted for many many years and has been largely unobtainable since I first discovered it.

The 600 Point Fan Club Shining Magikarp.

Shining Magikarp has always been one of my favorite cards, and I was super happy when I got the regular Neo 3 Japanese version, I like the card so much it actually survived through my rough patch where I literally sold everything that belonged to me to fund my bad habit, the fact that it survived through that period in my life is nothing short of amazing, so with that in mind and now that I am actually earning and saving some money, my new number one goal is the Fan Club Magikarp to add to my collection. I’m gonna search far and wide until I can find it for a great price, eventually one will fall into my hands without breaking the bank. If anybody has a lead on one in NM/M condition that is for a pretty good price, let me know! I’m super interested if I could get it for like… under 220 or so.

As for now, I’m gonna just continue to buy cards I like that aren’t too pricy at a steady pace and just build my collection, hopefully within the next 2 weeks I’ll have a nice update for you guys! Thanks for checking out my thread everyone! :blush:

-Nick

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Good luck on finding a mint one for under $220…

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Crazier things have happened lol. I don’t expect to get one for that price but if I had the opportunity I’d buy it right away even if it was more than I could afford

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Honestly that is not realistic in the current market. Even when I bought mine 6 years ago it was still around $300 for a mint copy.

If you compromise on condition the price will be slightly lower, but it is a significantly rare card. I would suggest just saving a bit more if you really want an actual mint copy, and you will get it with time.

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