First off - a huge thank you to the E4 community for recently showering me with replies to questions about their collecting habits so I could do an ethnographic project on TCG collecting for one of my grad classes!
The response made me fall in love with E4, and the desk research I’ve been doing about collecting in general have made me really want to start collecting cards again. I gave my binders away to a family friend was I was in my early teens and thinking about it makes me want to cry.
Where does one start these days? I’m overwhelmed by the sheer volume and many directions I could go…I have favorite species, special memories from when I was a kid, but to be honest, I’m kind of afraid of what I like being way out of my price range for dipping my toes back in the water.
My advice especially when you “start again” is to be super-selective.
Species it’s great (avoid top-tiers Pokemon like Charizard maybe…)
Specific artist(s) is great.
Or you can try one WOTC era masterset.
I tend to not recommend the usual “collect what you like”, for me it’s too dispersive and you end to have a bunch of really good cards but without any sense if you’re not an experienced collector.
Love Eevee and the Eeveelutions, early gen holos give me a warm nostalgic feeling, anything that would cause cuteness aggression, Dratini line, & the original 3 starters. I’m also really drawn to some cards I’ve seen that seem to be inspired by famous-ish works of art - I studied art history in college and they just make me smile.
My best piece of advice is to collect what you want.
I collect species, certain sets, promos, errors, signed cards, historical items, and whatever speaks to me. What makes me uninterested in set collecting is buying all of the cards that I have no interest in, and what makes me uninterested in species collecting is buying duplicate arts of different languages, 1st ed/unlimited variants, and particularly ugly art. I don’t fit nicely into the boxes of species collector or set collector, but I find that I am much happier this way to purchase what I like and leave the rest.
If you feel compelled to go down the species collector or set collector paths, by all means you should do that. But I think that most collectors waste a great deal of time and money in the beginning when they are attempting to achieve an arbitrary goal (e.g., master sets, 100% registry-defined species collections) that ultimately doesn’t resonate with them later on.
Advice I normally give is to start off with some easier or more achievable collecting goals. It’s really easy as a collector to want to catch em all, even that’s like all card variants of a species or set or artist. And definitely pursue that if you want, but don’t underestimate how satisfying it is to be able to call a collection complete, even if it’s small and specifically curated. That’ll help keep the drive going to complete more collections compared to having a bunch of daunting incomplete collections you aren’t sure how to prioritize.
@katieoh ah damn you’re screwed jk jk
Welcome. I’d recommend thinking through what would be most meaningful to you as a collection and whether you’re willing to invest the money but also time and energy to accomplish it. As an eevee collector, I’ve watched myself and several others be somewhat forced to reflect on our collecting goals as tpci just floods us with releases to keep track of (I’m tired of this grandpa!)
I used to have a much more extensive collection that wasn’t as specialized. My collection now is much more specialized (eevees only, with a truncated sentimental non Eevee binder) and while I’ve invested a lot more into it now, I also appreciate it so much more because I reflected on what was important to me
I’ve just been getting back into collecting as well. This guide was helpful for me, as I finally made a list about what I wanted to collect. Before that I was pretty disorganized in my approach and I think I would’ve lost interest or been overwhelmed.
I’m trying to collect the cards/art I like the most, so my lists are organized by broader categories of “Modern”/“Vintage”/“Promos” and I cap them at a fixed number. Without a list I’d be buying a lot of cards I “like”, but with the list I actually have more concrete goals and put thought behind cards I’d actually want in a more permanent collection.
When it came to actually buying cards, I found the PSA Vault to be a nice option. My first few purchases were through there. I kept all but one slab in the vault, which was reassuring in that I could more easily re-sell the cards if my interest ended up fading after a few weeks.
Buy what you like, learn to like a lot of things, dont let prices discourage you from buying certain types of cards or species, expand your horizons in collecting
If you try to tackle everything at once, of course it will feel overwhelming. Just stick to a lane and then branch out. Gradually it will no longer feel overwhelming as you start completing goals. Just take baby steps
The first part of a journey starts with a single step. Collect what you like and you’ll never regret a purchase. From what you shared, sounds like picking up some Dratini, Eevee cards, and the OG starters would be a good choice
I like to use this site to identify species cards to collect, it doesn’t show every niche non English exclusive but for someone collecting for nostalgia it’s got all you need
As someone who started collecting again 2 months ago after more or less 20 years, I would advise you to just focus on one particular set/pokemon/era and don’t let be tempted by anything else you’ll see on the forum
If you dont have a clue where to start: Set a budget and a time limit. Buy broadly in that budget, literally anything that catches your eyes. You will learn what and how you prefer to collect and what is feasible to collect. At the end of the time limit, review what you have, why you bought it, what it means to you. You may run into wanting conditions upgraded, wanting to complete specific sets, trimming down to specific species or artists, going all languages in a binder, but at least youll be able to understand what you like.
If you have a clue where to start: Always remember that its a collection for yourself. Whatever works for you is the way you can collect. If you have space, buy sealed cases. If you move often, keep it limited to a small case. If you want to show off and your favorite color is red then commission a cool display frame for all your fire pokemon. Only you can decide where your collecting boundaries are.
jk jk