Welcome @camrok37. Super nice to have you here! Lots of resources to get you started on what to collect. Have fun!
@xileets Also you can never truly go wrong with Japanese promos! 
Cheers!
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Hey everyone,
My name is Riley (or Ruley/Ruley711 online)(he/him). Iām from Ontario, Canada and have been a lurker on these types of forums for a little bit and absolutely love it so I decided to make an account and participate a bit :).
I have been a huge collector since I was a kid. That time for me was the ex era and that love continued through to the HGSS era.
I lost interest In pokemon for a bit in the B&W through early XY era but right around generations/20th anniversary I got back into the hobby, but this time with adult money and never looked back haha!
My favourite set of all time would have to be Platinum Supreme Victors, mainly due to the secret rare birds.
My Main collection and if I had to keep only one section would be my masterset of every Togepi line artwork created (in English) with the JP unique arts as well, as Togepi is my favourite pokemon and always has been.
On top of that, I collect every artwork of some of my other favourites: Jirachi, Riolu/Lucario and the Piplup line.
I collect some trainers like all Cynthia related cards and N related cards as well.
Iāve recently found an appreciation for artists collections, the ones I am working on currently are some of my favourites: sowsow, Saya Tsuruta and Akira Komayama. Maybe one day Iāll work on a Komiya collection like many collectors here have, because I love his work, but itās a much bigger task than the 3 I am currently doing.
The next avenue I am looking into is grading some of my cards and buying slabs in general as I never really dove into that aspect of collecting.
Iāve also recently started selling off quite a bit of my collection to try and focus on really special larger pieces and the collections mentioned above. Like many of you, I am not a fan of the 5ban and other CG artwork ultra rares of modern. So the goal is to one day transfer all the value from my other stuff to get some of my favourite Neo shiningās, gold stars, and other big hitters like that.
Looking forward to the continued lurking as well as great discussion 
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Welcome @Ruley711! Togetic is one of my favorite Pokemon so I have a soft spot for Togepi as well! Would love to see your collection if youāre ever up for sharing in a collection thread!
Also artist binders are the best! Love me some Sowsow as well!
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Nice to see others from Ontario!
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Thatās the plan in the coming weeks after I organize a bit better haha
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Hi everyone! Just wanted to introduce myself! Iāve been lurking for a while and finally made an account about a week ago. I used to go to YouTube and Facebook to interact and talk about cards but people on there can get pretty mean. I got my first game boy at 6 along with PokĆ©mon red and have been playing the games since. Had some cards from when I was younger and started collecting again in the sun and moon era. Iāve gotten some cards here and there and am excited to be apart of this community. Iām hoping to be pretty active since I donāt have anyone I can talk PokĆ©mon with.
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Welcome, @Ruley711, @Charizard1020! Great to see the community grow, and I hope you find the fourum a positive place to grow and engage in the hobby. =)
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Hearty welcome to both. It is indeed lovely to see new people everyday. I wish you guys have a great time here.
@Ruley711 , I would also love to se your species line collections. I have a lot of appreciation for species collectors. It really needs a lot of dedication to be able to find every card. Looking forward to your collection thread someday.
@Charizard1020 lovely to have you as well. This is a great place to be to share, ask or just talk any and everything about Pokemon. I hope you find the company you are looking for.
Cheers!
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Hi everybody! Iām Alessio, Iām 29, I live in London (UK) but Iām from Italy.
Same many of us, I was super-into Pokemon as a child during 2nd and 3rd gen. Iāve always been on and off from various TCGs during the last 20 years, but I left Pokemon during the Yu-Gi-Oh! boom. During lockdown I started getting interest in collecting cards again after years without enjoying the hobby.
I followed many Youtubers in the past months, but I find smpratte the most reliable and honest source of information about the hobby, while others are more focussed on hyping new products and promoting investing. Iām personally looking to enjoying collecting now that I have financial stability and can dedicate a portion of my income into an hobby.
Iām currently after completing a graded 9/10 collection of ex-holos from the 2003-2007 era.
See you all around!
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Welcome to e4, @AULO_hOf! Weāre happy to have you here.
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Welcome, @AULO_hOf! Love the avatar!
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What up everybody! Glad to be here. I just returned to the hobby this June, after 20 years away. The last set I collected before 2022 was Neo Destiny. 
I am a musician and filmmaker, and recently an ebay and tcgplayer seller.
Iām excited to finally check this place out! Iāve been hearing about it from smpratte videos for a while now. <3 all the vintage art.
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Welcome to the forum. Happy to have you here! This place is a wealth of information and also passionate people. Hope you have a lovely time here.
Cheers!
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Welcome, @AndresFeliciano! Glad to have you here, and best of luck on your collecting journey! Always nice to meet a fellow musician, as well. āŖā«
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Hello everybody,
My name is Gstiess92 and I am from Vienna, Austria. I am a Pokemon Fan since the very beginning and started collecting cards in 1999. As my dad had a lot of business in Japan at that time, he always brought me Japanese Booster Packs. Therefore, a large part of my collection has always been Japanese.
With the start of Gen 3 I still stayed loyal to the franchise but I stopped collecting cards and shifted more to the video games and competitive battling. As many others I came back to collecting cards during the pandemic in 2020. I found this forum in 2021 and the sheer amount of passionate people and their knowledge blew me away. Since then I am reading the threads here almost daily.
I enjoy the Japanese side of collecting more but I still collect some cards in English and my mother tongue German. My main collecting goal right now is to finish my binder of the VS Series.
Looking forward to being part of this great community!
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Very cool! 
Glad youāve introduced yourself, @Gstiess! Welcome!
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Hi everybody,
My name is gocartmozart and Iām from Dublin, Ireland. Iāve been a Pokemon fan since the early days, I saved up my pocket money to buy a GameBoy Color and Pokemon Blue. I watched the anime and collected the cards as well. I also collected soccer stickers as a kid.
I really got back into Pokemon after seeing the Detective Pikachu movie in 2019, which was very nostalgic, I enjoyed spotting all the little references to the games. That rekindled my interest in the cards and I came across smpratteās videos on YouTube. I really appreciated the knowledge and unique perspective he brings to Pokemon and the videos led me to E4.
I enjoy collecting cards with interesting and unique art, Iām a big fan of the character rare cards in Japanese as I think the art really shines with the silver border.
Looking forward to being part of E4!
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Welcome, officially, @gocartmozart! Glad youāre here on the Fourum!
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welcome on board!
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Hi Everyone,
My name is Danny (pockermonsterdan), and I am from Toronto Canada. I got into Pokemon as a young kid in the 90ās during the WOTC era but got rid of most cards as I grew older.
I got back into Pokemon out of curiosity during the Platinum era in 2009, when I saw my local corner store was selling booster packs. Since then I have been picking and choosing which modern sets to collect as they come, all while continuing to hunt down vintage Japanese cards.
As an artist I am super into appreciating the artwork on cards, especially hand drawn 2D art.
I am currently collecting Japanese Promo cards, Japanese exclusive cards, and vintage other Japanese.
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