What are your 2026 collecting goals?

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I never asked CGC for free shipping in my life, I just send it there and it somehow gets back to me without a problem…

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I will:

  • Buy the remaining holos I wanted for my display. I have changed what I wanted to achieve my goals faster. Bit bullet.
  • Bar a select few, sell any slab acquired after 2019. Everything worth keeping, in the safe, for safety!
  • Consolidate binders into two, one for my complete first gen sets, one for all the rest of my holos and nostalgic childhood cards. Done.
  • Also consolidate all of my YuGiOh! this way.
  • Everything else into a bulk box.
  • Sell/give away all of my other storage supplies, tins, toploaders etc etc.
  • Chuck everything except the display and binders into loft.
  • Exit hobby.

I’ll have one nice display. That’s it. The only evidence. Binders to pore over on a rainy day.

I bought one card all October. Nothing this month at all. My disposition has been waning for a while anyway.

I’m tired of the consumption, not just the buying, but how it consumes us too. We’re in the right place to see it daily. I personally feel like there’s been another shift and that there’s been some change for the worse, and the vibe is just off for me. My opinion.

It’s taken me a lot of childhood reflection and work to realise I don’t need the things I never had. Just accept that which never was and be who I needed back then.

Pretty deep, for an esoteric Pokémon card weaving forum, no?

But I feel like I’m pretty over it. I’ll still hover I’m sure, and I still love Pokémon, but I don’t really feel any desire to buy anymore.
:pikacowboy:

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My main 2026 goal is pretty simple, it’s to share more of my collection here and/or elsewhere and also write down the reasons for why I added X to my collection. My hope is that it will be a way to better appreciate what I have and also help sharpen my collecting focus.

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In 2026.. I’m hoping I can finally finish off my WOTC binder sets. Still have several gaps left to fill.. mainly 1st Ed Base holos and Neo Destiny Shinings. I think these are basically my 2025 goals all over again, but it’s been a very busy year for me that I just haven’t really spent the time (or money) with Pokemon like I did a few years back. In addition, the market in 2025 has also been quite hot and so I feel like I sort of missed my opportunity to get deals I was hoping to get this year.

I also have a lot of re-organizing of my collection to do, hoping to spend some time coming up as I should be stuck inside more often soon. I know for sure I have several packages I am yet to even open, so it’d be great to take time and sort through my cards again for sure.

Aside from all this.. I’d also like keep up more with releases again. I kind of got bored with S&V at times compared to SWSH.. so I may start looking at more modern stuff again. In addition, I’ve totally not kept up with Japanese releases at all the past couple years, so lots to re-visit in 2026 for me.

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UniKarp. Just missed the two on Fanatics this last block but I’ll get one soon.

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  • Continue adding to my Giovanni and Persian binder page
  • Add to my other binder pages to finish them (only need another 4-5 cards)
  • Was thinking of starting a collection of trainer cards from PLZA but waiting for the rest to be announced
  • Otherwise sitting on my hands until the announcement of 30th anniversary cards and seeing what they bring out then.
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This collecting goal just appeared today and it’s unrelated to Pokémon or Yu-Gi-Oh:

I have like half year to organize myself to buy the Pip Pirrup plush (YouTooz) …

For those who don’t know, Pip is a (deceased) character from South Park who technically never gets merchandise … In fact, one of the “Holy Grails” in South Park merchandising collecting is a Pip plush (from 1998) valued over $1K USD … This expensive plush was the only merchandising of this character that existed (it’s extremely rare to find) … until the YouTooz version appeared as a good alternative …

Pip is my favourite character from South Park, so I have considered this plush as a goal for next year …

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Let’s see:

  • Round off my Gen 3 and Gen 4 theme deck collections (if I don’t manage to get the last few by years’ end)
  • Might or might not dip into Gen 5 theme decks - I’ve got a few already and most are fairly priced still
  • Obtain the metal Rayquaza, Latios, and Latias coins released at tournaments in Japan during Gen 3
  • Trade away or sell most of my excess/duplicate coins
  • Stay on top of the new ETB releases and keep going to pre-release events for new sets
  • If the 30th anniversary set contains reprints and is similar in scope to Celebrations then I’ll probably work on master-setting it

Other than the above, I’d like to spend less and save up since I definitely overextended myself this year.

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I can still appreciate culture when i see it.

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Theme decks are underrated IMO (lets keep it that way) - no gambling involved (well, there are a few exceptions) and the box art on the old stuff is so good.

Anyways, I haven’t even posted a photo of my whole collection yet… I’d love to do so but I’m pretty behind on updating my collection thread and life has been very busy :sweat_smile:. I should have definitely have some time around the end of the month to get caught up :smiley:

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Cant wait to see it. I’ll probably update my collection thread as well this year. Not much visibly different but more sealed and lots of new decks.

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in a PSA 10.

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I’ve been waiting to reply since I had a few more major purchases I was in the process of negotiating this past month. Now that that has past, I can take a look back at what I said before and grade myself:

Well, at least I know myself and know I need to focus more (the first step of fixing a problem is admitting it, right? :sweat_smile:)

  1. Psyduck Binder - I grade myself a D-. I did a fabulous job of picking up new graded Psyduck cards, but I barely even touched this goal. The only thing I actually did to support this is buy the Misty’s Psyduck card from Destined Rivals, but it never even made it into the binder because I found a display/holder for the card that I like.

  2. Komiya Binder - I grade myself a C. Again, I bought a bunch of graded Komiya cards (particularly vending), but didn’t touch this goal a ton. Most additions to my Komiya binder were just because of bulk from things I opened where there happened to be a Komiya artwork in the pile.

  3. Lawson Postcard Collecting - Yikes…F. I did get some other postcards I really love, but I didn’t get either of the two remaining ones I am looking for. The prices skyrocketed this past year, and when the only available ones won’t leave collector’s hands for less than $400-$500, I’d rather put $1000 total towards something else.

  4. Graded Worlds Cards - Finally! I’ll give myself a B. I have @antoniogr to thank for selling me one of my favorite world’s artworks, the 2005 Tropical Tidal Wave. I also sold some spare worlds cards, and bought a staff card while at the 2025 worlds, which was a cool bucket list item for me.

So going forward, what are my 2026 goals?

  1. Focus. No, actually focus. I bought heavily this past year, particularly with graded cards I have been after, which has been so much fun but I also want to scale that back a bit. Buying for this next year I would really like to limit to some binder purchases, that way I am still collecting but the majority of the cards aren’t any more than $50.

  2. Sell. I sold more than I ever have this past year, and I would like to trim down some of my collection now that I have acquired some bigger pieces that I really wanted.

  3. Give. One of the most gratifying things I have done both in this hobby and life in general is give generously to people who may not expect it, whether that is friends, family, someone at a card show, or the eBay buyer who wasn’t expecting a free booster bundle in their order. There is something really special about being to extend what brings you joy to others, and watching how much unexpected and undeserving generosity strikes at their heart. Maybe a little more real human to human interaction and care about our fellow man is something we could all use this next year.

Best of luck to all in their goals this year :sign_of_the_horns:

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Taking the plunge into collecting Japanese Legend Unlimited. Wish me luck.

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2026 Goals:

Add a couple Zappers to the Zapdos Binder. Even 3-4 cards would be great this year! I’ve got about 20 ish spots to fill for the English side. A couple big ones I don’t think I’ll do in 2026, but some mid range ones would be nice to add!

Going to try and complete 75% of my Kanto Binder. I’m having more fun with it than anything I’ve collected in a LONG time. Searching for a Non-Holo, Reverse Holo, Holo and a Special Art for all 151 Pokemon has been a blast. I’m currently at 345/604 cards. Getting to 453 feels reasonable! I’d also love for one day sometime else to try this method out so we could compare binders! That might be a selfish lifetime goal but it would be cool to see someone else do this one day too!

Keep it fun for my son. When he gets a hit he doesn’t ask what its value is, he jumps up and down and puts it in his binder. I’d like to keep it like that.

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For 2026, I don’t have many huge goals, but if I had to narrow it down to a few things I would choose,

  • Grade more of my regular cards and signed cards
  • Get more signatures to add to the collection of artists I don’t have yet
  • Do well at my new job

Now that I am finishing up my degree (last semester) and got a full-time return offer from my work, I will step back a bit from collecting too much and focus on my actual life.

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It’s not too late to quit, haha

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What do you mean Pokemon card collecting isn’t your actual life? :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

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My 2026 Goals:

First, complete my current in-the-works sets:

  • English Growlithe collection (currently at 75%)
  • Base Set Unlimited (currently at 99%, just need the Zard)
  • 151 (currently at 88%)

Then, begin English Arcanine collection in earnest + determine new goals:

  • Progress Arcanine English collection to 75% (currently at ~9%)
    • Subgoal: Obtain three Arcanine WOTC holos, including at least one 1st edition
  • Determine my new collecting goals
    • The goals listed above are my first real collecting goals, so upon their completion I’ll be in search of new goals
      • Areas of interest include:
        • 1st edition WOTC commons / uncommons
        • Vintage Japanese holos
        • WOTC holos
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The following in PSA 9 :

1st edition Lugia Neo Gen

1st edition Sabrina’s Gengar

1st edition Dragonite Fossil

1st edition Ho-oh Neo Rev

Shadowless Blastoise

Shadowless Venusaur

1st edition Typhlosion fist pump #17 Neo Gen

1st edition Feraligator #5 Neo Gen

1st edition Maganium #11 Neo Gen

1st edition Skarmory Neo Gen

Non TCG:

Vintage Gameboy Poke blaster 3 pack of each Kanto Starter figures sets.

No particular order but preferably hoping to get the Lugia first as it’s the biggest spend. Wish it could go down to even 4K again :full_moon_face:

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