I seen this as a trending topic on another collecting community and thought I’d swing it here and ask it for the Pokemon peeps;
What annoys you most about Pokemon collecting ?
And… so we have Ying with yang,
What do you love most about Pokemon collecting ?
I hope this thread doesn’t get out of hand haha, it’s probably been done before, but needs to be updated for October 2018 here.
You can vent just something small that bugs you and something you love also ^^
I hate currently in October 2018; Pokemon company is limiting supply of new booster boxes in Japan, It’s a lame situation lately for new sun moon Japanese booster boxes as well as sm promos.
I love the friends and community collecting Pokemon together, and having a shared passion with others.
There are something’s I would like to see change, but I can’t think of anything I hate about our hobby other than Jaden Torreto.
I love everything about our hobby! The artwork on the cards, the smell of fresh cards out of packs, the nostalgic value of my collection and most importantly, our AMAZING community here on efour
I’m annoyed at people who still think Pokémon (collecting) is exclusively aimed at kids. I’ve grown to accept it after all these years, but come on; what prices are these high-end cards going for again?
I love the different ages of collectors, all enjoying Pokémon. Especially if it covers multiple generations in the same household. There’s just something about a complete family enjoying this lovely hobby.
I could write a book about the positives. A big one that comes to mind: the structure. Looking at the hobby from a long term perspective, I see how collecting provides structure and meaning. Whether that is personally or economically, it provides purpose. I can’t tell you how many messages I get from ex drug addicts who now collect. That completely obliterates any negativity that exists.
Flippers, fakers, scammers and the regret of not buying certain cards way back when (then again, hindsight is 20/20).
Sharing the love for Pokémon across a plethora of communties and forums, seeing the general acceptance of Pokémon grow astronomically through the years (Pokémon Go did a lot of work there), the jawdropping retro artwork and the nostalgia factor.
Dislike - Posers. People solely collecting for social media attention.
Like - First and foremost is the nostalgic feeling of the beginning of Pokémon. The memories of evolving my starter, collecting all 8 badges, defeating the elite four and finding “Mewtwo”. The TCG, from the artwork to the holographic backgrounds. Even the reintroduction after my long hiatus. The stories, show and the movies. 10/10 would do it all over again.
I am not okay with scammers and people who deliberately share false information about cards/items.
I love the nostalgia (related to the video game and cards when I was young), all the awesome artworks drawn by awesome artists, the huge diversity of cards/items, all the history behind each card/item, and to discuss with other collectors around the world.
Entitlement, deliberate misinformation, any shady shit.
Nostalgia, sharing the thrill of the chase and the feeling of completion with friends and family striving for and hitting collection goals, sharing knowledge and forming bonds and friendships with fellow collectors in our individual pursuits to be the very best like no one ever was.
Crackers, scammers, tapers, rafflers, and customizers…in that order.
My reasoning for number 1 is, I worked for many years on legitimizing the collectible side of the hobby. Having a relationship with PSA and getting new collectors into grading was my most important priority. Going from 20 ‘psa pokemon’ listings on eBay to what’s now over 30,000 listings means my efforts didn’t go to waste.
To me, what’s happening now is heartbreaking. Habitual crackers and PSA complainers threaten the reputation and legitimacy of the service. Crackers have diminished the strength of the grade. Now people complain about weak 10s knowing they probably had damage overlooked on a cracked and resubmitted 8 or 9. Plus the extra submissions overwhelm the system/graders even more.
Sure, the crackers and PSA love it but it hurts the hobby and honest collectors get screwed.
A positive note would be all of those who go above and beyond the norm to protect and grow the hobby. Charlie, Nick, Scott, Leon, Joe O., and many others.
Conclusion: fortunately there’s waaaay more positives in this great hobby and that in itself will protect it…even from itself.
That you can come back to the hobby any time and participate as much or as little as you want without needing to be an expert. I love that the hobby has something for absolute newbies or for the veteran experts and anyone in between.
Hate: Custom cards and people who say custom cards should be condoned because it’s ‘artistic expression’ or it’s ‘no big deal’. Realistically, 99.99% of ‘custom cards’ are counterfeits or partial counterfeits meant to imitate real cards, pollute the hobby, and will be used to scam someone down the line. People who condone them are complicit.
Love: The thrill of the chase. The excitement and euphoria of coming across a hidden treasure that sat in some dusty binder for 2 decades and is now worth hundreds or thousands of dollars.
Love: I really love the fact I can meet so many collectors with so many different collections. People collect English, Japanese, graded or ungraded, certain species or artists, promos or sets, miscuts, errors, non-tcg, oldbacks, newbacks, sealed products, 1st ed or unlimited, different grades, different eras there’s just so much you could potentially collect. I love talking to people about their collecting goals because there’s just so much variety out there.
Love: Collecting Pokemon Cards and finding this community that loves and cares so much about it essentially saved me and kept me sane. Discovering the many nuances within each set or even specific cards and all the nerdy information of print runs/errors/rarities is so cool to think about.
Hate: The general “hate” that people express towards others because they collect, invest, or enjoy Pokemon in their own way. Scammers, Rafflers, and Counterfeiters can go to hell, but the rest is up to each individual on how they collect, what they collect, whether its purely for nostalgia, investing or flipping. We do what we have to do and each individual’s situation in life is different.
ex: I got a lot of hate for opening a LC box to sell the packs. I do not collect LC and have other collecting goals. This was a way to get closer to that goal.
It annoys most of us COLLECTORS because before this forum was E4 it was called UPCCC, which means ULTIMATE POKÉMON CARD COLLECTORS CLUB. Emphasis on collectors. You are right though, people are free to do what they desire with their items, just like some of us are free to dislike what we dislike.
What I hate: The PSA 10 snobbery and people who value the grade over the card.
What I love: The community and marketplace. Before Pokemon, I collected Wrestling, The Simpsons, Comic and TV/Movie Cards. I still do actually - but they have pretty stale markets and the chase cards don’t offer much of a chase. Not that I want to sell, but if I’m going to be pouring in 100’s and 1000’s of dollars, it’s nice to know I could get my money back if the need ever arise.