Whoops! 
Got back in 2013, not entirely sure what prompted it! I guess just browsing my childhood collection got me researching stuff on eBay and realising I had adult money to buy this stuff and discovering grading. I think one of the things I brought first was a base set booster box for Ā£400, of course I opened it which probably in hindsight wasnāt the best choice but I had alot of fun 
I was laying in bed one night when suddenly my room was filled with a flash of white light and two hazy figures took shape in the doorway. One of them spoke āand this is what your life will be like if you donāt start collecting PokĆ©mon right nowā and the other figure gasped in horror, begging to be ātaken back.ā They sounded just like me. Then they disappeared in another flash of light.
Thought PokƩmon was a waste of money and for kids until that point but then started collecting with great urgency.
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I was into pokemon as a kid playing red and blue. Then I casually (playing with friends in the school yard) got into the tcg when it came out. When I got a little older I stopped.
Then Pokemon Go came out and I went down the rabbit hole that is Pokemon. What got me back into the TCG was when I saw the Evolutions set and all the nostalgia hit me again. Shining Legends was the 1st set though was the 1st set though that got me truly excited and that I preordered ahead of time.
I was into Pokemon as a kid, did all aspects of it. Games, cards, anime. But it was short lived, I dipped before the Team Rocket set came out. Came back hard in the lead up to Sun & Moon, but mainly just the games. Sadly, it took till the hype around He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Namedās 1st ed box break that got me back into card collecting. Which has quickly become the focus of my Pokemon enjoying. Watched a ton of openings in that time frame, then finally decided to see if I liked opening things myself. Headed over to Wal-Mart and found a single pack of Darkness Ablaze. Told myself that if there was nothing in it, I could move on. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you look at it, I pulled a Rainbow Rose full art trainer out of that pack. The rest was a quick decent into madness which eventually brought me here!
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My story is a bit unconventional, to say the least.
Of course, I initially started in 1999 like most everyone else. I collected right through Team Rocket in the spring of 2000 before I lost interest in the cards. I played Gold and Silver, but for some reason, I just wasnāt interested in collecting the cards anymore.
My old cards accidentally got thrown out at some point, and from the back half of 2000 through 2016, Pokemon cards never even really crossed my mind.
But then, at the tail end of 2016, I for some reason decided to go back and purchase all of the Beanie Babies I didnāt have as a kid. Pretty much any '90s kid remembers that Beanie Babies were the original craze. Itās probably safe to say that everyone in here who started collecting Pokemon cards in 1999 also had a stash of Beanie Babies. Of course, the Beanie Baby craze was ultimately supplanted by Pokemon, and I actually think that Pokemon was one of the major factors in the essential death of Beanie Babies. It was the new cool thing.
Well, after I finished completing my Beanie Baby collection (and threw them into a bin and have looked at them maybe five times since), Pokemon cards flashed into my mind. I thought, āYou know what? Let me see what Pokemon cards are doing right now.ā This was the beginning of 2017, so right in the middle of the Pokemon Go/Evolutions boom. The thing was, unlike 95 percent of other people who re-joined the hobby around this time period, I didnāt care about Pokemon Go, and I didnāt even know Evolutions existed. Me getting back into it was a direct result of Beanie Babies.
So I went on eBay, searched up some cards and saw some PSA-graded cards for the first time. Had no clue what the heck they were, and I was pretty taken back by the value of them. I remember watching some videos from Gem Mint Pokemon and another guy named PSA Pokemon, the latter of which recommended watching a certain fellow named smpratte. Started watching Scott, and in February 2017, I made my first purchase: a PSA 9 No Symbol Jungle Kangaskhan that I won for $24 on auction. Unfortunately, I ended up flipping the card for $50. I would do anything to have that exact card back now.
Got back into it then and havenāt looked back.
For me, my re-entrance had nothing to do with Pokemon Go. It had nothing to do with Evolutions. It was all thanks to our old friends Chilly the Polar Bear, Peking the Panda, Humphrey the Camel and their fellow bean-stuffed cohorts.
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Just curious - since there are hundreds/thousands of Beanie Babies, what did you consider complete? haha
Haha good question. Just the ones that were around when I was collecting a kid. So everything up until 1999 I guess.
Your story resonated with me and is quite reminiscent of mine. It made me want to share as well.
I collected from '99 to about Neo Destiny. My first time reentering the hobby was late 2012. I was at Michigan (edit: state) University, and, at a time that should be the best and most exciting in a youthās life up to that point, it was my saddest, darkest, most depressing time in my life. I was 20, I had come of age in a world I was increasingly disillusioned by. Phone screens consuming people, complete feeling of alienation from peers despite having some close friends around, seeing the way most young people were going to fill into their adult lifestyles that was just so far from my reality and dreams. The future looked like a bleak thing, it looked like a far departure from how I thought things were going to progress.
I just felt very, very alone. And one thing I missed so dearly, was not just more innocent times as a kid, but a more innocent era of society. I began to look at my old things, my memorabilia, and went on a literal nostalgia trip. I started going around buying all the artifacts from a lost time, that no one cared about. VHS tapes of distant films and shows I faintly remembered, N64/PS1/SNES games (and their boxes) that I had never owned as a child, posters, records, even a few beanie babies that I was fond of and that invoked memories. Then I remembered. I had kept my pokemon blue/red, my gold/silver, and my gb color. But I remembered how fond I was of the TV show. It was also readily available on tape, for quarters, all over the place. I acquired the entire first season, and it must have been halfway through it that I was spurred to go looking at the cards.
It was an instant wave, an explosion of that feeling we get, yet canāt describe, when we see those cards, the color, the glowā¦ for the first time in many years, since childhood. The effect was immediate. I reminisced of the times I got base/jungle/fossil packs as a child at my local treasures shop. First it started with single packs. Then I started looking into the idea of getting a whole box. I distinctly remember shadowless being about $600 and while I wanted that, I was a broke check-to-check kid, so I went with unlimited for half that price. Opening that was a dream, a waking dream. I immediately got a jungle one, and a few yugioh boxes (which by the way were a fraction of the price), and a ton more fossil packs.
Overall, the feeling was a hook, I completed all the original era binders, bought shadowless singles, rocket, gym, and within a year, saw a full binder of all my original childhood sets. It was very, very rewarding.
Looking back, this was a clear period of renewal and reinvigoration for me. I dropped out of university just a few months later, my soul and inner child renewed. I got my priorities in order and made a change. I moved across the country, get into my field of passion, the arts, film. This act, of engaging with my child self, was a symbolic one. My inner child, my childlike wonder, is alive and well to this day. It is key for my constantly pursuing my ambitions.
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Standard profile. 90ās kid, grew up in the late 90ās-early 2000ās craze. Did it all, the cards and the games. Played and collected through FireRed/LeafGreen then moved on. By this time this was junior high and I donāt know why but it seemed like everyone was only āintoā one thing at a time back then. Iād like to get a time machine and go tell young Cody itās entirely possible to be interested in more than one thing at a time 
Anyhow, fast forward to late 2019. I was meandering around Target and saw a huge display for the newly released Sword/Shield. I thought, what the hell, that sounds like fun. Bought the game and the nostalgia hit me like a brick. That led me to getting back into cards, and the rest is history as they say.
I started in japanese in 1999, and I never stopped. A friend gave me some JP packs and a gym deck. I was hooked. I never grew up, in many ways, until more recently, but hey, I have a sizeable and valuable collection now.
I decided I would bring my collecting out of the closet again about 6 years ago, and really started selling then, which got me intersted in actually paying attention to the market. I had a girlfriend at the time who also had at least a light nostalgic passion for cards, and we sold her Team Rocket Returns and ex Dragon cards for a decent price. (NM condition, shoot me know. 
)
Iāve continued to be faithful to my love of the cards and balance it with life. IDK what my future girlfriend/spouse will think, but sheāll at least accept it because itās part of me. And with a healthy mindset and impact on your life, any hobby or passion is perfectly acceptable.
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2017 I pulled a Rainbow rare tapu Lele from a dollar tree pack and thought I was rich. It was a 90 dollar card and that was considered expensive then.
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Started in the late 90ās. Used to ride my bike with a buddy 2+ miles away to this little local card shop in a busted up strip mall. Tiny shop, filled with cats. Smelled of cat piss and cigaretteās. Lady loved those damn cats. Husband would yell at the wife because the cats were all over the counter. I would buy single packs for unlimited base and fossil/jungle. Had the little pikachu digital yellow pet thing. Wore it on my hip in 6th grade and got picked on. Kept it in my pocket from then on. I watched the shows, I battled friends at lunch, I collected the cards. I loved it and truly cherish that time. Not sure why I left but I did a couple years later and gave everything to a friend with a young son who liked pokemon.
I came back in 2017. I had just graduated from school with my first big boy job with this girl I thought I would spend the rest of my life withā¦ it ended after 3 years in 2017 and it was for the best. Very toxic relationship that I was just blinded by the entire time. It took many months before I could properly look back on how bad it was. Friends and family tried to warn me. During the first few months after the breakup I intently tried to work on doing what I wanted. What I liked. What made ME happyā¦ and I found pokemon. And myself again.
I started searching online about pokemon and stumbled upon SMprattes videos and it really helped me re-engage in pokemon and get me through a difficult time in my life. I went all out with the nostalgia feels during this time. N64 with all my old games and WOTC pokemon cards. Almost pulled the trigger on a 2000 Nissan Skyline GTR with low miles for 50k that was my dream car, but didnāt. I figured out a lot and grew a lot.
In 2020 I had to take another break from the hobby. My mom had a heart attack while I was in the first year of my residency. My parents didnāt have any health insurance and it was a complete mess. If you donāt know, most residencies work you to death while you average like $6 and hour for years. I even had to cancel my patreon with Scott which was such a major bummer. This made me really sad TBH. My family and I got through that time. My mom is well now and much healthier. Iām much better. And Iāve been back 5-6 months, out of residency, really enjoying myself and the hobby again. 
-Matthew
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I kept seeing those damn sexy shining legends packs on shelves in 2018. I held out for a while but it had pokemon on my mind and I pulled out my childhood binder one day and bought my first shining legends packs soon after.
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I had played around DP era both games and a bit of the cards but mainly games. And I worked at a summer camp with kids for a few years, every summer we would help them do trades and such on a specific day of the week. Remember getting a xerneus gifted to me as a counselor which was great as a 17 year old haha.
2020 sold some sports cards for $ saw PokĆ©mon was going up bought some of that, sold some, and then became a collector after watching Scott and realizing I canāt flip this stuff forever and rather buy and hold. Glad to be here
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I like reading your stories. Feels like Iām stepping into your shoes for a brief moment.
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I somehow got fed MaxMoefoe pokemon content on youtube back in 2018. He looked like he was having a lot of fun so I ordered a bunch of pokemon promo boxes on amazon for the first time in 18 years and itās been downhill ever since.
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almost the same with me. Watched him and leonhart opening vintage packs in 2019 and after watching like 10 videos, went to ebay and ordered a base, jungle, fossil master set for like 300 bucks,
unfortunately I didnāt buy anything else until 2021 when the prices were 10x higher and now most stuff I love is out of reach.
Joined the Marines for 4 years, Got out in 2011 got married and didnāt touch Pokemon for another 7 years. Towards the end of 2019 I got together with my current girlfriend and as we organized the office she saw my old Pokemon collection in a box and recommended I organize it.
I then stumbled upon a goodwill auction site that featured boxes of mixed cards for cheap. I bought a few and remember finding a Gold Star Flareon (had a crease though 
) in one of the boxes. The excitement from those boxes and going through my old collection unleashed the wave of going all in on Pokemon. Shortly after I found Smpratte and Rudy and couldnāt stop the momentum. First ebay purchase back in was a 1st edition Red Cheeks Pikachu for $25.
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Started collecting at the around 2007. I collected through around 2010. In 2011 I took a break since I didnāt like the black and white era much (now I feel that I was a little to harsh on it) but near the end of that generation I watched like the last season of the anime on Cartoon Network and fell right back into collecting and started with legendary treasures.
So When the XY era began I started collecting heavily and since then I havenāt taken any breaks from PokĆ©mon. The only pause I did was near the covid spike, but that only meant I didnāt buying graded cards for about a year while still purchasing Japanese lots of raw cards.
This year and the end of 2022 is the most Iāve been involved with collecting mentally and monetarily since I found a new category to collect as it wasnāt possible for me before Covid due to high school and the expenses needed.
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