What is it like to collect Pokemon cards in your country?

Collecting
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What is it like to collect Pokemon cards in your country? Every time we get a user from a new country, I’ll add the country to the list below.

Here are a few questions, feel free to answer some of them or none at all:

  • When did you first learn about Pokemon in your country?
  • Where do you purchase Pokemon cards in your country?
  • Do you have card shops and community organizations in your country?
  • What is Pokemon social media like in your country?
  • Is sealed product available in your country?
  • What language(s) of Pokemon cards are available in your country?
  • How “big” is Pokemon in your country? Is it enjoyed by all ages?
  • What do you wish for that would improve the Pokemon collecting scene in your country?
  • Do you see Pokemon collecting growing in your country?

Countries Visited :earth_americas: :earth_africa: :earth_asia: :

  • Australia
  • Argentina
  • Barbados
  • Brazil
  • Canada
  • Finland
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Norway
  • Spain
  • Switzerland
  • The Netherlands
  • United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland)
  • United States (Indiana, North Dakota)
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Well then let me start for Germany:

  1. I personally learned about it in 2010 when a fellow student in elementary school gifted me a Pokémon card. Pokémon in general arrived in Germany in Q4 1999 though.

  2. Usually on Cardmarket nowadays, but sometimes especially for everything that’s not single cards also on some smaller German online stores or the online stores of store chains.

  3. Specifically card Shops not really, maybe a handful in the country, but only since the last few years. But
    Play! Pokémon Events and participating stores were always there and are not too uncommon.

  4. I would say pretty normal, we have official Pokémon accounts on all major social media platforms TPCI uses and of course many individuals of the Pokémon community.

  5. Yes

  6. Well officially distributed just German, but many online shops also sell Japanese and English cards/products and the other European languages as well as Korean are not a problem to get either via Cardmarket.

  7. Enjoyed by all ages I would say yes, just like everywhere else tbh. How big is a bit hard to tell, I think the only official statistic disclosed by country would be Pokémon GO revenue, where Germany ranked third in the world. If I had to guess I would probably say that Germany is the biggest market for Pokémon in Europe at least revenue-wise.

  8. Just give us Pokémon Center EU please. Well and some German exclusive promos or products would be cool too I guess.

  9. I think after the big hype in 2021 the market is relatively saturated now, but of course there are always kids getting into Pokémon. I would say the popularity will probably remain stable at this point, because it’s pretty high already.

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:norway:

  1. September 1999
  2. I don’t
  3. A few shops and a few passionate individuals
  4. Terrible
  5. In the form of blisters, tins and the odd booster from the most recent unpopular sets
  6. English
  7. Decently big for such a small country I would say, mostly young adults and below
  8. More available boosters in stores that are conducive to children
  9. No
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Country - India

  • When did you first learn about Pokemon in your country?
    Summer of 2003 when the anime first aired was when I came to know about Pokemon.

  • Where do you purchase Pokemon cards in your country?
    It is not my country of residence now, so I don’t actively purchase any. But if I would, I would just do it from Japan directly.

  • Do you have card shops and community organizations in your country?
    Not in my region and none that I have heard of in other places. Back when it also launched, there were no dedicated card shops. I used to just buy it from general stores, most of which were counterfeits. We had Funskool though :grin:

  • What is Pokemon social media like in your country?
    Not too much. Official Pokemon accounts for GO and UNITE are active but I don’t follow either. Don’t know of any Poketubers in the TCG space as well.

  • Is sealed product available in your country?
    No. Well technically via Amazon it is possible, but there are still issues of them being counterfeit products.

  • What language(s) of Pokemon cards are available in your country?
    It was English before, and will probably still be in English.

  • How “big” is Pokemon in your country? Is it enjoyed by all ages?
    Pokemon GO is very healthy by Indian standards and there have been special events being held for Pokemon GO. Pokemon UNITE is also picking up a lot of traction due to a strong MOBA culture within the country. We also had 2 official Indian teams playing in the UNITE worlds championships.

  • What do you wish for that would improve the Pokemon collecting scene in your country?
    Considering the socio-economic conditions, I don’t think Pokemon tcg collecting will ever pick up. As a society, India has moved on from Pokemon cards and they are already looked on fondly as nostalgia items. Almost every collection you see posted on sale on Indian secondary markets are counterfeit.

  • Do you see Pokemon collecting growing in your country?
    No to be very honest.

Cheers!

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UK

  • I think I might have learnt about it in 1999, but I definitely knew about it in 2000 because I was lucky enough to get a copy of Pokemon Yellow. I got my first pack around this time too, which was Base Set.
  • I usually buy from ebay or Japan, but I buy modern from a local LGS and online stores like Chaos Cards or Magic Madhouse.
  • Yes, Brotherhood Games is my local store, there are a few others in London and quite a few spread across the UK. They’re usually focused on Magic and Warhammer and also do Pokemon, One piece, etc. I’m sure there are organisations, there are also card shows and stuff.
  • Plenty of people use Instagram and Facebook to buy and sell, and there are plenty of poke influencers and whatnotters etc… :slight_smile:
  • Yes sealed product is available everywhere including supermarkets and other chain stores like Waterstones and WHSmith.
  • English.
  • I think it’s pretty massive, plenty of kids are definitely collecting the cards, toys and playing the games.
  • I’d like more local stores that specialise in Pokemon cards and sell singles, my local is definitely a stand out in comparison to most.
  • A little less stonking and a little more collecting.
  • I personally think we’re at a bit of a peak for collecting at the moment, but I think whatever trend hits the US will be replicated here.
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Nice thread idea!

Australia:

  1. I first learned about Pokemon in 2006 or so, from my classmates.
  2. I get almost all my cards from overseas. Decent condition singles are nonexistent here, so I end up buying entire sets worth of singles on TCGPlayer (which doesn’t ship to Australia), having them all sent to a US warehouse before consolidating and forwarding them here.
  3. There is a healthy community here, we just had an Arita signing event at a major TCG convention last weekend in my city. Interest is definitely at an all-time high.
  4. I feel like social media is fairly similar to other Western countries.
  5. Sealed product is available from various retailers and even a network of vending machines scattered around the country which only carry trading cards. These are great because they often stock Japanese product as well.
(They look like this)

Screenshot_6
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  1. English and Japanese at more niche stores + vending machines.
  2. Pokemon absolutely transcends ages here. More often than not when I go into an LGS, there are some primary school-aged kids at the counter trying to barter some kind of (usually very unbalanced) trade with the staff.
  3. I wish there was a place to get old cards without paying exorbitant GST and international shipping from the US.
  4. I do see it growing, I think social media/instagram is mostly what fuels it here with a lot of interest in modern.
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Lets do that for Switzerland:

  • When did you first learn about Pokemon in your country?
    When it first released in Europe 1999/2000s

  • Where do you purchase Pokemon cards in your country?
    I buy them from Germany or Japan because you can get boxes only from specialized online shops which charge insane prices. You can get boosters tho at some supermarkets

  • Do you have card shops and community organizations in your country?
    Unfortunately not. We have some Manga shops that also sell cards and one Shop in my City that is doing release events

  • What is Pokemon social media like in your country?
    No Idea, I don’t really know anyone.

  • Is sealed product available in your country?
    Apart from boosters or blisters, not really. Only these Manga shops carry them sometimes for insane prices.

  • What language(s) of Pokemon cards are available in your country?
    English and German (Maybe other languages in the other parts of the country)

  • How “big” is Pokemon in your country? Is it enjoyed by all ages?
    I guess fairly small? I would say similar to Germany but with way fewer options to interact with a community

  • What do you wish for that would improve the Pokemon collecting scene in your country?
    More community events and the option to buy sealed boxes at reasonable prices. I don’t even dare to dream of having a Poke center in Europe, being able to grade via PSA in Europe or getting any kind of special Promo.
    It already would be enough to get every set release in shops. I Never saw a single Crown Zenith product in a normal store.

  • Do you see Pokemon collecting growing in your country?
    I guess slightly? Again, no real Idea.

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Finland:

  • When did you first learn about Pokemon in your country?
    -The end of 1999 when the anime was first on tv here, shortly after became the card mania which i strongly took part of.
  • Where do you purchase Pokemon cards in your country?
    -I usually buy just online since it’s easier, cheaper and wider possibilities with everything from singles to sealed products, occasionally i buy single boosters from the few lgs that exist and rarely from grocery stores
  • Do you have card shops and community organizations in your country?
    -Few lgs that sell pokemon but the prices are very high. I know some community organizations exist but i’m not part of any so i know basically nothing of them.
  • What is Pokemon social media like in your country?
    -It’s kinda limited to fb groups of card selling and pokemon go, very few vloggers/influencers/what do you call them and they all are kinda cringe (even more than they usually are)
  • Is sealed product available in your country?
    -Quite well but the price is very high. The lgs usually have the prices a bit lower (still easier to buy online from big european sellers tho) but grocery stores and similar have it so high i don’t understand who is buying them. The single boosters usually are around 7$ and triple booster blisters can easily be almost 30$
  • What language(s) of Pokemon cards are available in your country?
    -It’s english, i only know of the first products that had the rule inserts translated in finnish. (Which is a blessing, any gaming/collecting/pokemon stuff in finnish sounds horrible)
  • How “big” is Pokemon in your country? Is it enjoyed by all ages?
    -I think it’s big at least compared to other franchises, basically everyone knows pokemon and especially kids still go nuts over it. The age spectrum is very wide but feels like real dedication is a rarity, feels like every time i try to talk about cards with locals the amount of knowledge or focus is quite limited. Pokemon go is very healthy tho.
  • What do you wish for that would improve the Pokemon collecting scene in your country?
    -I’m repeating myself but really the prices. Doesn’t really encourage to buy stuff locally when you either have to travel to the big cities for lgs or pay almost the same for one booster that would give you two boosters when bought online.
  • Do you see Pokemon collecting growing in your country?
    -Not sure if grow but i certainly see it remaining as high as it is for some time, even though the persistent or deep dedication isn’t that high the excitement still is real
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Canada:

  1. Spring of 1999. Kids started bringing the cards into class and then I started watching the anime on YTV. Eventually I got Pokemon Red & Blue on a floppy disk of all things and played it all summer before I finally got a Gameboy later on.
  2. Usually online, but sometimes from local game stores as well. My fav online stores aside from eBay would be 401 Games and FaceToFace… I’ve gotten some fantastic deals and cards from them.
  3. Yes. Lots of them around, especially since 2020. There’s been several new collectibles stores opening up and we even have a local PSA dealer now.
  4. Honestly I’m not sure. I see several people from my country posting on E4 and other sites all the time. Seems about average as any other place.
  5. Yes, lots of sealed product is available usually. Primarily English, and some shops stock Japanese as well.
  6. English primarily, but there’s also French as well even during the WOTC days. As I mentioned, some stores carry Japanese also.
  7. I’d say it’s quite popular overall. We have a ton of nationalities here and so it seems to reach a wide/diverse audience. I get the impression that most people are familiar with Pokemon to some extent.
  8. I feel that MTG has dominated the TCG playing scene the most. Also, Flesh & Blood is really popular here surprisingly in my experience. For collectors, honestly I feel there’s way more people into Sports cards and even comics than anything else at times. I hope that over time there’s more Pokemon collectors and other conventions that take place. A lot has changed the past few years though, so I’m optimistic.
  9. Definitely will grow I feel. It feels more popular than ever and I see many stores wanting to buy Pokemon cards than ever before. I have at least 5 stores just within a short distance who would buy parts of my collection in a heartbeat I feel.
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The Netherlands :netherlands:

Near the end of 1999. :thinking: I know I saw the second episode on my television on FoxKids, and not too long after (probably a few weeks at most) me and my little brother received our first (English unlimited Base Set) booster packs from our parents. Apparently, the very first Dutch Pokémon episode was shown on October 12th, 1999; and second episode the day after.

As a kid, I bought all my Pokémon cards from the local Intertoys store, and most of my family members bought it from the Bart Smit toys store.

Nowadays, I buy most of my English cards from either CardMarket or eBay, and cards in other languages all of the place depending on which language (e.g. German/French/Italian/Spanish on CardMarket or their respective eBay; Japanese from Mercari/YahooJapan through Buyee or FromJapan; etc.)

Yes, although I’ve never been to any events. But I do know there are national Pokémon tournaments and events; and in the 2010 we also had Dutch Pokémon Day events, which even resulted in some Pokémon Day stamped Dutch exclusive cards.

Not sure. Our country has always been pretty international, and we learn four languages at school from a young age. And although cartoons are mostly in Dutch, almost everything else on TV, as well as the internet, YouTube, songs, etc. are a lot in English.

So social media is mostly just the international stuff, like Instagram; YouTube; Facebook; reddit; forums like this; etc.

Yes, a.f.a.i.k. you can still buy Pokémon booster packs and decks from Intertoys shops. I’m not sure whether you can buy booster boxes, though. Usually the stores (in my youth at least) had maybe one or two open boxes to sell packs, but I’ve never seen anyone with an entire booster box. I had never opened a booster box until I was an adult (the first box I opened was a Korean one iirc).

Almost exclusively English. Although the Base Set, Jungle set, and Fossil set (as well as two promos) were released in Dutch. Regardless, my local Intertoys shop only had English booster packs and decks, so I’ve never opened any Dutch booster packs myself, and the few Dutch cards I got were through trading.

Not entirely sure. I know a lot of Dutch collectors through online communities, so I have the feeling there are quite a lot of us. But since I don’t have kids and haven’t been to an Intertoys store or similar in more than 15 years, I honestly don’t know the current state of Pokémon among kids these days. If I ever get kids myself, I’m defintely gonna introduce them to Pokémon, though. :smiley:

Not really Pokémon related, but just more decent prices and less import/shipping fees. A Dutch booster box collector probably has to pay almost double what an US booster box collector has to pay for certain products, just because everything has to be imported from overseas.

As I mentioned two questions ago, I have no idea. :person_shrugging:

Greetz,
Quuador

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Italy :it::pizza:

  • When did you first learn about Pokemon in your country?
    I was 4-5 yrs old (so ~2002): anime, cards, games were everywhere in kindergarten/primary school

  • Where do you purchase Pokemon cards in your country?
    I like cardmarket and ebay.

  • Do you have card shops and community organizations in your country?
    There are local game shops, but a lot of these shifted their focus towards modern tcgs (pokemon, one piece), and manga.

  • What is Pokemon social media like in your country?
    I don’t really follow pokemon creators or social media, but I think they’re in line with the most mainstream ones based in the US. Mostly hype, big purchases and box breaks, with very little informative content.

  • Is sealed product available in your country?
    Yes, they’re available in supermarkets, gamestops, lgs, news kiosks

  • What language(s) of Pokemon cards are available in your country?
    Italian, english, japanese. Depending on the set and where you are buying obviously

  • How “big” is Pokemon in your country? Is it enjoyed by all ages?
    Yeah, big. 20-35 years old people are the majority, but kids are collecting too, the brand here is pretty solid at the moment.

  • What do you wish for that would improve the Pokemon collecting scene in your country?
    Grading in europe seems not so big and I have some difficult finding cards outside us sometimes, Also I don’t really like the amount of trash slabs flooding my ebay lol. Please stop grading played card with GRAAD lol.
    Also there are still a lot of unprofessional sellers, people here are really prone to misgrading: when I buy cards from dutch or german sellers they’re often better than expected.

  • Do you see Pokemon collecting growing in your country?
    To be honest I think the peak was already reached during covid. Manga, figures, other tcgs are popular and will compete with pokemon here.

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United Kingdom.

  • When did you first learn about Pokemon in your country?

Around 1998 or 1999, I couldn’t tell you where I first heard of it but it was everywhere.

  • Where do you purchase Pokemon cards in your country?

Mostly online via cardmarket, pokemon center, magic madhouse, chaos cards and Facebook groups.

  • Do you have card shops and community organizations in your country?

Yes, but there’s only 1 in London - brotherhood games. It’s out of the way for me so I don’t tend to go.

  • What is Pokemon social media like in your country?

Given its pretty global and we’re an English speaking country (obviously) it’s basically the same as the US.

  • Is sealed product available in your country?

Yes.

  • What language(s) of Pokemon cards are available in your country?

Due to proximity to Europe, any European language but primarily English and Japanese.

  • How “big” is Pokemon in your country? Is it enjoyed by all ages?

Massive but certainly mostly amongst kids (unsurprisingly). Theres a huge scene though and trading/selling groups are very active.

  • What do you wish for that would improve the Pokemon collecting scene in your country?

As we’re a secondary English market and all the cards come from the US, we have lower availability overall and a more expensive second hand market. I’d like more availability or lower import costs so we could purchase from USA more, but this is not realistic.
I’d also like PSA to set up a UK office.

  • Do you see Pokemon collecting growing in your country?

Yes, it’s as massive as its ever been. Huge.

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Brazil :brazil:

1. When did you first learn about Pokemon in your country?
Pretty much the same way every country did. Around 98 the cartoon came in along with Pokemon Red and Blue for GameBoy, then a year later TCG joined them and the rest is history.

2. Where do you purchase Pokemon cards in your country?
As a kid I use to buy it from local stores, one or two specifically that existed in my town. Nowadays I’ve stop buying Pokemon Cards in here because the company that manufactures and sells them in Portuguese makes lowest quality products than english and japanese counterparts, so I don’t mess with that no more. So mostly Ebay and when I’m travelling.

3. Do you have card shops and community organizations in your country?
Yes we do.

4. What is Pokemon social media like in your country?
Is not as exciting as in the other countries and creators don’t have access (and many times, don’t have the money) to go for higher end / rarer products. But is growing slowly.

5. Is sealed product available in your country?
Yes

6. What language(s) of Pokemon cards are available in your country?
Officially, Portuguese, but some sellers also sell english, japanese and chinese.

7. How “big” is Pokemon in your country? Is it enjoyed by all ages?
Big. Not as big as it was in my youth but still reasonably big. I see kids playing Pokemon Go and messing around with cards frequently.

8. What do you wish for that would improve the Pokemon collecting scene in your country?
PSA or other grading companies making it easier to grade things from here. Also, COPAG (the subsidiary that manufactures the TCG here) leaving the license back to Nintendo.

9. Do you see Pokemon collecting growing in your country?
A little bit. Honestly, is very amateur still, mostly, with not as many people with rarer and higher end cards in their hands. Hopefully it keeps going as people learn more about it. ATM, everyone wants to make a quick buck out of shitty cards.

Cheers!

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ARGENTINA :argentina:

• When did you first learn about Pokemon in your country?
Back in 1999/2000.

• Where do you purchase Pokemon cards in your country?
There are several stores and online stores in Argentina, plenty of instagram sellers too. In my case i mostly buy from eBay or PWCC or through instagram.
• Do you have card shops and community organizations in your country?
Yes, most of them are in Buenos Aires.

• What is Pokemon social media like in your country?
Its obviously smaller compared to USA/EU but it has been growing a lot during last few years.

• Is sealed product available in your country?
Yes, but most of the times for 2x retail prices due to import duties.

• What language(s) of Pokemon cards are available in your country?
English, Japanese and Spanish, in that order.

• How “big” is Pokemon in your country? Is it enjoyed by all ages?
I’d say its really big, probably not as big as it was during 1999/2000s , but there are card shows at least 3 times a year if not more well organized, lots of new people and i feel like there’s a solid organic growth.

• What do you wish for that would improve the Pokemon collecting scene in your country?
Easier Access to Sealed product will grant people cheaper prices; which means more cards. Sealed is insanely expensive in our country.
Also easier ways to grade cards with PSA/BGS/CGC from here. I’d say if any of these companies made a quarter in a country like Brazil (near us) that would be perfect.

• Do you see Pokemon collecting growing in your country?

It has been growing for years now, the conventions i assist are packed, i get daily messages on my gram from new collectors from Argentina and nearby countries seeking for advices. I thought that after the pandemic ; logan paul and whatever happened in between, the hype would fade and the people would leave, but it didnt happen. The Argentinian community is huge at this time.

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Dude I follow you on IG! Impressive collection given our landscape in South America. Congrats! :slight_smile:

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Country: the Netherlands, a bit of an addition to @quuador’s reply

  • When did you first learn about Pokemon in your country?
    I dont remember exactly but I guess when I was 6/7 so that would be around 2008.

  • Where do you purchase Pokemon cards in your country?
    There are a lot of avenues to buy second hand and new cards. New cards and products can be bought at in person and online stores, booster boxes are pretty much only available online, but are always available for the last sets. In person events also have a lot of these products. These events also have a lot of vintage cards, it is always nice to visit those events to but cards. Online marketplaces include cardmarket, marktplaats and facebook.

  • Do you have card shops and community organizations in your country?
    specific card shops such as in the US are not really a thing here, but some shops with just pokemon have arised in the last year, I have not visited them but I dont think they have a lot of vintage items.

  • What is Pokemon social media like in your country?
    I am not on social media a lot, apart from facebook. This is the medium I am most active on, this is the biggest medium in the Netherlands for buying and selling and overall community bonding. I dont know much about other media.

  • Is sealed product available in your country?
    Yes, pretty much any kind of recently released sealed product is available apart from regional exclusives, but those are imported by some people. So a lot of sealed product is available, but some is only available at quite the markup.

  • What language(s) of Pokemon cards are available in your country?
    A lot of languages are available via cardmarket, but english is the main language for sealed product. Dutch cards were also released for base jungle and fossil. (unlimited dutch fossil might be one of the rarest released wotc did, on par or slightly below the level of 1st edition spanish neo genesis and unlimited korean base)

  • How “big” is Pokemon in your country? Is it enjoyed by all ages?
    It is very big and enjoyed by all ages, pokemon events keep growing and attract primary school kids up to 40 year olds. Not a lot of older people, but that is the case everywhere I guess.

  • What do you wish for that would improve the Pokemon collecting scene in your country?
    I think it is pretty great right now, one thing I might change would be import charges, since they really increase the price of cards in the Netherlands. But overall I like where the hobby is at over here.

  • Do you see Pokemon collecting growing in your country?
    I thought it would have stopped growing a year or two ago, and the facebook groups have not grown as fast as those years, but they are definitely still growing. I am still wondering about why the events are still growing, but they are and the bigger events are still sold out most of the times. This autumn the first 2 day event of just pokemon is planned. It is still growing, but I still think it will stop growing any moment. I have no clue, but it is already very big, so we will see.

Nice thread to read and to compose.

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  • It’s so easy to collect Japanese cards in Italy. Everything is free shipping and Japanese Ebay sellers are so nice - they always send me additional gift-cards (maybe I’m just lucky) that I enjoy. I have a separate binder for random japanese cards i get from Ebay (getting 2-5 is normal)
  • English - not so easy if you are “collecting”. I collect master sets in English only, and I feel nervous sometimes because if you miss something - you have to buy from western sellers with insane shipping prices.
  • I really really like that in italy cards kept english pokemon names. This triggers me less when i collect italian pokemon cards (which is majority because that’s what i get when i find cards in the wild or buy them from stores). In germany Charizard is “Glurak” and i would go insane looking at how different my collection looks… I still buy German cards too - sometimes i just like some of those names ( Perrserker is Mauzinger in [GER] and that’s so cool)

Overall it’s fun. Italians are obsessed with collecting stuff and sports cards as well. After all one of the first loot boxes (Kinder Surprise) on this planet was invented in Italy :sweat_smile:

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Chiming in from the United States (Indiana)!

When did you first learn about Pokemon in your country?

When I was around 3 or 4, so circa 2001-2. The anime was aired on tv, and I was instantly obsessed.

Where do you purchase Pokemon cards in your country?

A myriad of places- I have a few local card and game stores I frequent for singles and events. Big box stores like Target and Walmart also sell cards. They’re pretty readily available on shelves nowadays, but I don’t buy much sealed aside from my one free pack a month from GameStop personally.

I also purchase from online shops such as eBay, Mercari, MercariJP, etc. My experience here may be a bit different since I’m a lot more comfortable on Japanese sites than most around here locally since I can read the language.

Do you have card shops and community organizations in your country?

We do! There’s nothing to do in the middle of nowhere Midwest besides farming and shiny cardboard, so TCGs are pretty popular. My favorite local card shop holds weekly tournaments I like to go to, and I’ll hit up some of the others in my area with friends if we have the time when they’re running events.

I’m not far from the state capitol, and there’s usually an assortment of League Challenges, Cups, locals, and occasionally prereleases to pick from on any given weekend if you’re looking for somewhere to play.

What is Pokemon social media like in your country?

I keep up with Japanese artists I like and some tournament resources over on Twitter, but I’m not super active in the card sphere anywhere but here on E4.

Is sealed product available in your country?

Now that things are calming down after the Covid boom, sealed product has become much more widely available. You might not be able to find everything you want day 1, but wait a week or two after release and product will be on shelves again.

For packs and ETBs, Target or Walmart will likely have what you’re looking for, but you’ll have to go to card stores specifically if you’re looking for booster boxes or cases.

What language(s) of Pokemon cards are available in your country?

English is what’s carried by most big box stores and nearly all card shops around here, but some shops have connections in Japan too. Japanese is uncommon to find but not unheard of if you know where to look, and one shop near here carried vintage German for a while (not sure if that’s still the case).

Most local card and game stores will take in whatever language they’re presented with, so I’ve seen Indonesian, Spanish, Portuguese, etc in addition to English and Japanese, but those are typically only singles and not sealed product.

How “big” is Pokemon in your country? Is it enjoyed by all ages?

Very! It’s pretty common to see children show up to learn how to play next to people in their 40s-50s showing off their collections. Pokémon really is for all ages here, and the growth of the franchise is something I really love to see.

What do you wish for that would improve the Pokemon collecting scene in your country?

I would love to see more local collector nights in addition to league play. Tournaments here are very popular, and many people bring things to trade during tourney downtime, but I would love to see organized collector-specific events to trade, talk, and showcase collections.

Do you see Pokemon collecting growing in your country?

Most kids I see around here collect some sort of Pokémon, and I think that’s honestly the key to long-term growth. I’ve also seen a lot of parents learn how to play the card game with their kids, find out about the shiny artwork versions of cards, and start collecting that way as well. Overall, I do see growth in collecting here, but it’s mostly species, artist, and alt art collectors with a few master set completionists sprinkled in.

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Was hoping to reinvigorate this thread! If your country has already been posted, it’s still okay and encouraged to add a perspective from your state/territory/province.

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Netherlands

  • When did you first learn about Pokemon in your country?
    October 1999 when my kids were watching the first series on tv.

  • Where do you purchase Pokemon cards in your country?
    Because I owned a shop I still have contracts with distributors.
    For Singles to build decks I use Cardmarket and sometimes on collector conventions.
    Before I used ebay.

  • Do you have card shops and community organizations in your country?
    Yes we have, but only a few card/games shops only. However we do have many stores having limited sealed product as a side. (boosters/tins)
    And to be honest we have way to many webshop sellers.
    We also have several cardshows for Pokemon only, they are kind of unique for our country.

  • What is Pokemon social media like in your country?
    Since social media has no borders we can view whatever we want.
    social media in our own language is limited but there are boxbreakers, pack openers.
    thanks heaven almost no “investing” channels.

  • Is sealed product available in your country?
    Yes and whatever is not released here will be imported.

  • What language(s) of Pokemon cards are available in your country?
    English only (Base Jungle and Fossil were printed in Dutch)

  • How “big” is Pokemon in your country? Is it enjoyed by all ages?
    Playing the TCG it has seen a growth the last few years…
    Collecting a lot of people came in during the pandemic and many already left but there is a way larger group who is collecting in regards to the group who did prior 2019.
    Mostly people up to 40, but there are also older people enjoying collecting playing (points at herself)

  • What do you wish for that would improve the Pokemon collecting scene in your country?
    There should be no “only available in Pokemon Center’/ xxx Country” items. All cards should be available in each country who is carrying the products already.

  • Do you see Pokemon collecting growing in your country?
    After the spike in 2020 it’s declining, but still so much more people into it as ever.

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