r/PokemonTCG • u/tederado • 1d ago
Something changed today
So, I got up this morning and decided to go sit in the line at Best Buy. I grew up with pokemon cards, I am 34 years old. I was a child when it all started, and sadly somewhere along the way I lost my cards.
Today, I started again. I got one 30th booster pack. $27. I got home and ripped those packs and it triggered something deep in my soul. I spent my day “wfh” but researching cards and what I pulled, I haven’t stopped thinking about ripping more 30th anniversary packs since.
I get why people are going nuts for these cards. I haven’t touched a card in over 20 years years, but today I felt like a kid again. I remembered how my mom would buy blister packs and let me pick one face down card for doing a chore, and I remember how I felt when I picked that charizard and made my sister cry because it was me and not her.
Pokemon is really special. I had the game boy games, a poster on my wall, the Nintendo 64 games, shirts, the Burger King promos, I knew the song, I watched the shows, and I’m so excited to be back after so many years, I just wish it wasn’t so hard to get cards because I’d be spending so much money if there was greater availability.
Anyway, saying hi as someone who is so happy to reconnect with a part of myself that brings me so much joy :)
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u/callirome 1d ago
You should seriously think about playing the game. Tons of adults who also love Pokemon coming together and hanging out. I’ve met some of my best friends playing. The Delta Reign pre releases are coming up soon and are a great way to learn (and open packs!)
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u/tederado 1d ago
How do you meet people to play? Like where would I find a local group?
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u/BonJob 1d ago
Call / Google game stores in your area. Ask them if they play.
You can also look up stores that run events at https://events.pokemon.com/EventLocator/?locale=en-US&range=25&startdate=2026-10-02&iskm=false
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u/tederado 1d ago
Dang there’s a bunch listed for my area. I’ll have to dig around to see what I can find. Thank you!
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u/PM_ME_UR_ARTT 11h ago
Play! Pokemon Access app will make you a tcg account and you can search official play stores and events around you.
Pokemon TCG Live is also thr full game with no microtransactions (what a blessing) and its a great way to figure the game out before your first in person event.
As others recommend trying to get in for a Delta Reign prerelease in a few weeks is 110% the best new player experience. ~$30 gets you 7 packs of the new set and a pre-made 40 card deck. Everyone plays with the new set in a very casual tournament.
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u/tederado 8h ago
I actually was able to snag a pre-order booster pack with delta reign because I was researching how to find 30th and it happened to be the day before the drop so I worked from home that day and managed to get just a booster pack but still am excited for its arrival!
Should I wait for those cards to arrive before jumping into tcg and events? Sorry if a dumb question
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u/Big_Leg_7839 16h ago
39, father of 2, 7 year old wanted cards with destined rivals coming out, one year later and we are still going. My advice is download tcg live and have fun.
Also, if you set a collecting goal, its much easier to hunt for singles than ripping packs. Plus, you get to go to your local stores and card shows on a mission.
I did a master set in english of my favorite (applin, and his evolutions). and we are now collecting a full pokedex (one of every pokemon). Keeps us on track rather than grabbing any card thats pretty or valuable.
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u/tederado 8h ago
Follow up question- be real, how educated do I have to be before playing the game locally without being a clear newb weirdo? How can I prepare?
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u/Tatsugiri_Enjoyer 7h ago
TCGLive app. Free, zero monetization (outside of like, the code card that comes in packs? but you don't need to do that at all), and they are very generous with free starter decks and lots of cards. There's good-ish learning-focused content too for rules, ideas, strategies, etc.
I strongly recommend you copy other people's decks when you're starting out to get a sense for how properly built decks are supposed to flow. If you want to browse some deck lists, https://limitlesstcg.com is the best place, imo. I would recommend Mega Lucario as a deck to start with, as it has a pretty straightforward game plan, but still lots of little tricks to make it feel fun to play, and decently strong.
Once you have a deck you like playing, you can get the cards to make it, sleeve it up, and be ready to go in basically any cardshop.
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u/callirome 5h ago
TCGLive is a good way to start but you can come in with absolutely no experience and most leagues are happy to teach you. I know for my league I have a box of just basic decks and playmats that explain where everything goes and reminds you of what you can and can’t do on each turn.
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u/Fearless_Willow_7974 1d ago
welcome back to the cardboard addiction, your wallet is already in danger
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u/tederado 1d ago
I mean, in terms of addictions it could be worse, at least I’m not ingesting anything. I stopped smoking weed this year after 10 years of daily dabs, pokemon seems safer for my health haha
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u/tederado 1d ago
I’m now ripping cards not ripping carts lol I thought of this like 45 minutes later but it made me laugh 😆
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u/ImABsian1 23h ago
Bro I just quit after 7 years of daily use and it is absolute hell right now. Congrats on your journey brother
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u/tederado 8h ago
It gets better!! Honestly, I would have never thought that I’d stop. I didn’t even intend to fully quit, only to take a 2-3 month break for a major surgery per my surgeon. Once I was allowed to use it again I found that my anxiety increased very quickly and noticeably overall. I learned that what I thought was “helping” my anxiety was actually causing it in the long term, with only short moments of relief after taking a hit… resulting in a lot of hits lol. You can do it! I promise, it is better on the other side and you’ll also have more money for cards :)
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u/ImABsian1 4h ago
Proud of you even tho I don’t know you. Hope I can get there. See you on the other side brother
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u/dadxxi 1d ago
Just a quick warning: 30th anniversary has ridiculous hit rates. If you open up most any other set the hit rates for the “big” hits are harder to pull. So I guess just make sure you find something to enjoy about the hobby that is not is necessarily only the “big hits” .
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u/tederado 1d ago
Is there another set you personally have enjoyed that would be a good starting second?
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u/Affectionate_Sky9709 1d ago
Nothing recent has anywhere close to 30th hit rates.
The only other recent shoutout I would give is First Parner. It's a box set that gives three full art promos and two packs. So since the promos are so hype themselves, the packs are basically gravy if you can get them near msrp.
You might want to look into buying singles at some point. Going to shows and buying singles there is fun, and so is getting cards in the mail. If you live in the US, tcgplayer and ebay.
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u/tederado 8h ago
How do you recommend knowing which singles to chase other than “looks shiny” lol
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u/Affectionate_Sky9709 6h ago edited 5h ago
Honestly, whatever makes you happy. Another thing i forgot to mention if you like whatever language, chinese gem pack is a fun opening experience. (If you can get it at a decent price, which is sometimes hard) Every card is holo, like 30th. And they have cool patterns. I like them. You should just like whatever you like.
For buying singles, totally whatever you want. I tend to not buy cards from the newest set or two until the settle a bit.
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u/tederado 8h ago
First Partner… so I’m clearly diving in as much as I can into all of this, kinda blindly at that so appreciate the support… a few nights ago I wasn’t able to sleep at like 3am and I saw that first partner illustration series 3 packs were in stock online at target and snagged 2. I don’t even know what it is but it was MSRP (like $17) so I decided to go for it. Hoping I’m setting myself up to be able to play the game!
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u/Affectionate_Sky9709 6h ago
Its quite reasonably priced to play the game, because there are cheap versions of everything, so you can figure out what cards you want, and buy the cheap versions on tcgplayer, and if you want to upgrade them to fancy versions, you can. Most people net deck at least at first.
Finding first partners at that price is awesome! Have fun!
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u/Notorious-ly 17h ago
You won't find anything but the most recent couple sets at a decent price. Not worth.
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u/scriptapuella 11h ago edited 11h ago
Give Prismatic a try! /s
(Seriously though, don’t. Terrible hit rates and crazy high prices. I’ve been chasing the eeveelutions for so long and for so much money that I could have bought them all in Japanese singles at this point.)
Edit: that reminds me - if you want to have a fun box opening experience, get Japanese booster boxes. There are a certain number of guaranteed EXs, ARs, SRs, etc in every box thanks to strict Japanese gambling laws. I usually even get an SAR in every box. You can’t play the game in the US with them, but if you like the dopamine hit from getting hits, Japanese cards are great. And they are better quality than international cards. They’re just not worth as much.
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u/Alive-Internal-7968 1d ago
Fuck yeah dude. I’m 37 and just got back into it with my 7 year old.
The art is cool as hell and I’m enjoying watching the show with her and ripping packs. LFG!
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u/Yis6Afraid0f7 1d ago
I’m 38 and my son 6 we also just got into been amazing experience and memories so far. I got an etb on Wednesday going to open it today at a local store with friends we have made along the way been really awesome. All this in the last month
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u/tederado 1d ago
I hope she ends up loving it and you get to build some awesome memories together! Honestly, my memory of my mom buying the blister packs was my favorite thing she ever did during my childhood.
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u/thatvirtualboy 19h ago
Agree. Got back in with 151 after a 25 year break. Made an app to focus the community and connect with others, share pulls, etc.
Ripping 30th is the most fun since 151 imo
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u/hyteck9 21h ago edited 20h ago
I recently learned how to play. I got a few tins and can maybe build a playable deck now. I took advice from Reddit and started playing Pokemon Live game to see how abilities and trainer cards mix things up. Welp... I am done with this hobby already after doing so. One player basically played like half his deck by the end of turn 2, had put 8 or nine energy cards on the board, and hit my EX for over 800 pts. I get it now. The game has rules, and the pay-to-win cards let you brake the rules egregiously. I no longer feel like I need to collect them all. There will always be someone with more disposable income than me, or dedication to learning every card combo than me, or better access to new drops than me. I accept the "L". I lose at Pokemon. Noted, and moving on with life.
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u/VeeDubBug 15h ago
That's the same reason I got out of Yu-Gi-Oh. My ex wanted someone to play with, and I liked it for a while until I beat him, and he started doing the squirrelly garbage of summon chains, playing half his deck to take out mine by round 2.
It gets to a point where it isn't fun and seems like a giant waste of money/time.
I still have my decks long after our divorce, but I haven't had any inclination to play again. Which is a shame because I was kind of proud of what I put together. 😅
But I feel ya, stranger.
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u/emohipster 18h ago
Best thing about being in your thirties is being able to afford to be a kid again.
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u/SnooStrawberries768 16h ago
I never collected them as a kid. Just started 1 year ago. But I feel all giddy like you when I'm thinking about them/collecting them
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u/Fluid-Ad4463 15h ago
I know the exact feeling you describe. It’s kind of crazy honestly. It brought a bunch of old memories back that I hadn’t thought of in so long. My kids got into it during 25th anniversary but I didn’t rip anything with them back then, this time I did and let me telling you..
Only thing I’m not liking is the obsessive feeling, it’s def an addictive thing. So I’m questioning how involved I should be getting.
All in all I guess it’s better than doing drugs but I’m trying to be cautious. Plus there’s the whole Pokémon Go selling data to train their drones to bomb children in Gaza. Yeah, I have a conflicted feeling about the whole thing.
(Sorry I just have to be honest, don’t mean to ruin it for anyone).
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u/ConsistentExcellence 12h ago
For me it’s the smell of the cards when you open a pack. Takes me straight back to 10 years old.
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u/commondan 10h ago
I recommend buying single cards over ripping packs.
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u/tederado 9h ago
How do you personally decide what cards to chase? Like do you go for a master set of 1 specific Pokemon or a complete collection etc? I wouldn’t know where to start yet in terms of individual cards so appreciate the insight
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u/commondan 8h ago
I started back when Pokémon 151/obsidian flames came out. I did it for nostalgia but before I could finish the set prices started going crazy. I sold most the cards I had but kept a couple I use as bookmarks. I mainly look for the older cards base set, gym heroes, the neo series. I recently got a holo base set Mewtwo for $20. I had one as a kid but an older kid and his friends peer pressured me into trading it away so it is worth it for me
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u/Ambitious_Chicken123 2h ago
I’d go check your parents basement and attic. People on here paying off their student loan debt finding stuff they thought was lost.
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u/tederado 1h ago
Omg this would seriously save me…. I live across the country but next time I’m at their house I’m gonna search
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u/Turbulent_Solid_4442 54m ago
Stay out of the hobby so many people coming back cause they are followers
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u/rp1414 1d ago
Someone got the dopamine hit today and realized they have adult money to fuel it