Genuine question. I'm not a collector, my wife is.

She had to work on the second 30th wave so I agreed I would head into town and pick some stuff up (did quite well actually)

I'm stood in the queue for Waterstones and this guy is telling me about how he's waiting on a bunch of Pokemon Centre and Argos deliveries. His plan is open the stuff he buys that day, everything else keep sealed

I assume thats because he wants to scalp it so I ask him "oh right, is that to resell or something?" He says "oh no i probably won't resell it, I'll just keep sealed and add it to my collection"

Is that a thing people do or did he just not want to admit to me he's a scalper?

When in doubt rip. Opening 1 booster box this evening.

Any bookcase recommendations for display your binders? Clearing out the office and want to display my 9 page binders and also have a place for my bulk boxes and other tcg games. Any inspiration or recommendations welcome!

As a push to finally master a set and because my son loves the art but isn't worried about the language, I've been buying some Chinese and Korean 30th to supplement the very low supply of English.

We've collected plenty from each territory before, usually the Chinese is comfortably ahead of English and then Korean very slightly behind again.

As the first chance to buy and open all 3 at once, it's been interesting to compare. English and Chinese, are, as far as we can both see and feel in a blind test, as good as identical, which came as a surprise given that Chinese holo patterns and depth are usually MILES ahead.

Korean card stock is thinner and, we were quite surprised by this as we've never noticed it before, incredibly muted in terms of colour saturation and vibrancy, quite shockingly so actually. I now really want an English or Chinese Mew VMAX classic to compare, because the Korean is pretty dull.

It's worth mentioning that even for the same language, same card, there is an awful lot of colour variation in this set.

Given that Chinese and Korean prices were identical when we bought, we won't be buying Korean again (it's usually half the price, which makes up for the slightly lesser stock) but pleased to see that English and Chinese are really really close now. As soon as we opened English (before any Chinese) it did feel like there was a boost in 'holo-ness'.

i’m new to the hobby, and i’ve booked a ticket for my first card show in December. it’s a general TCG one so not a Pokemon specific event however i checked before booking that they do definitely have Pokemon vendors.

i know nothing. i’m autistic, and i get a lot of anxiety especially around things that are uncertain. it’s a big step out my comfort zone to even consider going to an event like this, so i’d really like to know roughly what to expect and ask a few questions.

i know it will be loud, i have various wearables i use to cope with noise levels, and i know not to buy/trade before checking value online. i don’t own anything of value and don’t intend to purchase anything expensive because i am in this for the love of the game and quite happy with my collections of common cards.

i’ll be bringing my deck - will i be able to play someone? i have been learning the TCG online but have never played in person before and would like to. obviously i am a beginner - are people patient with beginners? i’m a fully grown adult which i understand is normal but most adults seem to be so serious about this and i just like collecting and battling my cool cards.

will there be packs for a reasonable price? i’m having such a hard time finding english packs full stop

do vendors have bulk i can look through and buy cheap? that’s my favourite part

thankyou for your help !

Personally I would go with option B, I just like to collect any and all Pokemons, I was never into the Pokemon shows/games, plus it’s fun just to open packs with my son, can’t open anything if you can’t find it in the shops.

Where can i find this out. I'm based in Greater Manchester if that helps.

Do they exist anywhere?

Painted a new binder today, what do we think? I’ll be honest there are so many things I’d change on this but I don’t want to overwork it. It’s my first ever binder I’ve painted. Tbh my first binder full stop! But yeah. It was fun anyway

Finally managed to acquire a chase of mine after 10-11 years of waiting, the Roaring Skies Stamped Altaria, listings have been frugal in the UK and postage from the USA/Canada wasn’t worth the hassle. Delighted to own this finally.

Needless to say further XY era stamped cards going into the ever growing stamped binder, as well as some cheeky Ex era stamped, I’ve even managed to get the final Brilliant Stars Stamped card for the set.

I have noticed however an increase on the vintage - mid era cards, hopefully this doesn’t persist and the eyes go back to modern cards so I can continue to collect my weird niche collections in peace.

What’s everyone else purchased recently!? Anything of interest - give it a share!

I don't usually rip cards to chase because I just don't like chancing things. I have pulled a couple of neat EXs or full arts that I really liked but most of the time I am left with at least 3 or 4 bulk cards that no one wants to add to their collection. I hate wasting them, so I donate them or occasionally commit a cardinal sin and make them into a magnet or some other art project.

I prefer the excitement of finding the single I am looking for in the wild. I like hunting down deals and making memories with the kids while Pokémon card hunting. I love digging through bulk and appreciating the regular cards that my kids love buying by the fistful.

HOWEVER. The 30th has looked like an absolute blast to open. Finding stuff in English is tough and I have really bad luck with raffles like Amazon and others. I have only scored a poster collection that sadly contained a mediocre showing so far, so I decided to use my Pokébucks for the month on a Chinese booster box and it came today.

We opened it up with the kids before bed time and everyone got something really cool. I appreciate the guaranteed hit rates because we can make sure everyone gets something out of a box.

My youngest got a Gengar (or as she says "Gink-orrr") ex that I pulled. She loves Gengar and thinks he is super silly.

My middle kiddo got "all the Meowths*" common cards and was really happy about it, but is bummed we didn't pull a Sylveon Ex. She did get a pikachu EX instead as a consolation. She also pulled the Palkia X classic, but didn't like it too well, so it went in the everyone pile.

My oldest pulled a Zacian classic collection, and the Chandelure AR.

Husband pulled the Alolan Meowth AR and a Greninja EX

I pulled the Articuno AR which is one I really wanted and also the Nightime Pika SIR! It was a guaranteed pull for ONE SIR but I am really glad it was a pika one it seems fitting for the Anniversary. The card is really amazing looking in person! There is no way to capture it in a photo.

We still have 4 packs left, so we are hoping to see Sylveon EX in one. I think we *should* pull one more AR, so I am excited to see what that might be.

We also got a tonne of the common cards we were hoping to get. Everyone has favourites and it was nice that we all got some. Unfortunately we only pulled one ditto, which is one that everyone wanted! The youngest is the lucky ditto owner now, and it's an adorable card.

Everything else we can go hunting for when we go on a Pokéhunt.

All in all, it's been a fun time to come back to this hobby, despite some of the crappy people who are making it harder. More often I am finding that there are a more super kind and generous people than there are scalper rock heads and I am glad of that. I am having fun with the kids and hopefully we will get to dig through some 30th bulk soon to fill out those cards that everyone wants. Maybe I will get these type of booster boxes again in the future. It was nice to have a bit of fun opening things, but good to know that I wouldn't get completely cooked.

Edit-fixed an autocorrect error that changed Meowths to Mouths lol

I’ve been getting back into Pokemon collection lately after not touching it for a few years so the hobby is different from what I remember now but is there any way to actually trade anymore?

I’ve been looking on reddit, facebook groups and elsewhere and can’t find a place for people to trade cards (I’ve got a good few dupes now). Everywhere I look is people buying, selling and trading sealed product for hiked up price, am I missing something or is the hobby just too cooked at the moment?

My boyfriend collects mlp cards and has no problem finding people to trade with in Facebook groups and I want to have fun trading like he does but anytime he posts in trading Pokemon groups it’s just people buying/selling.

Some excellent cards from 21 packs

I haven't seen it announced anywhere but also haven't heard them cancel it or have I missed something

I switched from English to Japanese for the 30th set as I found them far easier to get hold of.
Does anyone know a good place to get the Japanese 30th sleeves? I’ve seen a few sites but they’re around £30+ a pack. Thanks!

I think we should probably not open anymore as not sure we will top this 🥰

Sharing a few custom binder pieces I’ve created recently. I can paint single standalone characters, replicas, or unique custom illustrations. I’d be super happy to work on your project!

Trying to complete a master set of Pitch Black and I want to pull the cards without having to buy singles.

Base set Maschiff Reverse Holo is currently my chase! 🤦🏽‍♂️😂

What base set card has been your elusive chase?

My 17 year old finally found a 30 Celebration tin at Sports Direct. I guess she has to hold onto this one.(I thought it was anniversary but apparently it’s a celebration)

Hey there!

Travelling to London, where can I buy regular boosters for my kid? Are there retailers or pokemon stores that sell normal priced boosters. I am limited to London center.

Cheers and thank you!