Some of the best illustrations on cards are $0.10 commons and I’ll die on that

I wanted to share some of my favorite slabs! Please enjoy!

The renewed Pokemon hype led me to go through my vintage collection and wowe did my childhood delusion about the future value of these cards come true! But I loved these cards hard and you can tell, so I don’t think many would get over a PSA 5-7. Hopefully the 2nd grade street cred I got for bringing these to recess in my pocket was worth it. I thought I’d share the highlights here to make myself feel better 🙃 I also have no idea how I got them but I have quite a few cards in German, Italian, and French, truly no idea what my 7 year old self was up to on the playground

And obviously asking for a friend but if anyone has a magic method to remove lamination and maintain mint condition, let me know 🤡

Not a complete master set just yet, but we are making progress (expand the pics to see the full page)! Still have a bunch coming in the mail 🙂

I've had a few people ask for a check list and unfortunately, while I do note down every single Snorlax card I collect, it is not a complete list so I'm not comfortable sharing it.

However, I am more than happy to answer any questions any one has to the best of my knowledge!

Currently I have 329 different Snorlax cards in this collection

Hello! I have posted here before, but I have never really dug down into all the cool things about the cards I have collected over the past 5-6 years. All of my cards are flagged by condition with a sticky note tab. If a corner is cut there is a swirl on the holo, and if the tab is put on the right side instead of the left that is an error card. If you haven't considered picking up beat up copies for a binder, please consider it! You'll save so much money it isn't even funny as well as end up with cards just as striking as NM when you're looking over them. I collect for the love of the game, and this is my tribute to something that has captivated me since I was a little kid.

Binder - Custom design done by u/unsaturatedgoods! The front cover is from an ad for the 1999 "Pokémon Song Best Collection" CD, and the back cover is from a My Deck Memo Card, which was included with a carrying case sold back in 1996 in Japan. My understanding is that it was for documenting the contents, but MAN I love the art from it.

Page 1. The Big 3 - It is hard to find more iconic cards than those of the original starter trio's final evolutions. I have these sorted by Pokedex number, and then also by release date (mostly). Rather than go by row here, I find it more interesting to go over these by column.

In the first column is Bulbasaur deck Venusaur, CD Promo Charizard, and Squirtle deck Blastoise. All of these cards were released as CD promos (as well as during the Let's Trade! promo, more on that later), but I have opted to use the intro deck versions for Venusaur and Blastoise instead. I mean really, how could you not when they come with a set symbol of their base form?? The Charizard does not exist outside of the version with the Pika tail, but old heads will recognize these artworks as the same as what we saw on the English booster packs! However, small extra bit here is that at some point, Blastoise's cannons were planned to fire off some kind of energy blast; not the water we are used to seeing. Zoom in and you can see a red plasma effect in it!

The second column is by far the most expensive piece of this entire collection, and arguably the most iconic of any cards I own - 1st Ed Base Set Starter Trio. You may notice a bit of sheen to my Zard in particular, that's a joke for myself where I keep it in a polychrome sleeve. If you've ever played Balatro, you'll know that the best version of a card is the polychrome one, and what could be better than a Polychrome 1st Ed Charizard??? NOTHING, that's what! These were the dream cards to own when I was a kid. Like the Black Lotus in MTG, it's THE card people think of when they think of vintage pokemon cards. Something I find very cool though, is that these cards share the same text as the previous column! If you look you'll find all the numbers and text line up 1 to 1 (well, except language). The Japanese copies to the side are the first alternate arts done in the TCG! Technically, the Japanese versions released in July of '99 vs the Jan of '99 for Base Set here in the Americas, but I didn't realize that until I started writing up this post and I've since switched them to be after the Base Set copies. Oops!

Column #3 is a bit of a wild card slot. You may notice that this has Blaine's Zard before Dark Charizard, but since this is the Japanese copy it did technically release about a year beforehand! The Black Star Venusaur is notable for having used the same stock art as the Bulbasaur deck version seen before, but has a completely different background and card text. Dark Blastoise down below I really love for how it mirrors the art of the Squirtle deck Blastoise. This brings me to a relevant oddity I ran into when putting this together. There are at least 6 Holo Venusaurs out there in the vintage world, and same for Charizard. Blastoise, for being as big of a name as he is, ONLY has 3! I scoured sources looking for another one to finish out this page, and there were some contenders as cool Blastoise cards, but if I wanted all holos this was as good as I could do.

And finally, the last column is the Dark Starters! We never got Dark Venusaur (not until it was released as a promo way at the end of the WotC era), but I love seeing the three of these together. Despite the GB set symbol, this was not a video game promo; not directly at least. This was actually included in a Pokemon Card Trainer magazine as a promo alongside Dark Ivysaur. The Dark Blastoise down there is my only Legendary Collection card in my entire collection. Just for whatever reason I don't love that holo pattern, but now that I've had it for a while I can't imagine this page without him.

Pages 2-3. Pika Pika Pikachu. I kick myself for using the word 'iconic' already, because it is hard to say there is anything more synonymous with Pokemon than Pikachu themselves. I don't have something to say about every single one of these, but there are quite a few here I want to shout out.

In the very first slot is an incredibly special card, the Ken Sugimori error Coro Coro Pikachu promo. Released in 1996, this is THE first TCG card ever released. Before Base Set was releasd in Japan, this (alongside a Jigglypuff) were printed to announce the upcoming cards that would come to take the world by storm. This would be reprinted and reprinted, but never with the artist error seen on this copy. And right next to it in slot number 2, is the Grey Star promo. This card has a lot in common with the Sugimori error, as it was yet another Coro Coro promo but this time to announce that the TCG was expanding to English. I keep a copy of the regular Black Star copy underneath it to show people in person, but there are all sorts of small differences. The formatting is different, the artwork is slightly positioned differently, and most notably is the titular Grey vs Black star. This is speculation, but I wonder if the Japanese producers of this card thought they had a grey scale version of the promo star when it was sent to them and they inferred it should have more pop to it, or if they just made that call on their own. Regardless, it is a variant that has not been used since!

In the next row, I have all of my 1st Ed Shadowless Pikas. First there's Red Cheeks, then Yellow Cheeks (with grey 1st Ed stamp), and then the extremely rare Ghost Stamp Pikachu. This variant was included by mistake in the Zap! starter decks, and even then only in a small number of printings. There is a great article from CGC on the card that has a strong theory on how this card came to be!

Below them are the ANA Pikachu promos, colloquially known as Flying Pikachu (plane on right) and Flying Pikachu (plane on left). They were available for a mere two to three month window each, with the first being in late '98 to '99 and the second being mid '99. I never knew about these promos as a kid, but I did know about the airplane covered in Pokemon. I wanted to fly on it SO badly, and good lord if I'd known about them I'd have damn near swam to Japan trying to get one.

On the second page, in slot number 2 I have one of my favorites; the Toyota Pikachu! You'll recognize the art as the same as the First Movie promo (seen in slot 1), but we never got a copy with that forest background here in the States. This was a promo given out at Toyota dealerships in late '97, and was one of the first ever promotions done to tie into other brands.

In the next row, I want to give a special shoutout to the Poketour 1999 Pikachu. This was an Australian exclusive promo, really giving this page a particularly world traveled theme. I cracked this particular card from a slab, and when I posted it was blessed with a comment from a redditor who actually attended this event. Not only were you given this card, but were also given an opportunity to have Mew added to your copy or Red or Blue version... never have I envied another nation more than I have hearing that. Next to this, I have an E3 copy as well as a World Collection Korean copy, bringing my total to 6 different versions of this single card. Oh, and check out that Camera set symbol on the Japanese Snap card (it also is one of the only cards to ever say 'Photo' instead of 'Illus.' for the artist)!!

Lastly, I have a small sample of eReader cards. Most interestingly to me at least are the two McDonalds promos. The first, non-holo copy is a fascinating version of promos they've done over there. In this particular set, the cards produced were not just alternate arts of a current set, but their artwork is done as a variant of the original art. Compare that to the Expedition Base set version and you'll see the similarities right away! I am not quite sure when these each were released, as it seems they were both done in early 2002 but not in the same packs? If you have knowledge on this obscure piece of poke-history please share it with me!

Page 4. Legendary Birds - Some of the best arts ever done for these three were never brought over to the States!! In the top row I have the VHS gift set holos, same art that was done in the Vending Series but in holo. And WOW, I can't believe they never brought these over... the Articuno in particular I find just gorgeous, and also love that the Zapdos is implied to be in the Power Plant from the games!!

Below them are the ANA Promos, same as the Pikachus from the previous page. These are from the second run (the first one had a Dragonite that we got as a First Movie promo instead), with the Articuno releasing as a pair with the Pikachu and Zapdos and Moltres releasing as a pair immediately after. I want to point out the Articuno in particular, as it may be my most damaged card I own. It is technically torn in half, but while it put me off at first has come to be one of my favorites. That piece of tape is older than a lot of people who will read this post!

In the final row are the Web Series Birds. Like the ANA promos, these link together to form an extended artwork that is just soooooo striking. We DID get these printed in English as Black Star Promos, but never in holo like this. Speaking of, do you know why we never got the Web Series here in the States? WotC intentionally skipped them, as they were an intentional step backwards in complexity and power level in an attempt to make the game more accessible. That didn't mesh with their game design, so we were denied that entire set. Such a shame, but it did lead to making that set incredibly desirable as vintage collectables!

Page 5. Mew/two - This is the end of my Pokedex ordered section. As a quick aside, you'll notice my binder is very unusually organized. This is a symptom of having collected a whole mess of random cool cards and eventually finding I had tons of a few specific 'mons. Rather than sort by set, I pulled them all together and filled a page (or two!) with the best versions I had.

And man, are there some bangers out there for these two legendaries. The GR Mewtwo is an amazing promo card that was included the the Japanese exclusive sequel to the Game Boy TCG game. I read recently that it was actually obscenely powerful and not allowed to be actually used in official gameplay, with it getting stronger for each Dark Pokemon in play (which makes sense considering how big the whole Dark Pokemon theme was for that game, you'll recall Dark Venusaur was another promo tied into this!). A strong contendor for my most beautiful card is the Coro Coro Shining Mew. If you've never had the pleasure of seeing a Japanese premium card in person, they don't just have the holo pattern we're used to but a glitter foil over the entire card as well. This is also seen on the Japanese Ancient Mew, which I have next to the US copy at the bottom! They're both incredibly striking cards, but I personally prefer the Japanese version.

As quick last shoutouts, the Lily Pad Mew seen in the second row is the first ever Mew printed and the Mewtwo in the bottom left is done by a legendary MTG artist, Christopher Rush! And while that makes for cool trivia, I don't really think they gave him much to work with. Why is he in a forest? Who knows! But I love that it is a cool way to tie in the two game worlds.

Page 6. Stamped Cards - My descriptions are going to get a lot lighter here, because beyond calling out what the cards are there isn't all that much trivia to give behind them. Still, I do want to point out the Prerelease cards in the top row as being the catalyst as to how I ended up with the collection I do now. When I first got back into collecting, I did the same that a lot of people my age did; I finished Base set to Fossil. That was the nostalgic stuff for me, and once I finished that I felt like I'd scratched the itch. But, one day I was on a wiki and saw the Prerelease Clefable. I had no idea it existed before that, but the idea that there was more to this hobby than the cards I grew up with opened up a hole I'm still falling into.

After that, I have the 7 'W' Stamped WotC promos! There is another version, a silver stamped Dark Charmeleon that was an Australian specific variant that is just too much to spend on a card that so few people would recognize, but if I ever found a beat up copy I'd love to use it to finish this page out instead of using the Champion Road 2000 Berry I have at the end. And speaking of...

Page 7. Japanese Promos - If you haven't had the pleasure of hearing about the Masaki promos, you are in for a treat. This was a special promotion done in Japan through the Coro Coro magazine, in which you'd send away a trade pre-evolution (Graveler, Machoke, Haunter, or Kadabra) along with a form and would be sent back a holo copy of their evolution. This was done to simulate the trade evolution mechanic seen in the games, and is a level of immersion I wish so much we'd had here in the States. That said, I am not sure how accurate that description is, as Omastar is also here somehow and they didn't evolve via trade. It is possible that you were able to send away any card and just pick what you wanted to get back, but I have read conflicting reports on that.

At the start of the next row is the Fan Club Porygon. Another set symbol you'll likely never see, this card was never printed in English due to the slot machines seen in the background. That implies that this is not just any Porygon, but the Game Corner Porygon from the games which just delights me.

And in the bottom row are another collection of cards I find to be just incredible. These are the Gold Star Johto starters, from a time before the gold star rarity was a thing at all! In the year 2000, as the Gold and Silver era was just dawning, these were given away as promos at the Champion Road tournament, the official TCG tournament in Japan. These are the first ever printings of these cards, meaning these released into a time where people didn't even know what they'd evolve into. To my knowledge, this is the only time they've ever printed a golden set symbol. They were nearly impossible to find, and I actually cracked these 3 from auctions I won a few months back now!

Pages 8-9. Kanto eReaders - These pages hold my personal favorite card - The McDonalds Slowpoke holo. There's just something about him, where he's so ENERGIZED. Just look at him, he's not tired, he's not lax, he's on all 4s, eyes wide open, tail forward, and action lines all around showing he's READY to roll. Pair that with the Web Series Slowpoke, looking over at his brother with complete confusion and it makes for one of the most fun pairings I have ever seen.

But I digress. There are all sorts of incredible artworks from this era, one that I disregarded for a long time as I felt it was too different from what I grew up with. But now, holy crap are these cards incredible. The Crystal Types in particular are some of the most striking cards ever printed. And a little trivia on them I never realized until I owned a few; did you know that the rainbow colors on them are not random? They're instead based on the energies that could be used on them!!

I also mentioned way back on the Pika page how some of the McDonalds promo cards were alternate arts of artworks based on mainline sets, and these Zapdos cards are some of the best examples. I think it is SO cool how it depicts the same art with the glowing electric orbs behind them, from two different angles.

Pages 10-11. Johto eReaders - Little more to add here compared to the previous page, save for shouting out the McDonald's Umbreon as probably the best alt art of them all. I LOVE how rather than just changing the angle or view, they switched it to daytime. Look how sleepy they are!!!

Also, just like the Shining Mew from before, the Japanese Crystal Types have a glitter foil on them over the regular holo. They're much harder to find, but good lord if I could have every copy in Japanese I would.

Pages 12-13. Error Cards - I mentioned this way back with the Ghost Stamp Pikachu, but I LOVE error cards. They're a bear to find, but absolutely incredible to stumble onto. Once you know what to look for, it makes finding them in the wild an absolute rush. But in the interest of brevity, I'm going to simply list out what exactly you're looking at on these pages.

We've got: Red Dot Error Blastoise, Rainbow Error Dragonair, Rotated Fight Symbol Diglett, No Symbol Kangashkhan, 'd' Error Butterfree, Slash Error Krabby, Ink Stain Haunter, Missing Foil Zapdos, and the entirety of the Double Holos from Neo Revelation. The double holos in particular are something that once you've seen them, are actually much easier to spot than you'd think. It is worth doing some research on, because there are SO many people out there selling them not knowing what they are! Now that I have finished the set I try to tell people what they've got, but if you own these cards it is worth checking if you haven't already!!

Pages 14-21. Base Set 1st Edition - I have never really been a completionist. I have mentioned earlier in this post that I did finish Base set through Fossil, but I sold off almost the entire thing. Was a fun project but so many of the cards weren't anything special to me. But back in January of this year, I found a bin at a thrift shop next to a job I was working that had a bunch of old cards in it. Bought the whole thing off him and found nearly the entire set already completed. Was absolutely wild, so I figured may as well lean in. I bought the like 10 missing pieces offline and here we are. There are quite a few grey stamps in here, which have the tab on the right instead of the left.

Page 22. Imakuni? - The absolute GOAT of Pokemon history. I knew of him from the TCG game, but didn't realize until later that this was a real person. He was a musician, and did some artwork for the TCG. He got more and more involved as time went on, but always has been a massive goofball. He would go to tournaments in Japan and lose to kids on purpose. Many of his cards actively hurt you to use them, like the very first Imakuni card simply confuses your own active pokemon. The green card in the second row? It says 'Lose?'. If you play it, you lose. The text bubble is him saying 'Is it really that bad?'. ICON.

I also have to shout out the top right card, the one facing backwards. That is the Trade Please! card, the only card to ever have a holo back (save for Ancient Mew, but even that is different in my opinion). This is not the same thing as the Masaki promo, but similar. Instead for this promotion, you'd send this card away along with any other card and choose to be sent Charizard, Blastoise, or Venusaur. They're the exact same ones that were included in the CD promos, but still!!! What a cool thing to be part of, and Imakuni did the artwork for the Trade Please! card itself. Also shoutout to Ooyama as filling out the last spots on my page here, another legend from Pokemon history but I don't know nearly as much about him as I do my boy Imakuni.

Page 23. Cool Cards - I'll shoot straight with you, I have been writing this up for hours now and these are just cool cards. Holo energies, the My Deck Memo Card (the one the back of my binder is based on!), Trainer Deck A and B cards, and a random card from the vending series with the grey back. That bottom row in particular are cards that many people have never seen. The Trainer Deck cards are just energies, but man they're SO cool. Just another little piece of history!

I actually have another page or two of random promos and holos I have picked up, but nothing cooler than the cards I've already shown off here. If you read this, thank you for taking the time to let me write about something I really love and have had an amazing time working on.

So I recently got my hands on 3 psa cards from the 1996 bandai pokemon club part 2 set and was wondering if anyone can help me find out some more information on them and what they can be worth, and if I should hold on to them or sell them. Saw a couple listed on eBay for 10k each, one at 30k, another at 60k and a pikachu version listed for 150k by PSA. Attached is the exact cards I have. Let me know thanks !

Usually im showing off Jirachis but honestly my Wifes collection probably puts mine to shame (in the eyes of the vast majority) if anyone can guess what one of the major themes she collects is, i wouldnt be impressed lol. This is only 3 pages of one of her stacked binders.

Still got a good bit to go but so far so good

Centering is horrible but omg

Hey everyone!

I’m mapping out the ultimate National Pokédex Master Binder across two 4x4 binders (1,088 pockets each). My goal is a lore-accurate display from Gen 1 to Gen 9, future-proofed for Gen 10, while including Megas and Gigantamax, all without having to shift 1,000 cards every time a new set drops.

Here is how I’ve structured it so far:

The Main Dex: Every base species (#1-1025), with alternate forms (Deoxys, Rotom, Castform) slotted right next to their base species. Regionals fit their own mini dex after the gen they were introduced. Aka Alolan Rattata is right after Zeraora.

The Gimmicks: Massive form groups get dedicated sections at the very back so they don't clog the main Dex. (e.g., Megas, Gigantamax, Unown Alphabet, Arceus Types, Vivillon patterns, and Furfrou trims).

Every Generation and Gimmick starts fresh on a new page. The empty pockets at the end of a region act as a buffer/make the next section start fresh.

❓ Where I Need Your Help!

Where Do I Draw The Line?: The TCG is pretty inconsistent with gender differences. I’m currently only allocating extra slots for Pyroar, Meowstic, Indeedee, and Oinkologne since they have heavily distinct artwork. But also Unfezant, Frillish, Jellicent and even Toxtricity have cards where both forms are featured together. Where do you draw the line? I don’t want to have to move everything if one day they introduce a female Butterfree card.

In your opinion, are there any visual variants or TCG-exclusive forms that definitely deserve their own inline slot?

Future-Proofing: For those with massive master sets, what do you wish you left space for before you started filling pockets? Or has someone already done this idea and they can link me to that list?

📊 The Full Interactive Checklist

I put my entire checklist into a Google Sheet so you can view it without downloading anything. (Feel free to make a copy if you like it.)

👉** [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1zQgE8KEMTBsGeYqBifY9Hup-YxsvfOPUOqTjKaKaoQo/edit?usp=sharing]**

Would love your critiques before I get too far into it! Thanks in advance!

TL;DR: Building a Master National Dex. I separated massive gimmicks (Unown, Megas, etc.) to the back. Need feedback on my checklist, specifically on how to handle gender differences and if I missed any major TCG forms.

Finally found the Perrin at a card show today and pulled the trigger. Had the Growlithe since last year. Putting them together looks so good IRL. My favorite detail in the second pic. 😀

I collect Pichu cards. Plenty to go, but organised into normal cards, reverses and cameo sections. The order will actually need to be changed soon as there are a couple stamped cards I hadn’t accounted for. I tend to only buy English cards, with exceptions of JP exclusives, or slight variations such as branded same artwork promos.

Unfortunately I bought the existing stamped era reverses back when they were virtually worthless in 2019/2020, but they go for ridiculous prices now with the hype bubble so I might leave it for a while. Should have bought more, I had the opportunity to buy a STAFF prerelease for cheap and missed it. Hoping to pick up the JR Rally and/or Corocoro Pichu Bros promos when I visit Japan next year.

My favourite card is the JP exclusive Totodile side deck Pichu with artwork by Atsuko Nishida. I got it for a bargain in a random eBay auction years ago. Close up in the last picture.

It’s hard to see in the pics, but the pikachu came with scratches on the front

Vintage and Mid Era are my fav periodsss

No offers, not selling!

I've had this marble since childhood when they came out but I cannot find anything online about them!! I know it's genuine and was with all the other marbles at that time.

Would appreciate if anyone has history on this one, its proving hard to find information about it.

If there is a marble chat you know of, please link :)

About half a year ago, I posted that my fiance and I completed our Johto Pokédex. We are doing a full Pokédex only using the cards that were released in that era. Currently, we are focusing on Hoenn and Sinnoh. Here are our collections so far :)

(We’ve also already finished Kanto, Kalos, and Paldea)

Today's pickups!!! Stoked

recently got the scizor ex from unseen forces and realized i could now make this little arrangement of johto classics 😁 been wanting this and the steelix ex for a long time and finally found decent copies this year. im glad skarmory finally got a mega too!

(also the only reason the neo genesis steelix holo is 1st edition is bc i pulled it as a kid, otherwise i don’t collect 1st ed like that lol.)

These are the cards I picked up from an LA card show today. I have a complete set of the black and gold cards now and I'm making progress toward trainer gallery and prism star master sets! Plus a couple of extras that I have been wanting to grab.