As someone who loves all eras of pokemon and all types of cards and products but is not quite as rich as is needed to master everything; how often do you do a major re-assessment of your collection goals?
In 2023 coming off the backs of covid we see a lot of people doing this. I see people selling 9s to buy 10s all the time. Things that appeared super rare no longer appear that way. I know a lot of you have been at it with a singular goal for decades, but at least for me I find myself making big changes recently. This isnt upsetting to me, its actually really exciting but it can be overwhelming to say the least. I was working on certain goals for about 5 years before this re-assessment.
started out in college I just wanted one of each legendary card
then I wanted one of each species (still have this one as a binder but its 9x of each species and theyre all beat to crap)
then I wanted all the gold stars
then all gold stars graded 9
then all the eseries
then all the eseries BGS 9
then 1st ed base BGS 8.5
most of those were achieved actually, but that was all before 2023
this year I really have been trying to be objective as to what is rare and what isnt. As well as what gets my nostlgia kicking and what does not. And then my newest goal is sorta a combo of those. Basically 1st ed base starters and hoenn gold stars in as high a grade as possible, and most importantly more sealed vintage stuff from 2003 (the greatest year of the TCG)
the actual goal is more specific than that but thats more or less my progression. I didnt really sell out of all the old goals but many I did to fund my upgraded goals which so far I do not regret. During covid I was hard pressed to do 8.5 1st ed base but now 9s are an option and cgc 9.5 are basically the same
Typing it out the main goals actually havenāt changed too much. Still want base gold stars and eseries but I narrowed it down to hoenn GS and starters for base. Iāve been trying to improve condition and rarity as I can
i constantly reassess goals as sort of a sieve to make sure i donāt trap myself with cards or objectives that i donāt care about long term. i didnāt do this when i initially got back into collecting and put together a holo set of base through gym challenge, only to realize that i, quite frankly, did not care about those cards at all. iāve since moved all but a handful of them, and donāt have any regrets besides the timing at which i sold haha.
now i simply buy what i like- this sometimes narrows in scope and manifests a specific, smaller desire (species collecting poliwhirl), but always remains as a broad theme in my collecting aims. i keep a spreadsheet of cards that iām on the lookout for, but theyāre largely unrelated to each other aside from the fact that each one looks cute/cool/whatever. i think since my initial departure from wotc, iāve had a singular pivot of english textured cards ā japanese, with the rest of my collection remaining fairly consistent in its ambiguity.
Honestly, probably not as often as I should. In saying that, this year I finally properly sorted my collection and have made a spreadsheet to keep myself on track.
My original goal when I got back into collecting years ago was to collect one of each WOTC card. So first edition, etc. didnāt matter. Just so longs as I had one of each. Now I want to complete master sets.
One thing which causes me to reassess my goals is the availability of new information. New cards come to light, new errors and variations are constantly being found. So my goals are constantly expanding. We are so lucky to have great resources like this forum where all of this information can be collected.
Constantly re assessing goals and tinkering with them as you move through the hobby is a big part of the collecting experience I think. Just be consistent with your goals and define exactly what you want to hit. Re assessing once those are achieved is a sign of wanting continued growth in the hobby and your collection.
Iāve been setting goals, hitting them, and re assessing for the past 3 years and Iāve reached a point where Iām very content with my collection and will be taking a step back and enjoying what I have.
As a species collector, my goals are pretty consistent. I just update my spreadsheet when a new card is announced or I discover an obscure non-TCG card I didnāt know existed.
Aside from that, I will add side goals here and there. I used to open a lot of product or scour eBay for deals, but that was stressful and not very fulfilling. Started getting into hunting down all of the Japanese 25th Anniversary promo cards in 10s, a goal I will probably never achieve simply because the Charizard is well more than I would ever want to pay for a single card. But it has been fun so far.
Donāt get what is so vexing? Goals change all the time with new chase cards releasing every now and then.
For example, (1) was about to get Umbreon gold star until its 25th anniversary version came up and ousted the OG with its dazzling silvery foil border. (2) Was about to get Rayquaza gold star until Rayquaza Vmax Alt Art came up and pushed it aside.
Selling 9s for 10s? Thatās upgrading. Every good collector would upgrade his cards in his collection to his best ability whenever opportunity presents itself. No point keeping cards at 7 and below, at least an 8 or 9, even best is 10 if you can afford within your budget.
Making goals and sticking to them is probably the hardest part of collecting to me. I wanted to master set salamence in psa 10 but I have moved onto just collecting my favourites in 10 and having a complete binder set in psa 9ish condition for bagon, shelgon and salamence.
Iām about 50% done with the binder and just need 4 cards for the psa 10 collection.
I am on target to get 3 of the last 4 10s by the end of the year and the remaining 10 is just really luck of the draw. Dragon frontiers salamence in japanese 1st edition suffers from conditional rarity so I donāt expect to find one short term.
I can be quite indecisive about what I want to collect so I constantly reassess. Aside from the salamence line I donāt really have a goal but I want one. I have lots of ideas but I canāt commit on one so I suppose my next goal is to create a goal that I can stick to.
I slowly added things to my 100% complete checklist. My baseline was just one of each artwork in English
All English variants (6 years ago)
Most Japanese (4 years ago)
Unlimited Japanese (2 years ago)
And been taking the āas I discover themā approach for these:
Cameos
Non English/non Japanese where there is a unique holo or reverse holo
Non-TCG
My current collection path is buy modern to open and then the occasional ex, jp exclusive promo, or xy full art, or anything that catches my eye in the moment
To give an overview of how my collection goals have changed over the years:
September/August 2015: I started buying all regular sized English TCG Pikachu cards below 50 USD that were in stock on TrollAndToad, the start of my Pikachu collection.
December 2015: I started buying and collecting Pikachu TCG cards in all languages and variations. Thatās also when I came across justinatorās Pikachu collection who had ~550 of the ~650 known Pikachu TCG cards at the time, which was a real inspiration for me. (And in February 2016 I joined the forum.)
August 2016: I came across two cheap Jumbo Pikachu TCG cards that I bought on impulse, and decided to collect all Jumbo Pikachu as well, which I completed a month later in October 2016. It was the perfect time to start, since all except for one were available on eBay at the time, and the last one became my first order from Yahoo Japan through a middleman service.
In January 2017 I surpassed Justin and I had (a.f.a.i.k.) the largest Pikachu TCG collection in the world, up until the start of 2018 after Tom surpassed me.
In September 2017 I also decided to collect all WotC #21 Moltres languages and variations, in raw, sealed, and graded (English/Japanese for PSA and English for BGS only).
In March 2018 my 1000th Pikachu arrived. Nothing too special: a Japanese 207/SM-P Pikachu, but defintely special for me.
In June 2018 I started collecting English and Japanese exclusive Full Art Supporter cards, which was completed except for one card a month later in July 2018.
In December 2018 I bought that last card as well to fully complete that collection, the PSA-10 085/SM-P The Masked Royal, which apart from my first car was my most expensive purchase ever at the time.
In February 2019 when the Team Up set was released I decided to stop collecting Mimikyu, since that set contained 10 FA Supporters; 4 Pikachu; and 6 Mimikyu, multiplied by (at the time) 10 active languages.
In November 2020 I started my āPikachu around the Worldā collection series, starting with the first alphabetical language Chinese. In this series I went over my ENTIRE Pikachu collection, one language/category at a time. At the time, the final extended/altered Base Set Pikachu arrived as well. And although Iām still putting other artists I came across in a list, I havenāt contacted any of them after this last one arrived three years ago.
In September 2021 I started and completed my XY BREAKthrough 124/162 Swablu collection, my second favorite TCG artwork after the Moltres #21 WotC promo.
In October 2021 I completed my Ancient Mew PSA-10 sixtet, as well as another small (14-card) collection: the first card released in each TCG language
Since about the start of 2022 Iāve been collecting Seviper non-TCG stuff, like figures, plushies, stickers, posters, etc. Which is currently, together with new English Pikachu and FA Supporters and Seviper TCG cards in all languages, my main active collection.
As for a summary of my current collections and their states:
Pikachu: I own 1775 unique Pikachu TCG cards; with 15 more incoming; and 95 additional altered/extended cards. Iām currently missing just 10 (out of 1433) Pikachu cards released prior to February 27th, 2021 to ācompleteā my collection goal.
Seviper: My Seviper collection is almost complete in all languages and variations, except for recent Thai/Indonesian/Simplified Chinese cards, which my middlemen are trying to find for me.
Full Art Supporters and Character Rares: 100% complete, except for some incoming cards from the latest English sets.
Moltres WotC #21 promo artwork: 100% completed in raw and sealed after I found the sealed Swedish ones earlier this year. For the graded part Iām only looking for a GRAAD-9+ Italian; Platin-9+ German; and English corrected illustrator for CGA-9+ and Ace-9+.
First card released in each (of the 15) TCG languages: 100% completed.
Seviper non-TCG: Ongoing. Currently missing four figures; and quite a few stickers and non-TCG cards and such. But I do have a lot of products/items already, which Iāll show in my collection thread over time (one dayā¦).
Whenever I feel stressed, frustrated, or unhappy, which is about every other month. Sometimes I just find Iām sleepy, dehydrated, or isolated. Other times, I realize that Iāve been chasing the fleeting satisfaction of āstuffā See āGeorge Carlin Stuffā, and I need to re-focus on what I really want, and not impulsively desire.
When we feel frustrated, it is often because we are frustrated with ourselves, and NOT because of the outside world. The world changes and shakes, as it always has, but a healthy spirit finds enjoyment in the worldās natural surprises.
Sadly, I havenāt completed a single goal in pokemon. I attempted to get all the base 1st PSA 9 set. That was my first goal and because of the price of the big three, I never completed it. Back then, it was about 7k for the charizardā¦ oh well. Now itās significantly higher, that was in 2018ish. After having a nearly complete PSA 9 base 1st set for almost 5 years Iāve come to realize I donāt require that everything be a PSA9. I donāt want a completely damaged/worth nothing set, but some 7s or 8s would be just fine. Iād rather have those and 20k+ to do other fun things in this hobby and life. Iāve also been highly distracted by the new shiny thing in pokemon and spent significant money on things that are not part of my goals. Iām at that point now. Regrouping. Whatās really important to me and why. Itās good to regroup and reevaluate what makes you happy, in this hobby and in life.
@Quuador casually dropping his excel sheet in the thread:
Just kidding around, I always love your in depth posts.
Funny this topic comes up, Iām in the middle of going through my entire collection right now and reorganizing it after a few years of just pickups here and there. Curranty thinking about what I have, what Iād like to get, what Iād like to get rid of, etcā¦ I would say into a few different categories:
Artwork - If the illustration caught my eye for any reason, whether 50 cents or 50 dollars, Iād think about picking it up. While there are upsides to this approach, mainly collecting for āarts sakeā, not just value, tastes can change, What I didnāt like in 2016 I do appreciate more now and wish I would have picked it up years ago as opposed to now when some things may just be out of my financial reach.
Artists - This is one of those things I started collecting unknowingly. When I came back in 2016, Iād do what I do in point 1. But I soon realized I actually like certain artists and I started to seek them out. I currently am focused on continuing to collect Komiya primarily. Once that is complete, Iāll start on other artists (Hataya, Kiyotaka Oshiyama, kantaro, Toshinao Aoki, Shibuzoh, and Akira Egawa are some of my favorites)
Misprints/errors - This is a much smaller focus but I always found the idea of a āincorrectā non-perfect, non-final card so intriguing. Going into a shop and always going through some base set bulk to try and come across an error Diglett or Wartortle is never not thrilling lol.
Variants - Something else that I find intriguing is variants on individual cards or full sets. Specifically Japanese base set no rarity, Polish Diamond and Pearl era, Base set 4th print, Fossil 3rd print.
Now all that put together, thatās a lot of different directions to go into and a lot of time invested to try and find it all. I see most of these things as a long term goal and will from time to time re-assess and hyper focus more on one thing at a time. Right now itās going hard to finish the Komiya binder and Iām having a blast. Of course seeing all these beautiful new modern illustration rares and impulse buying is not helping towards any of these goals.
Got back into it prior to the peak late 2020 boom. I had a lot mint vintage cards because even back then I kept them in sleeves and hard cases as soon I got them.
1st edition base was a dream, then I purchased a mint set in 2001. After that didnāt really have an urge to buy individual cards again. Opened a lot the modern sets -evolving skies, pokemon go, celebrations etc just to see if I would like it. Logically, it is better to just buy the singles but that is boring and on the other side opening boxes are just flushing money in the toilet.
I ended up with a lot of slabs (not even including 1st edition base). I have to admit Iām money oriented when it comes to the hobby and Iād love to collect and have my āinvestmentā grow but realize that it is not a good investment minus sealed. I never sold any of my cards since acquiring a ton since 2020 but recently I sent a bunch for consignment. Iām thinking of getting rid of most of my slabs outside 1st edition base set for now.
I recently decided to go after a chase card and again was reminded how much time and effort it takes to acquire certain cards. Again I experienced shill bidding (bidder low feedback - 100% of bids from the same seller). Then on PWCC (marathon closing bids) I searched around for the buyerās premium during the auction - I thought it was included until I actually went to submit a bid. Both while the auctions were closing.
Almost the entire vintage era is pretty cheap considering the low population.
I never planned on selling my cards but not including 1st edition base, Iām going to get rid of at least 80% of them soon.
I think we have a lot of cards that we would want but I think chasing your top 3 or 5 should be the way to go instead of jumping all over the place but it requires too much patience especially for vintage cards. I think I got burnt out by buying āgreatā cards versus the ones you truly want.
Iāve actually done not too badly on sticking to a goal since returning to collecting.
Thereās the raichus, I accepted that was a long time thing and has a fixed end till the next card with raichu comes out.
But I also wanted to master every set released in 2023, including promos, alt cards, etc. Not sure if thereās a master plus term (professor?) for that.
I think I can manage it. Iāve only set that as for 2023 only so I can see how expensive that was to do and see if itās sustainable for 2024 and beyond. If itās not then I did my goal. If itās doable I can carry bits or the whole thing on.
didnĀ“t majorly reassess goals since i started collecting again in 2017.
what i found more important is a clear idea why youĀ“re doing what youĀ“re doing.
if incentive is clear, itĀ“s very easy to acct accordingly to reach a goal.
and theyre all beat to crap)
It was the perfect time to start, since all except for one were available on eBay at the time, and the last one became my first order from Yahoo Japan through a middleman service.
