I have been collecting for quite a bit, but never got around to properly documenting my cards. My lovely girlfriend recently got me a scanner for Christmas, so now I can hopefully do my piles of cardboard justice!
I run the Pokemon fansite Pokumon.com. It seeks to document the rich history of the Pokemon TCG from its origins until now. My collecting habits also reflect this, as I love collecting cards that others might not have ever seen or heard of before. My collection has no real focus besides that it is mainly consists of promos from past events / campaigns. The cards I collect are not necessarily the most expensive, but many are definitely quite obscure.
Much of my collection is in raw cards. I kept most of my stuff in binders / shoeboxes for the longest time, but with the rising prices of some cards I might send stuff off to PSA when things calm down.
To start off with a more well-known card from the origin country of Pokemon, Japan, here’s my well-loved 1999 Tropical Wind. The original owner shipped it to me in this plastic plaque in an original official TCG sleeve, and it’s been in there until I cracked it out to scan it.
Next, let’s go to another island country, Indonesia!
These came from a local toy shop called “Toys Kingdom”. Purchasing a certain amount of product would get you a random one.
These are from an event at the local coffee chain, Upnormal Coffee. I believe it was a teaching event where players learned how to play the TCG and were given these.
These are randomly found in a local chocolate brand’s boxed chocolates, Choki Choki. You usually get energy cards stamped with the Choki Choki logo, but these two golden cards were the rare pulls.
Moving on from Indonesia, here’s some Korean tournament winner promos
Korea started running national championships in 2012 that distributed Victory cup promos. Along with Japan, these cards were given to the top-placing finishers for each of their national tournaments. The Korean versions are actually a fair bit more rare due to the fewer number of regional tournaments.
Korean tournaments also distributed their own stamped participation / prize promos. here’s the Korean Garchomp series, given out during 2016 alongside the Japanese versions from the Kamex Mega Battle (also in 2016)
Next, let’s take a pit stop at Thailand before heading back west.
Thailand held its own regional tournaments that distributed stamped promo cards, and these culminated in a national championship that distributed the Jirachi. Considering this was the first year that Thailand had any semblance of competitive TCG play, they sure got a lot of promos!
Heading West, let’s swing over to Europe and take a gander at these cards
These were given to various attendees of Pokemon Day events throughout the DP era in Europe. Certain countries had exclusive promos with the Pokemon Day stamp on them, so it was a real trek tracking all these down as an American.
Lastly, returning to my home country of America:
During 2007-2009, Pokemon distributed stamped promos at various conventions in the States, such as San Diego Comic Con, Origins, Wizard World, and Games Expo. The Games Expo Squirtle in particular is very rare, as the event was so poorly attended that the company behind it went bankrupt and never held it again.
That’s all for now! I have many more cards to scan, but alas too little time. Hopefully you enjoy viewing this little trip around the Pokemon TCG world 
If you’d like to learn more about the Pokemon TCG’s history, be sure to check out my website!
