Let's Build a Pikachu Collection (from scratch)

[darbscards88]

Hi everyone,

Pokemon has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember . As a young child, maybe 5-6 years old, the tv show, gameboy games and of course, the very first base set cards were just coming into popularity here in Canada. I remember racing to my hobby shop praying that they would still have cards in stock after a new shipment, but they always sold out almost instantly! I remember being a somewhat chubby kid and my dad bribing me to go for a run with him in exchange for a gym challenge booster pack from which a Blaine’s Charizard was pulled!

Fast forward years later and I still enjoy Pokemon, but more from a distance. Occasionally Ill watch pack breaks on Youtube, still play Pokemon Go once in a while and overall just enjoy Pikachu in other games like Smash Bros! I recently uncovered what was left of my childhood cards and it got me to thinking, boy I miss collecting these things. So, with Pikachu being my favourite Pokemon and really character of all time, why not start a small Pikachu card collection? Warning, I am a total noob to the market and Pokemon card collecting world, so please bare with me Lets build a collection in this thread from scratch and see what only a few dollars spent a week can do! There are some simply amazing Pika collections on here already!

Luckily I was able to find all of my childhood Pikachu cards, so lets see what Im starting with before ever making a purchase!

Pickup Zero: Childhood cards

So happy that these survived over 20 years. They have some issues on the backs here and there but overall in nice shape! Do I have anything remotely uncommon here or are all these very common (thinking the latter).

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[melchior]

@darbscards88

Lets build a collection in this thread from scratch and see what only a few dollars spent a week can do! There are some simply amazing Pika collections on here already!

Hello there! Those are actually @Quuador 's famous first words!

@darbscards88

PS is there a way for me to get the pics to actually show here vs the links?

@Quuador

Explaining everything in detail for any other new members coming across this:

If you’re responding to an existing thread, you first have to click on the “Reply” (marked with green) so it shows the same rich text area as when you’re posting a new thread yourself :

Then you’ll have to use an image uploading website to upload your image to, like imgur.com/ or postimages.org/.
Then you use the direct link (ending with .jpg/.png/etcetera)

And then you can use the following button (market with red) to add it to your post:

[darbscards88]

@melchior

@darbscards88

Lets build a collection in this thread from scratch and see what only a few dollars spent a week can do! There are some simply amazing Pika collections on here already!

Hello there! Those are actually @Quuador 's famous first words!

@darbscards88

PS is there a way for me to get the pics to actually show here vs the links?

@Quuador

Explaining everything in detail for any other new members coming across this:

If you’re responding to an existing thread, you first have to click on the “Reply” (marked with green) so it shows the same rich text area as when you’re posting a new thread yourself :

Then you’ll have to use an image uploading website to upload your image to, like imgur.com/ or postimages.org/.
Then you use the direct link (ending with .jpg/.png/etcetera)

And then you can use the following button (market with red) to add it to your post:

Very helpful, thank you! Ive added the .jpg as you have advised as well!

[Quuador]

@darbscards88

Very helpful, thank you! Ive added the .jpg as you have advised as well!

You forgot to use the “Insert image” button (marked in red in that quote). The links are correct, though.

@melchior

@darbscards88

Lets build a collection in this thread from scratch and see what only a few dollars spent a week can do! There are some simply amazing Pika collections on here already!

Hello there! Those are actually @Quuador 's famous first words!

I don’t think I ever stated that, but you’re indeed right that at first I’d only buy cards for less than 25 USD, and nowadays I’m happy to come across a new Pikachu for around 25 USD period, and would easily spend 100 USD on some of the regular ones I’m missing if I need to. I started by placing all cheap Pikachus which were in stock on TrollAndToad.com in my cart, and that’s how it all began. After about halve a year I had around 250 Pikachus and came across Justin’s collection here on the forum, who at the time had around 550 with 650 different cards in his checklist, including loads I had never even seen or heard about prior. And fast forward to now, roughly 4 years after I started, and I now have over 1250 unique cards in my collection, with around 50-60 left to find to ‘complete’ it.

Anyway, welcome to the forum @darbscards88 ! Good luck with your collection goals. If you need a list of all existing Pikachu cards, I can refer to my personal checklist. But since you’ve only just started, I would just focus on the English (and perhaps Japanese) set cards and promos for now. Good luck with your collection goals!

Greetz,
Quuador

[darbscards88]

Pickups #1: August 29, 2019
The first pickups of this journey have officially happened. I was able to find these guys form a local eBay seller for very cheap! Love the artwork on these, especially the happy Pika running through the city. First thing I notice about the newer cards, they seem more flimsy and cheaper than the old wizards of the coast cards, is this a thing? Pikachu also seems to learn a lot of ball themed attacks! I also made a large order on troll and toad with close to 30 Pikas which should arrive in the coming days, stay tuned! Thanks to everyone who showed me how to format the pictures!

[mjisaacs]

To answer your question about rarity, most of them are just commons with the gem being the E3 Pikachu, W Pikachu and then the Shadowless Red Cheeks Pikachu. All excellent cards though! I’m excited to see this journey!

Mjisaacs

[darbscards88]

@mjisaacs

To answer your question about rarity, most of them are just commons with the gem being the E3 Pikachu, W Pikachu and then the Shadowless Red Cheeks Pikachu. All excellent cards though! I’m excited to see this journey!

Mjisaacs

Thanks for the info! Quite certain I got those specially stamped ones from magazines way back in the day. Definitely glad to have the original childhood cards !