Inspired by @mkpokecc 's thread here: My Collection in Review: A Decade, I decided to make something similar. Although I’ve started collecting Pokémon cards at the age of 7, I’ve only been collecting Pikachus from September/October 2015. It’s sometimes hard to believe I went from about 20 to almost 1,000 Pikachu cards in just little over two years. So, here is my story, starting at the very beginning:
When I was 7 years old me and my little brother were zapping on TV a bit when we came across a cartoon about a young boy throwing a red-white ball at a caterpillar (the end of episode 2). Intrigued, we continued watching the next episodes, and I’ve been hooked ever since. The next week our parents bought us our very first booster pack (English unlimited edition Base Set). I pulled a holo Chansey, and my little brother a holo Alakazam. As a kid I didn’t really care about holos though, unlike some classmates, so when someone offered me a Pidgey, Pidgeotto, AND Vulpix for my Chansey I gladly accepted. The more cards the better. That same week on the 8 o’clock news the Pokémon craze were the talk of the day. They stated some collectors even paid 100 Gulden (old Dutch currency) for some cards, and they showed a Charizard, and, you guessed it… a Chansey. Looking back they probably meant a 1st edition Shadowless version, but as a 7-year old kid I didn’t knew these differences existed, and I doubt the news reporter did either.
My second two packs were unlimited edition Jungle, which contained a holo Jolteon and holo Snorlax. I still have the Jolteon today (in Played condition xD), and it’s my favorite card from the Jungle set. The Snorlax I traded for a WB Mewtwo promo. The trade wasn’t too bad at the time, but now it would be a very, very bad trade.
Some other memorable pulls were a Shining Magikarp from Neo Revelations and Crystal Kingdra from Aquapolis (my brother had the Shining Gyarados and Crystal Nidoking. Quite funny how we remained even with our pulls, although he had a triple-star Shining Steelix I’ve been jealous of for quite a while. 
)
I’ve been collecting on and off till about the age of 14 or 15. I only opened a few booster packs a year, and never opened a booster box in my life at that time.
At the age of 18-20 I played Yu-Gi-Oh quite a lot online, and also bought cards to recreate those decks irl, even though I had no one to play with except for my little brother. Eventually I came across TrollAndToad.com where they not only sold Yu-Gi-Oh cards, but also Pokémon. I bought a Hitmonlee, Venusaur and Nidoking (the only three cards I needed to complete the first 151 Pokémon).
Then, in August/September 2015 I came across all the Pikachus on TrollAndToad and bought all below 10 USD on impulse, which was basically the start of my Pikachu collection. At the time my most expensive purchase was a Secret Rare Black Rose Dragon for 22 USD (oh, how times have changed! XD).
When the Pikachus arrived I had around 50, and I started looking online at how many existed at websites like Bulbapedia and forums. I bought all cheap ones I could find, but eventually started buying more expensive cards from TrollAndToad.com as well (< 50 USD).
When searching for information online, I eventually came across @justinator 's website. At the time, in December 2015, he had around 550 of the ~650 Pikachus, and only then I realized how many Pikachus actually existed. He owned, or was searching for Pikachus I had never even seen before, and he was a real inspiration for me. When I joined the forum in February 2016 I had around 250 Pikachus, and my very first post was in Justin’s collection thread.
Then in August 2016 I created my own collection thread. At that point I had 472 Pikachus + 53 more incoming. Most of my story can then be found in that collection thread, but here are some highlights:
- In September 2016 my very first Art Academy Pikachu had arrived. I paid more for it than any other card thus far (300 USD), so I wasn’t buying cards for less than 20 USD anymore by a long shot.
- In Augustus 2016 I started collecting Jumbo Pikachus as well, and one month later in October 2016 I already finished it. Apparently I choose the perfect time to collect them, and all except for two could be found on eBay.com right away.
- In October 2016 I wrote my Base Pikachu artwork variations article, which has been expanded quite a lot over the years.
- On November 12th, 2016 my second Art Academy Pikachu arrived. Since November 12th is my birthday, it couldn’t have arrived on a better date.
- In December 2016 my first Extended Artwork Base Pikachu arrived from Lunumbra.
- In January 2017 I created my first Pikachu collection video. I had about 700 at the time, and had just surpassed Justin. I also collected Sevipers since a few months prior (my favorite Pokémon), and after seeing the first few episode of Sun & Moon I decided to collect Mimikyus as well.
- At the end of that same month my third Art Academy Pikachu arrived
- And in the upcoming months I bought quite a few rare and exclusive Pikachus for my collection. Highlights of these can be found on my Instagram.
- In June 2017 the Matchprint Pikachu arrived. The rarest and most expensive Pikachu I own (I paid 1k USD), with only two copies in existence.
- In August 2017 my fourth Art Academy Pikachu arrived, and I also made my 1st edition stamps variations article.
- And yesterday, at the end of January 2018, I’ve uploaded a collection update video.
- And I now have my fifth Art Academy Pikachu incoming, and am hopefully able to buy a sixth soon.
All in all it’s been a great journey so far, and sharing things like this with this awesome community is a great part of my life as well. Here’s to many more amazing Pokémon related years!!
Greetz,
Quuador
it really cool to look back and she the progression of ones collection. I admire your goal of one day owning every pikachu card and it is insane to see how close you are! To me that seems like an overwhelming task, and is something that money alone couldn’t net you…you need the knowledge and skill to know which ones exist and where to find them.