That IG Life

[pokemonsyndicate]

well I am a living god. I have to admit.

[dreamgirl1959]

@pokemonsyndicate

well I am a living god. I have to admit.

pokemonsyndicate sends messages to me all the time.
I am the messenger of god

[jayce87]

One of my IRL friends recently got me into using Instagram, as I had been hesitant to be “public” with any of my cards for a long time (I also just recently joined this forum in the last year). I mostly spent my time lurking on Reddit, for whatever that was worth.

To be honest, nothing but positive experiences on IG (so far)…i’ve met quite a few nice people who have been genuinely interested in helping me with my search for certain cards. As well, it’s also another outlet for cards that might get listed for sale that don’t see the light of day on eBay for whatever reason and thus, I don’t want to miss out on a potential outlet for acquiring a card I really want (so far, it’s helped me acquire a Gold Star Ray 9 and Gold Star Pikachu 10 for below fair market value, as well as about half of my PSA 10 Call of Legends SLs).

That said, i’ve kept the people I follow “relatively” small and I don’t usually go seeking out a bunch of cards to buy (I don’t sell on IG) from people that don’t have a good reputation (a lot of people on IG with a lot of followers/rarer cards are also on EFour, that hasn’t really been an issue).

Oh, and of course IG is just such an easy and relatively straightforward platform to just look at photos of other people’s collections, whether it be a cursory glance that brings to your attention a card you didn’t know about that much or didn’t bother with in the past that catches your eye, or just to admire certain ones for a few minutes while you calculate how many months you’d have to live on ramen to get your own copy of that card in PSA 10.

[smpratte]

@pokemonsyndicate you crack me up Benzington

@jayce87 IG isn’t all bad, it is just unregulated and you have to sift through more bs. Perhaps it’s hard for me to be objective as I get hit with nonsense more frequently, but there are definitely deals to be had and plenty of nice collectors and people to meet!

[missingno]

@smpratte

@pokemonsyndicate you crack me up Benzington

@jayce87 IG isn’t all bad, it is just unregulated and you have to sift through more bs. Perhaps it’s hard for me to be objective as I get hit with nonsense more frequently, but there are definitely deals to be had and plenty of nice collectors and people to meet!

You know you love the rapid recognition on IG my dude, don’t lie! You’re a Pokémon master on IG.

[mkpokecc]

@mkpokecc

@quuador

I will be completely honest, I have these kind of feelings from their side sometimes as well. Not near as extreme as some, but since I own the largest Pikachu collection in the world I sometimes do feel kinda ‘special’ and I love to share it.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m in it because I just love to collect stuff. I like to discover new items, find/buy new items, catalog my collection, reorder my collection (although I enjoy this less the bigger it becomes, lol ), etc. etc. But what I like most of all is how much I’ve learned compared to when I first started collecting Pikachus. Especially here on the E4 forum I’ve learned a lot, and I’m also pleased to say I’ve shared my own gained knowledge with others as well, in the form of my Base Pikachu Artwork Variations article, my more recent 1st edition Stamps Variations article, and my lists of all TCG cards of specific Pokémons to give a few examples.

But getting back to what you said. I sometimes randomly search for Pikachu collections of other people on YouTube or reddit. Two weeks ago for example I came across Laughing Pikachu’s collection on YouTube. She has a pretty nice collection of Pikachus as well, but it contains A LOT of duplicated ones. When I see the comments with some people stating things like “Wow, you must have the largest Pikachu collection in the world! o.Ô” I just can’t keep quiet and have to share my collection.

I think there is a fine line between being proud of your collection, and bragging about it.

You’re right that some people take it way too far in bragging about their collection, and letting their ego get the best of them. Personally I think we should all follow the example of some of the world’s greatest collectors that are also active on the forum here, like Scott (@smpratte ), Gary (@garyis2000 ), Rusty (@thecharizardauthorty ), @mkpokecc (what’s your first name actually?), just to name a few. Spending thousands and thousands of dollars on the hobby, but staying humble about it.

Greetz,
Quuador

Hahaha my actual name is Mike. Thanks for the shout out! I would hardly say that I would be included in the worlds best!

[xuzu]

I love IG, met some quality people on there and I like how at one glance you can see that someone has similar preferences/collections to yourself. Most of my conversations within the hobby are on IG too as it’s very easy to keep conversations going with people on there, then you end up having a core group of pals and start helping each other out too.

[pokemonsyndicate]

I love instagram because of the emojiz

[lexleo]

@dreamgirl1959

IG link?

[jjnoriega]

My instagram home tab is always a mix of shirtless dudes and Pokémon cards lol.

[pfm]

How does one meet fellow collectors on the Instagrams? Are there like special hashtags or something?

[smpratte]

@jjnoriega

My instagram home tab is always a mix of shirtless dudes and Pokémon cards lol.

That is your Grinder bud.

[jjnoriega]

@smpratte

@jjnoriega

My instagram home tab is always a mix of shirtless dudes and Pokémon cards lol.

That is your Grinder bud.

[scratchdesk]

@pfm

How does one meet fellow collectors on the Instagrams? Are there like special hashtags or something?

You can browse certain hashtags, really anything you can think of. Not everyone uses them though.

I’ve made a number of contacts through IG and, though I don’t really buy or sell much, I’ve made a few deals as well.

[null_user]

I’ve had an IG for almost two years and I have had a blast for the most part. Sure, you have those people who try to scam, people who are into the drama, and of course the 30 thirsty dudes on our female counterparts pages. The good far outweighs that though, I have met some awesome people I consider to be my friends. I’ve met people from nearly every state. I’ve sent a card 50 miles from me then sent another card across the globe to Australia. I’ve traded with people in Italy, England, France, Russia, and more. Instagram opened more collecting doors for me than years on Reddit did. I feel like transactions on Instagram are a lot more personal than the deals I have had anywhere else.

[teammagma]

You can find that Instagram as a social media site is a great way to interact with like minded people in the collection hobby. Yes there is the added element of scamming/harassment/vilification from hear say and general unpleasentness, but getting past that you can see that people put so much time, effort and financial resource into the hobby to further enhance their knowledge and their followers knowledge. Without instagram I’d have never spoken to many of you here, built up an understanding of different likes and preferences, along with never understanding what motivates others to collect. It’s only a shame that the general perception of Instagram is that it’s a marketplace to buy or sell with limited to no safeguards, as opposed to the appreciation of photography that it was primarily designed for.

[cooltrainerryan]

@scratchdesk

@pfm

How does one meet fellow collectors on the Instagrams? Are there like special hashtags or something?

You can browse certain hashtags, really anything you can think of. Not everyone uses them though.

I’ve made a number of contacts through IG and, though I don’t really buy or sell much, I’ve made a few deals as well.

Most importantly you met me!!!

[pokemontrader]

I don’t have a collecting instagram, but if I were to get one, what kind of hashtags do people use to connect with one another? Just generic like #pokemontcg or something? I just find it is somewhat difficult to navigate because all you are searching through is keywords as opposed to meeting people on forums or facebook groups designed for collecting…

[xzini]

@pokemontrader

I don’t have a collecting instagram, but if I were to get one, what kind of hashtags do people use to connect with one another? Just generic like #pokemontcg or something? I just find it is somewhat difficult to navigate because all you are searching through is keywords as opposed to meeting people on forums or facebook groups designed for collecting…

What I use for my own posts are generally pokemon #PokemonTCG #PokemonCards and for example if I post a photo of a Gold Star Rayquaza, I’ll also put tags like rayquaza #GoldStar and so on. psa #PokemonPSA and #GemMint generally for graded cards

[xuzu]

@pokemontrader

I don’t have a collecting instagram, but if I were to get one, what kind of hashtags do people use to connect with one another? Just generic like #pokemontcg or something? I just find it is somewhat difficult to navigate because all you are searching through is keywords as opposed to meeting people on forums or facebook groups designed for collecting…

My best advice is to first check here and follow the people you like, then after that you’ll be able to see all the posts they like and comment on, and Instagram will also start to recommend posts based on that. Then you’ll naturally be able to filter through and find some more people you like.