Ive thought about this for a while. But does anyone else think tcg collecting is the ultimate pokemon experience? The video games got me wrapped up in the ip and i was hooked. Between the tcg and anime there was no hope for me. I loved it more than life itself, an insaciable hunger.
For me, collecting cards is the closest thing we will ever get to “real” pokemon. Even if you had unlimited money you’d have quite a hard time of “catching them all”. Artist collecting has been super rewarding especially for the common cards that no one really posts for sale.
Anyone have thoughts on this? Similar experience? Would love to hear peoples experience with the pokemon ip.
Pokémon has a diverse range of medium and merchandise beyond just tcg and anime so a collective experience with any or all of them can describe what you’re looking for. I believe the most mainstream and most accessible avenues - main Pokémon games, anime and tcg - are the best gateway into the brand’s ecosystem. They all reinforce each other and from there, you can pick whichever rabbit hole you want to fall into
Because I’m reluctant toward playing console games, I opted to start and keep up with the new anime series Pokémon Horizons as if I would’ve with the Ash’s journey in the first season. New story, new characters, new generation of Pokémon blended with existing generations, it helps me stay engaged with the current era of tcg. While Ash was all about ‘catching them all’, the new protagonist Liko sends a different message of growth, bonding and riding the flow of a seemingly boundless adventure; the latter suits me more. I don’t have a completionist appetite in tcg collecting but I’ll surely find something to enjoy and stay connected with cards new and old. It probably doesn’t answer your question of an ultimate experience, but I hope the idea of finding something catering to your own mindset may be of some value
For some it may be the tcg, for others games, or just certain merch. I dont really beleive in an ultimate experience as that was given to us from the very beginning.
It definitely captures that true Pokemon ‘feeling’ to me as well. We get to be like Trainers collecting Pokemon and can battle them in the TCG if we want to. Some are more rare than others or “legendary” in a sense, while others are common and easy to obtain. We’re all part of this world/market and trading and exchanging Pokemon together in a unique and ever-changing way.
Other forms of the Pokemon experience have similar things as well, however the TCG is uniquely positioned in that you can collect and potentially obtain truly rare cards/items that you can’t get anywhere else. That to me is what makes the TCG side even more compelling is just the never ending chase and enjoyment of building your collection up over many years and seeing it come together. It’s also very cool to me that everyone has a unique collection and approach to it all, so no 2 collections are ever going to be the exact same which further adds to the whole experience of it all.
