This is just for fun, but do you think there are “must have” items/cards that should be a part of any or specifically your Pokémon collection? It would be interesting to see what people consider essential in the hobby.
For me, I think don’t think any collection is complete without some form of base set Charizard or pikachu art. The 2 cards are so iconic.
Must have for everyone? Whatever they like. If everyone had the same cards this would be super boring
PSA 1 non-holo rare unlimited fossil Muk is a must have for any tru collector.
Everyone has different collection goals, there is no one “most have”. For me, Alto Mare’s Lati@s are collection staples for anyone who likes the movie halfpacks, such as myself
I’m not going to waste money on a base set Charizard (or anything base set, honestly) when I could put it toward my own collection goals
The only thing I would recommend EVERYONE have is penny sleeves or other forms of protection and to not use an O-ring binder
I don’t think anything is a “must have” for a collection (if you’re an ex collector, there’s no need to buy a Base Charizard), but I think there are some things that are just so cool and iconic that everyone should own one at some point to appreciate it.
Corocoro Shining Mew
Any Base Set Holographic Card
Any Gold Star Card
Any Japanese Pokemon Center Opening Pikachu Promo (e.g. Shibuya’s, Kanazawa’s, Yokohama’s)
Any Scream Promo Card
Every collector needs to have an Ancient Mew and a Base Pikachu of some sort.
As an ex collector, the ex starters. If I would ever be put in a position where I had to sell all my Pokemon items, everything else would go first including my wotc, gold stars, and sealed.
Clear, consistent, achievable goals
I still don’t have these after 3 or so years in the hobby, unfortunately 
Real answer:
I think the item that has provided me with the greatest peace of mind is a dry cabinet, which has eliminated all of my humidity issues with ungraded cards
A binder collection of Base set - 1st ed, shadowless, unlimited, mint, played, whatever, it doesn’t matter. Putting it together is just super satisfying and nostalgic.
Non tcg items
-post cards
-stuffies
-shirts
-coins
-mats
I would say Grand Party but the card is getting kind of expensive. Grand Party (until more recently) was a pretty cheap easy “baby’s first Japanese card” type of purchase while also obviously being a very nice looking card. Other ones like Coro Mew and Scream and Ancient Mew have already been mentioned. Those are what I think of when I hear “staple card”.
No absolutes in the hobby but I think having a stress-free, fun binder is incredibly important to longevity in the hobby. It’s easy to get caught up in big collecting goals, sometimes it’s nice to have a binder where we just add stuff for fun. Doesn’t need to be mint condition or have a theme in particular, just stuff that you’ve collected and brings you joy. Basically, the binder should be worth more to you than it would to anyone else, that’s kinda my thinking about it.
A staple card that encompasses both the card game and pokemon in general are the CD promo cards. Specifically Charizard, Blastoise, and Venusaur. But to each their own.
Pokémon plush toys. I have so many of them. Probably more than I have cards in my permanent collection.
People don’t realize the difficulty of this feat lol
Great thread idea! Of course you should collect what you like, but if there were cards I think every collector should have they are:
Base Set Charizard (evolutions, crappy quality, whatever!)
Ancient Mew - or any WOTC Black Star Promo honestly.
Bonus: A binder page full of as many cards as you can get of your favorite pokemon. (It is really cool to be able to see so many different styles of the same Pokemon!)
Yeah a good playmat is actually very useful. There’s some nice ones from competitions that I’ve been eyeing. I also really like the one from shining legends, which I’m using now.
Nostalgia
