A Beginner’s Guide to Collecting: Pokémon Cards Part 1, What type of Collector are you?

Welcome back, Collectors!

In light of all the new sets that are making their debut in the coming months, here is your very own collectors guide for Pokémon TCG.

To start your very own Pokémon card collection, you have 2 main options: playing the Trading Card Game (TCG) or creating a display of your favourite cards and sets.

TCG

When collecting for the Pokémon TCG, you want to collect the strongest deck of cards you possibly can in order to win matches and tournaments. This means collecting cards from different sets and mixing and matching them until you have your Pokémon Dream Team (without a doubt ours features a shiny Charizard).

With newer release card sets continuing to be rolled out, purchasing the newer sets is the best way to beat your competitors by looking for certain cards to continuously improve your team. However, it’s best to do your research when it comes to playing these cards in tournaments because there can be bans imposed. This is where having a variety of cards comes in handy so you can rotate your team and have a couple cards on standby (we certainly recommend this to maintain your winning streak!).

Display

When collecting cards for display, reasons can include specific sets, artwork, favourite type of Pokémon or Pokémon species, value or rarity of the Pokémon and card, and so much more! A display collector will target individual cards based on card rarity (go check out our other article Card Rarity: What is it?), set size, and accessibility through different packs.

So how do you make sure that you get what you want when collecting?

1.     Buying products from the set you’re after including, but not limited to, purchasing Trainer Boxes and Booster Packs

2.     Buying in bulk: purchasing Booster Boxes (36 packs of cards) or a case of Trainer Boxes

3.     Buying individual cards: purchasing just the cards that you’re after from

4.     Trading with other Collectors: these events are held at local swap meets

Collecting itself is a personalised experience, and we hope that our guide has helped!

Please keep in mind, regardless of the type of collector you are, we have two pieces of advice:

• Check in regularly to see what cards and sets are currently in print, and any new one soon to make their debut. This way, you can stay up to date.

• Protect your cards so that you can continue to have maximum enjoyment from your sets for years to come. You can check out our range of Accessories in the Shop to help store and protect your cards.

Happy Collecting!

If you have any questions or requests for content, please let us know by sending

us an email at info@gamecollectors.com.au