Collecting The "Card Collector Help" Thread

**Question regarding shipping from Japan to Southern Ontario**

Hey! I'm looking to start collecting Japanese but I'm completely foreign (mind the pun) to buying things from Japan / Amiami etc.

I've been all over amiami and the internet for months. The packages seem to arrive in about a month, in good condition. Now it's the pricing that I'm unsure about. Can someone who has ever shipped booster boxes, or things of similar size and value, from Japan to Canada (preferably somewhere more Eastern; Southern Ontario would be best) let me know how much they ended up paying for it? I need as exact as you can get.

If you live in S. Ontario and have shipped booster boxes from amiami/other before and can tell me the exact price you paid, that would be ideal, but any help would be appreciated!! Thank you!!
 
AmiAmi itself can give you that information. Shipping to anywhere in North America is the same price, as indicated in the proper column in their shipping rate table. A single booster box is in the "Up to .4 kg" category (¥480~¥1350 depending on shipping method) and 2 booster boxes is in the "Up to .8kg" category (¥880~¥2040). Find the correct weight in the left-hand column and then you can see the various prices for the different types of shipping options to the NA region. Unregistered SAL is the cheapest but comes without tracking and takes the longest to get there; EMS is the opposite, expensive but very fast (usually less than a week). You can use google to convert between yen and the current price in CAD, as it does fluctuate from time to time.
 
Thanks so much for the reply, @Athena ! Good to get the weight confirmed by someone who knows.

Trust me I've been all over that site calculating and converting, and so on and so forth. I've been screwed on bank currency conversions, customs and the like before though so the final push I needed was some real experience.

I'm considering a hybrid route ... collecting half English, half Jap, and putting them together like a cultural mish-mash. Some would cringe, but I sorta see it as interesting. We will see.

If anyone else has anything to add please hit me up!
 
If customs is hitting you, it's probably a good idea to figure out exactly what the limit is so you can plan accordingly. I know that here the customs limit for commercial goods is €25, so I always place my orders for 1 booster box at a time. This does end up costing me slightly more in shipping fees, but the lack of customs fees more than makes up for it. Thankfully, most Pokémon products are fairly cheap individually, so I've never had a problem using this method.
 
Hi there so im guessing every person has seen the two different boxes and knows about them, just wanted some clarification on if the green wing actually means shadowless packs inside? Not alot are for sale and they cost a good chunk. Any info would be appreciated thanks!
 
spitfire42 said:
Hi there so im guessing every person has seen the two different boxes and knows about them, just wanted some clarification on if the green wing actually means shadowless packs inside? Not alot are for sale and they cost a good chunk. Any info would be appreciated thanks!
Click to expand...
It's not a guarantee, but there's a chance. The Green-winged booster boxes may contain either shadowless or unlimited packs. The Blue-winged boxes, on the other hand, will never contain shadowless packs. So the reason for the price difference is because of that chance.
 
Green Wing Charizard on its own does not guarantee a Shadowless Base Set Box. However, Blue Wing Charizards will always be unlimited, which is why the Green Wing boxes are generally more expensive. You can find a bit more information about identifying Shadowless booster boxes via google, such as this guide on eBay.
 
Anyone has recommendation to where that sell Pokemon cards from the e-series era

I'm having a hard time looking for

Reverse Holo Aquapolis Eevee
Reverse Holo Skyridge Eevee
 
Yeah, it can be difficult to find older singles, especially in RH form. Searching eBay every so often isn't a bad idea, or you may wish to inquire with various PokéBeach traders/sellers that have a lot of older cards, such as wilyfungi.
 
Tried ebay, found one of the Eevee but it's a high grade and cost almost 24 dollar, can easy hit 100 in my currency..


I have easier time finding the cards from Base & Neo era.. it's just card from the e-series are much rare to find
 
GM DracLord said:
Tried ebay, found one of the Eevee but it's a high grade and cost almost 24 dollar, can easy hit 100 in my currency..
Click to expand...

Actually thought I had that Eevee (opened a Skyridge box), but I unfortunately didn't.

I don't collect reverse cards, so I'd have no problem sending it for free. But seriously though, 24 dollars for a common reverse card? w00t
 
Jungletoad said:
Actually thought I had that Eevee (opened a Skyridge box), but I unfortunately didn't.

I don't collect reverse cards, so I'd have no problem sending it for free. But seriously though, 24 dollars for a common reverse card? w00t
Click to expand...
It's all because the grade.. the Aquapolis reverse would cost me 20 USD....

Maybe in a few years if I failed to get it, I may consider not collecting those particular cards
 
Does anyone know or have any leads on where to buy a reverse foil VS Seeker from EX FRLG? I've searched around the internet and can't for the life of me find even one anywhere. I had one not too long ago; I don't remember where I got it from but I've had it since Platinum: Supreme Victors was legal (the last VS Seeker printing). I made the mistake of selling it to T&T because I believed the gold VS Seeker was better, but now I've changed my mind. If anybody is curious, here's a photo I found from an old eBay listing:

http://thumbs.ebaystatic.com/images/g/MTcAAOSwLVZVv66q/s-l225.jpg
 
Anyone know what a good price is right now for shadowless booster packs? Am looking for some but am finding really high prices...
 
spitfire42 said:
Anyone know what a good price is right now for shadowless booster packs? Am looking for some but am finding really high prices...
Click to expand...

eBay sold listings are generally the best way to find prices for things like that since you can see the prices that real people were actually willing to pay for the product. There were a few higher and a few lower, but it looks like you should be able to get one for US$100 or so. You might have to wait a bit to find a seller selling for that price, though.
 
Thank you for the reponce, i got some packs off a guy i know. Decided to open one and there was shadowed cards in the shadowless blister pack... Not the best opening but all good. Will keep the other blisters for now.
 
Im starting to collect again after 10-15 years. Pokémon has changed so much since then. Anyone have any tips of what I should look out for or how to tell if a card is rare and what not?
 
Hammy709 said:
Im starting to collect again after 10-15 years. Pokémon has changed so much since then. Anyone have any tips of what I should look out for or how to tell if a card is rare and what not?
Click to expand...

Hey, welcome back to the Pokémon TCG; we're happy to have you! :D

Here are a few tips on rarity for a returning trainer:

Rarity symbols in English sets are the same as they've always been, ● for common, ♦ for uncommon, and ★ for rare. However, there are some new, extra rarities (typically represented by a silver ★ is more recent sets): EX and BREAK cards are the next rarity up from a holo card, then there are Full Art (FA) cards, followed by Ultra Rares (UR) which are the rarest of all.
  • Regular EX cards have kind of a half art pattern with a Pokémon bursting out of the top half of the card, like this. There are also EX cards available of Mega Pokémon and these look similar but are preceded by an M in the card title, like this.
  • BREAK cards are horizontal instead of vertical and feature a square holo pattern and a gold Pokémon render, looking like this.
  • FA cards are alternate versions of cards, either EX, M EX, or Supporters. Like the name implies, they feature artwork that fills the entire card. They're much rarer than their regular counterparts and feature a textured pattern in the holo. Here is an example of an FA version of the Gardevoir-EX I linked above.
  • URs tend to vary every few generations, though they almost always feature a gold border and post-set numbering, so they're easy to spot. In the most recent sets, URs are alternate FA versions of existing cards from the same set. For example, in the most recent set Fates Collide, here is a regular Alakazam-EX, here is the FA version, and here is the UR version, note the gold border and different style of artwork. Previous UR have included fancy versions of trainers, shiny Pokémon, etc.
Depending on how long ago you played/collected, you may not be aware of Reverse Holos (RHs), as well. RH cards come (almost) one in every English pack and are the same as regular Common, Uncommon, or Rare cards except that the background of the card has a foil pattern. In most recent sets, the RH pattern uses the card's energy type symbol as a design, like there. You can't get RH cards of EX, BREAK, or UR cards, only "regular" cards. Also, when opening packs, BREAK cards are included in the RH slot, so sometimes you will get a BREAK card instead of an RH card. It is possible to pull an EX/M/UR card in the same pack as a BREAK card.

Of course, not all rares are created equal, with some cards of the same rarity being more expensive/sought after than others, mostly because of either popularity or competitive usefulness, leading them to seem more rare (Shaymin-EX is a good example of that). If you'd like to get an idea of how much certain cards are worth, TCGPlayer is a great resource.

Good luck, have fun, and feel free to ask if you have any other questions! :)
 
Oh wow, thanks for all the info, it will help a lot. The last time I opened a pack before now it was only the original 151 Pokémon lol. So there was no such thing as RHs haha. So far im loving the new style cards, ended up getting an EX and they look so cool. Thanks again!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top