Discussion Total beginner needing help

SimonJD1974

Aspiring Trainer
Member
Hi All

I want to start collecting pokemon cards. I have never collected before.

What is the most cost effective place to start? Im not worried about buying packs of cards for hundreds just yet.

I have just bought a Sword and Shield Darkness ablaze Galarian Darmantian deck, and some s& s DA packs.

Is this a reasonable place to start?

Any advice welcome. Thank you
 

Vom

livin' in a lonely world
Forum Mod
Member
Hi!

I'm not sure about the contents of that deck, but they've been doing a way better job with theme decks so it should be fine. I think in the future you're better off buying singles though, since you can specifically pick whichever card you want. It also depends on if you want every card or every competitive card, and whether you want playsets or just the one.
 

Scoop

Literally a sheep
Member
What is the most cost effective place to start? Im not worried about buying packs of cards for hundreds just yet.
Depends on what you want to do, really. Are you more interested in playing the game or are you more in it for collecting? If you want a head-start into owning competitive cards, there's a good few things out right now that I think could help out, though I'm mainly a collector personally. Like Vom said too, singles are 100% the best way to go in the longrun, but ff you let me know what you're more thinking of doing with the TCG, then I'd be glad to give you some more pointers!
 

Scoop

Literally a sheep
Member
thanks for replies.

i wont be playing at all, just purely collecting and admiring....
Well, if you're collecting then I can definitely help out.

I think when you're starting out it's pretty alright to just go for some packs, but the thing about packs and products as a whole is that you're basically gambling on getting good cards. In most cases, you don't really win out even when you get an Ultra Rare because they're kinda cheap besides a select few, in the modern era of the TCG. That being said, while you don't always get the best stuff out of opening things, it's still fun to do so I don't really blame you for doing it.

In the longrun, you want to go for singles. Singles are so much easier to deal with than opening packs because you're buying exactly what you want and you're getting what you paid for in value, rather than gambling for it. Since around 2016 I've been almost exclusively a singles buyer with a couple of exceptions here and there and my collection's flourished because of it.

So, all in all, buy singles of the cards you want, (I use TCGplayer and any local card shop I have in my area, I'm not sure if you have any), if you want to get TCG products I'd personally wait until they're on sale. You also definitely want to get some card sleeves for anything you get that's valuable, if you leave them unprotected that's not going to end up well at all.

I have a few recommendations on some things you could start looking at to see what you like, you're getting into the hobby at a pretty good time.
 

SimonJD1974

Aspiring Trainer
Member
thank you.

so i bought the packs mentioned, was fun opening them!!

not sure if i got anything decent but a few that look good!!

ive ordered 100 sleeves to keep the holos in, i also bought someones collection, nothing special. 650 cards for 24 pounds lol.

i totally agree with buying singles, ill mainly be doing this, interspersed with a few packs for excitement value!! where is best place to buy, i assume ebay?
 

Scoop

Literally a sheep
Member
i totally agree with buying singles, ill mainly be doing this, interspersed with a few packs for excitement value!! where is best place to buy, i assume ebay?
I personally like TCGPlayer. You can find whatever card you're looking for there with multiple sellers, and showing what condition the card is in. I've gotten a lot of cards from there and I've never once had an issue with it, and usually the prices are better than other card sellers.

yes any recommendations where to start would be great. i have about 800 cards now lol
Right now, the easiest cards to collect are going to be anywhere from the BW/XY era to now. XY sets are very affordable and easy to collect and the cards look very nice, while BW cards are a little more expensive due to being older and rarer but still have a lot of nice cheaper cards too. Of course, Sun and Moon and Sword and Shield sets are still around in retail, so they're going to be very commonplace.

But I would say look around and research each set and see what you like the most. There's over 20 years worth of the TCG to where you can start from a lot of places, albeit some will definitely be more expensive than others. Let me know if you find some set or series that catches your interest and I'd be glad to tell you a little more about it!
 

SimonJD1974

Aspiring Trainer
Member
ok so ive written a list of the 89 sets. names release dates, number of cards, codes etc

what era is BW/xy? i cant find on my list
 

SimonJD1974

Aspiring Trainer
Member
also one question... that set i bought had mostly cards from darkness ablaze, but had a few from sword and shield and the odd one from rebel clash. is that right?
 

Scoop

Literally a sheep
Member
ok so ive written a list of the 89 sets. names release dates, number of cards, codes etc

what era is BW/xy? i cant find on my list
BW is Black and White (sets from 2011-2013), XY is just XY sets (2014-2016). I lump them together because they both have EX's, I should have specified better sorry.

also one question... that set i bought had mostly cards from darkness ablaze, but had a few from sword and shield and the odd one from rebel clash. is that right?
Yeah, Sword and Shield, Rebel Clash and Darkness Ablaze are the three most recent sets in the game as of now.
 

Scoop

Literally a sheep
Member
i understand.

what i meant was i looked on tcgplayer and the sellers are us based. are there uk sellers
With TCGPlayer, you can edit what shipping location you're in, and it'll show what sellers will be able to ship to your location. I'm not sure how shipping costs will work but I know you can have listings that include the shipping cost with the price. Granted, you won't see as many sellers in that case so Ebay may be a better choice but you have to be careful on Ebay of couse.
 
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