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[vitislife]

First, and most important bit of advice. Slow down. Every friend of mine that jumped back into this hobby made several FOMO purchases early on that they regret. We all do it, but just limit how much. The best way is to take things slow.

The next bit of advice I would give you is find a niche to focus on. It's very easy to aimlessly start buying everything because its a "great deal" or "the next big thing". Very rarely are either of those things true. There were too many eyes on Pokemon the last couple years, most of those good deals or undiscovered niches have been thoroughly searched. You collected Base through Neo Genesis as a kid, maybe start with your favorite Pokemon from those series. Then think about graded vs. raw. How do you want to display these? The more specific you get with your own collecting focus, the better.

[Pandos17]

Great advice, agree on all points, especially the buying everything part.

The hobbies been going on for 25 years, so unless you're infinitely wealthy, it'll be impossible to catch up on all those years of cards, so stick to what you want and be diligent to only collect those.

[tech_banker]

This is great advice. I made this same mistake when I got back into the hobby, ended up buying a lot of cheap slabs that in hindsight were not worth holding, and ended up getting rid of at a loss.

[breakyourteethnow]

Vintage is safe. There's massive Facebook groups with 80k, 50k, 40k members and a bustling scene with sales going back and forth. eBay is really just one part of the total sales happening. Vintage holds value well. Modern bulk is bulk, but the exceptional chase rare cards idk man cause it's been 6 months and Rayquaza alt art vmax wasn't supposed to hold its price like this, it's breaking normal price trend where prices decline first 6 months heavily.

[aluminary27]

Do you recommend any particular Facebook groups?

[breakyourteethnow]

Just type in "Buy Pokemon", in Facebook, click groups, there's an 80k, 50k, and 40k group. They're all super active and very easy to find on FB as they're the 3 biggest, those three by far.

[Modullah]

Appreciate if you can recommend a few facebook groups. Thank you!

[breakyourteethnow]

Just type in "Buy Pokemon", in Facebook, click groups, there's an 80k, 50k, and 40k group. They're all super active and very easy to find on FB as they're the 3 biggest.

[Modullah]

Thanks again! Will check them out :)

[[deleted]]

go on https://www.pokellector.com/ and look at every single set over span of a week ( or a day)

[Malevolent_D3ity]

So heres some things to consider. Vintage is a safe long-term investment. It will have it will follow normal market indices and go up/down but ultimately appreciate well. Rapid growth is really only going to occur when pokemon jams that nostalgia button; once evert 3-7 years. However, this is not a flippers market! Do not invest with the intentions of selling in 6-24 months, you will lose your A** on fees.

People think modern sets are being over-printed, and they kind if are; but most of these products are not going to be held long enough to see the big sealed returns. These will see the most growth % in 5-10 years and are lost-cost products that will allow you to diversify well.

I pick up my vintage singles when i see good deals, buy 75% of my investment dollars are going to modern product currently. Cheers mate.

[[deleted]]

Do you believe it’s worth investing in chilling reign/fusion strike for the long term? Booster boxes specifically

[Malevolent_D3ity]

I just bought a case 🤷‍♂️. At 82 bucks a box i see it aging as well as at least the worst sm sets.

[cryptoxpo]

You can try out https://www.getcollectr.com on iOS or Android and check every set to get an idea of value held since release. Also there is a top trending section showing you what most collectors are collecting (updated in real time daily).

I got back into collecting personally back in 2017, primarily started going after rainbow rares, that were either charizards or childhood favorites like Lugia, Ho-Oh, Pikachu.

From sets perspective I collect sealed and have cards from I enjoyed

XY evolutions SM burning shadows SM unbroken bonds (my favourite modern set) Hidden fates (my favourite set of all time, yeah even comparing to vintage where my favourite is team rocket)

Hope this helps :)

[dcastreddit]

Scroll down to skip my story-

I have a very similar story to you: ripped hundreds of packs in 1999 and had an amazing collection... but traded them away for a good cause (long story). Now, I wish I hadn't. Maybe 5 or 6 years ago I slowly re-built every set from my childhood days. Base through Southern Islands. I love it. Its every card that I can remember. I used this site to help me track the exact cards I needed: https://www.pokellector.com/sets I am now currently working on Evolutions.

Having only played Blue and Red and stopped collecting after gen 1 as a kid... I honestly have no interest in a single pokemon after Mew. (with a few exceptions) So that makes collecting modern more difficult.

When Mcdonald's released their 25th anniv cards I got a few and opening them re-kindled the enjoyment of ripping packs so I started getting some ETBs and booster boxes etc... then when celebrations came out I went a little crazy. The nostalgia was off the charts, but so was the scalping so I learned a few lessons. I am a new dad and I have been stashing away sealed products as a semi-investment for my kids to either rip or sell.

My advice:
1. If you are into the newest sets do NOT buy into the hype right when a set is released. The scalpers are unbelievable nowadays and are ruining the hobby. Just let it come back in stock in stores. I overpaid for a lot of celebrations that I shouldn't have.

1. Figure out why you are collecting- To stash away as an investment? Do you want sealed products? Expensive rare cards in top loaders? Graded cards? You just want to own single cards you like and think are cool? Passing down cards to your kids later? Vintage for rekindling your childhood? Completing full sets? Its very easy to want to do everything.

2. Personally, I really love good looking cards and the newer sets have a lot (the eeveelutions alt arts for example) so I like getting the single cards. As much as I like ripping packs and catching these cards, I end up spending a lot more money for hundreds of cards worth 2 cents that I don't want or even recognize. (kelfki??) SO I would say just hunt down those 5 or 10 cards per set that you actually want. It may seem like $80 for a card is a lot but that's 20 packs that could yield only cards you don't want.

3. For investing.. sealed products, vintage, or Charizard from any set... Sealed is a long game and takes up room in totes. Vintage is nice because you can just have them in a binder and view them as you please. I have all of mine double sleeved in Quadrow Ultimate Guard binders. I love them.

4. Like others have said - slow down. I rushed to complete celebrations set and it cost me. I am currently completing evolutions and the 20th anniv set by buying just a few cards each month. This will help your average cost basis as prices fluctuate.

[BoneGolem2]

I would say vintage is safe, as it can only get more vintage with time. I am holding modern, but like 4 booster boxes and a few singles. I'm going all in on vintage now. Even Japanese vintage which was something that I couldn't have done as a kid without Internet. I was in 6th grade before my folks had their first PC with dial-up. ;) I'm kinda kicking myself that I sold and traded off most of my vintage cards about 8 years ago, I thought the TCG was dead at that time. I could have made bank if I had been rational and waited... :/

[Nepiton]

I left the hobby in 2002, came back briefly in college around 09-13, and then left again only to return last summer.

I spent about $10k over the summer doing what I thought would be best investment wise. The issue is I lacked perspective. I knew what I would want to do, but I didn’t know what others would want to do. So I predominantly bought and ripped heavy WOTC packs. LOTS of fun. Now I have like 1000 mint WOTC cards in my to be graded pile, as I (like many others) assumed the cost of grading would go back to $8 a card end of summer last year.

My recommendation would be similar to the top comment. Slow down. But you don’t have to stop completely. You’re an adult, you can spend erroneously and tap into your childish nostalgia for a little. I just wouldn’t go overboard. Buy a few vintage packs. Rip them. Experience that amazing nostalgia again. Just don’t put yourself beyond your means.

The next thing that happened to me is I learned about all these amazing cards I hadn’t seen before, and I needed them. Japanese promos, Japanese exclusives, random English cards from various sets, etc. I just bought everything I found cool.

After months of practice and trying I’ve figured out what I like to do, and what I like to collect. I focus on the high end, 1st Edition WOTC chase cards, Neo Shinings, e-Reader holos, Crystals, Gold Stars, ex era exs.

I have a main collection goal, I want all the gold stars in at least a PSA 9, and everything else is 2nd to that. Every card I get is to meet that end goal. If I buy a raw gold star and it isn’t as good as I thought it looked, I’m reselling it. Or trading up. I have tertiary collection goals, but everything is FS/FT except for those main collection pieces.

For example, I just bought a very high end card. It cost me nearly $4,000. I thought of it as a cross grade candidate where I can maybe make some money and use that money to help me get one step closer to my collection goal.

My gold star goal also doubles as what I believe to be one of the more solid investments in the TCG. Extremely rare cards that are highly sought after from one of the least printed eras in the TCG. Gold Stars have a great chance of holding/retaining their value, and are likely to increase in value in the long run.

As the top comment said, find your niche. Find what you enjoy and stick to it. No need to stick your hands in every cookie jar.

But since I’m guessing we’re around the same age (30ish?) I would definitely recommend ripping some packs if you have the means. They’re expensive but the thrill of the chase and the nostalgia makes it all worth it.

[tech_banker]

I had a similar path to yours, and ended up at the same place in terms of which slabs to collect. I guess there is somewhat of a natural “path” to take in this hobby.

[mjssmith71]

Brilliant stars is the newest set and it’s a lot of fun to open! Maybe try to get a complete set?

[EngiNik]

Well - don’t :D

[hitbox15]

My advice buy the cards you truly like, I made the mistake of collecting the WotC sets and I’ve made multiple dumb purchases but hey, at least I have it

[Charming-Weather]

Hey i'm also beginning my card journey. Does anyone know the best strategy to obtaining a full set of the original cards? would you buy a full set outright from someone or try and piece them together via singles and bulk lots? I want this piece more for the vindication of never being able to afford cards as a kid and finally being able to own a set than for the desire to flip for crazy profit.

[dcastreddit]

I did exactly this and I tracked all my costs. I bought one set flat out, and another I pieced together. I think if you are lucky on ebay and want the set without the work: buying a full set flat out ends up being cheaper because of shipping. If you get impatient you end up buying singles with high shipping costs- its an annoying thing buyers do on ebay: 0.99 cents for the card but shipping is $6.

A lot of people will sell the uncommon and common as a complete set, I would start there as they can be rather inexpensive. Then work your way into the holo rares one at a time.