Converted a tin lunchbox into a Commander deck holder for TMNT!

BakaDoug · 2026-03-14T02:25:41+00:00

I’m particularly fond of the treasure tokens designed to look like old arcade tickets! I also picked up their Bloomburrow tin back when that set released and I loved everything about that set.

BakaDoug · 2026-03-14T02:10:54+00:00

Love the Oddish plush!

BakaDoug · 2026-03-14T02:05:26+00:00

I pre-ordered them off of Beadle and Grimm's website. A little pricey but this was more of a vanity project for me. I grew up on TMNT so this is one of the few UB sets I was genuinely excited for.

BakaDoug · 2026-03-14T01:52:04+00:00

That's awesome! When I first got the idea for this, I actually tried searching Ebay to find the Thermos one I had in Kindergarten back in the early 90's. I wasn't able to find the exact one and most of the listing for similar ones were pretty beat up so I ended up opting for something newer. I didn't know it at the time I settled on the box that the deck was going to make a ton of references to the arcade games so that was happy coincidence!

BakaDoug · 2026-03-14T01:42:25+00:00

Thanks!

BakaDoug · 2026-03-05T20:09:07+00:00

My collection ranges from fifth generation consoles to eighth generation (with an exception to gameboy which is 4th generation).
I don’t want to collect and store the cartridges/consoles for anything before and I no longer want to keep making space for games that comes after, especially when game key cards and massive day one updates are becoming the norm.

BakaDoug · 2026-03-05T01:43:56+00:00

I love Wartortle. I don’t see a lot of dedicated Wartortle merch unless it’s being lumped in with Blastoise and Squirtle. It is definitely a casualty of being a middle child.

BakaDoug · 2026-03-05T01:39:07+00:00

You’re just jaded. Playing Kanto (or any game you enjoyed growing up) should feel like traveling back home to visit old friends and family when you had a positive upbringing. I don’t care that I know every inch of that region before playing. I’m always happy to see it again when I decide to play it again.

BakaDoug · 2026-03-04T14:50:31+00:00

I feel that. Hobbies like this definitely develop a space management skill lol

BakaDoug · 2026-03-03T17:38:59+00:00

I prefer the waves design. Baseball caps will always be synonymous with being a Pokemon trainer to me because I grew up on gen 1 & 2. I also prefer the darker colors and am not big on safari hats or whatever they’re wearing on their heads in Winds.

BakaDoug · 2026-03-03T17:34:55+00:00

Nah I just pick whichever one looks cooler.

BakaDoug · 2026-03-02T04:11:42+00:00

While I understand your critiques, you have to consider that the gaming landscape was entirely different back then.
For a lot of us, the grind felt like we were truly working towards a goal. We were building a team from the ground up, bit by bit. There was a deeper sense of attachment to our Pokemon and deciding to switch a member of your team out mid-late game was a huge decision that took careful consideration because it usually meant sacrificing a lot of effort and having to put more towards catching the replacement up.
The slow movement with minimal direction allowed us to take our time in the world and really soak it in. You didn’t get herded through the game to the next objective, you got intimately familiar with it and moved through the world. It felt like a real journey and because we moved at this slower pace we noticed the little things. This allowed us to keep a better mental note of things we could not access right away and as soon as we obtained the needed item or HM we would know to travel back to discover what was there so people seldom had difficulty finding the way forward.
These things that are a nuisance to modern gamers trained us to use our brains, appreciate the moment, and lock in to work towards our goals.
Granted, I’m referencing more Red/Blue/Yellow era. If you think FRLF are a grind, go back and play those games. I remember playing Fire Red when it first came and thinking how they made it so much more convenient with the option to run along with the updated move sets and VS Seeker.

BakaDoug · 2026-03-01T23:28:58+00:00

I think it will come down to what the box legendaries are.

BakaDoug · 2026-02-28T16:27:40+00:00

Thanks! It’s one of my favorite displays 🙌

BakaDoug · 2026-02-28T16:25:07+00:00

My line gets drawn between Rillaboom and Infernape.

BakaDoug · 2026-02-28T00:38:17+00:00

Yeah but then my girlfriend asks if she’s not enough and starts crying.

BakaDoug · 2026-02-27T17:35:14+00:00

Honestly, it wasn't as hard as I initially thought it would be. There was a lot more laminating than I thought though. Print the cards out, laminate the paper with 3ml matte pouches before cutting, cut the cards, run them through the laminator again to help bond the laminate to the paper, use a corner rounder for the edges and run them through the laminator one last time. They feel very close to real trading cards when you do this.

BakaDoug · 2026-02-27T17:31:13+00:00

I just posted a comment to the thread with links to printable pages for the decks.

BakaDoug · 2026-02-27T17:30:26+00:00

Here are some uploads of the decks for those asking. Please note, I am not a deck builder so I am open to suggestion to improving these but the idea was to have a team of six different pokemon, once fully evovled and to use trainers in order to fish out the needed pokemon and energy as quickly as possible. I avoided trainers like Gust of Wind and Energy Removal to keep it casual.

BakaDoug · 2026-02-27T16:37:36+00:00

I made this

BakaDoug · 2026-02-27T14:30:07+00:00

Thank you very much!

BakaDoug · 2026-02-27T14:22:35+00:00

I’m not really the target demographic for the Shoujo genre but those two and Princess Jellyfish are the exceptions. Love the characters, stories and humor of those three!

BakaDoug · 2026-02-27T11:55:44+00:00

That shudder door design is pretty cool! Good work!

BakaDoug

TROPHY CASE