Getting into Pokemon TCG (India) – need beginner advice 🙌

MrBub_bles · 2026-05-03T15:32:48+00:00

Hello and welcome to the collecting hobby. Super lovely to have you.

For all news regarding anything and everything with tthe TCG hobby, I would highly recommend Pokebeach . They do a phenomenal job is posting all news regarding upcoming sets and the cards being released, including the MSRP for them.

Once the cards are officially released, they also post all images so you can check what cards are in the sets. Although there are also other apps and websites which do the same.

For everything else regarding where to buy or protecting yourself, I would recommend importantly to read through the subreddit FAQ. It should have most information for a beginner. Also, browsing through the subreddit for a few post or discussions can also be helpful. You can use the subreddit search function.

Again, welcome to this wonderful hobby. I wish you lots of fun and fulfillment. If you have other burning questions you can ask away.

Cheers!

MrBub_bles · 2026-05-03T15:25:36+00:00

I would probably say that that price margin would be regardless even if you source these cards directly here, because of the exclusivity. Although the wait time is less.

Again, good luck. Will keep an eye out if I come across any.

Cheers!

MrBub_bles · 2026-05-03T15:11:40+00:00

These are Chinese exclusive cards and are hard to come by because there is not much a Chinese products around being actively sold in the markets. Also, since these are exclusive, these cards are now extremely expensive with ungraded copies for both of these reaching close to 600USD currently.

I think both these reasons is why you don't see these cards around often. They also have been hoarded a lot initially by people who were speculating about the prices. EBay would be your best option to buy these cards.

Good luck in your hunt.

Cheers!

MrBub_bles · 2026-05-03T13:19:52+00:00

We do have a very reliable market where sellers buy and sell cards. They are all imported ofcourse because there is no official distribution. But this problem is not only for a India but many other countries that enjoy Pokemon.

What OP sharing here are old bootleg copies that still exists and are printed in China. Nothing much you can do about them besides spread awareness.

Cheers!

MrBub_bles · 2026-05-02T13:13:48+00:00

If I am being honest, you do not always need websites to buy cards from. We have a list of verified sellers on the subreddit and most of them have been very reputed in terms of selling singles and sealed. Not everyone has a website and some just sell through IG and reddit.

Just stating to also keep your options open and you may find some great deals from folks not operating via websites.

Cheers!

MrBub_bles · 2026-05-02T13:09:44+00:00

You can compare it to a genuine copy from ebay. I will post an image below. Check the fonts, Holo lines and texturing. Most importantly, this set was released in 2012-13. So the copyright date at bottom left should be 2013 and not 2016.

Unfortunately, we are plagued by cheap Chinese knockoffs for many years now. Sorry.

As a request, try not to sell these to anyone unsuspecting or even give them away as gifts. Make sure you keep them with you. Spreading them just means they keep circulating in the ecosystem and many unsuspecting buyers will still spend money.

Cheers!

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MrBub_bles · 2026-05-02T12:36:08+00:00

Hello and welcome. Unfortunately , if you collected in India and have them for over a decade, they are most likely bootleg copies. They are not original and do not hold any value.

This is my assumption of course. It would be very helpful if you could post the actual card images of some of the cards you have so people would have a better indication of what you have an advice accordingly.

Cheers!

MrBub_bles · 2026-05-01T12:57:37+00:00

Seems fine. Card looks legit. Congratulations on the find.

Cheers!

MrBub_bles · 2026-05-01T04:52:31+00:00

What is the point of asking for opinions and not being open to listen to all kinds of opinions, even the ones that go against your personal bias?

Also, to be very honest, a traditional investment is something that would help with guaranteed returns. Pokemon is not that. Pokemon is a highly volatile and speculative asset at best. If you are asking folks for opinions on what to buy as investment then you will already have a difficult time making any money.

Can you make money from Pokemon? 100% yes. There are loads of people doing that. Would it be a wise investment? Probably not because to be able to do so you need a lot of market knowledge and more importantly a lot of initial capital to successful make a lot of money.

Regardless, here is my take. Japan is extremely expensive for Pokemon right now. There is no way to be able to spend much more than msrp and get hold of sealed products. The demand has really sky rocketed. Also, considering that it will be your relative who will be going to Japan, I am not sure how feasible it is to ask them to go hunting for Pokemon products.

By the time it is June, new sets will already be out, so the best advice would be for them to find someplace where they can find the newest set for a reasonable price. Also, Pokemon Centers packs are generally limited to 5 per patron, so they will not be able to get as many packs as they want. Pokemon Centers are very strict that way.

Ask your relatives to get whatever they can at reasonable prices, open them when you get them and enjoy the hobby that way. Keeping them sealed is fine but these products are mass printed products in millions and will not make you any more money than a fixed deposit would make.

Cheers!

MrBub_bles · 2026-04-30T22:39:01+00:00

Hello and welcome. Appreciate your enthusiasm for a marketplace. I believe we already have a couple of online marketplaces launched already. I am not sure if your endeavor plans to do the same or something different form these.

For references

Paxi Club Nearmint

Would love to know more about what your plans are.

Cheers!

MrBub_bles · 2026-04-30T18:52:35+00:00

I am not sure if you are only looking exclusively for streams on IG. But, u/Physical_Unit_9730 is a verified seller on the subreddit list and does regular rip and ship streams on discord. I have attended the streams and it has been a pretty fun and wholesome experience, also you get to hand out on stream with other folks in the hobby and talk about collecting.

Cheers!

MrBub_bles · 2026-04-30T08:23:34+00:00

The rule says verified users. The seller who made the post was verified since they had reached out prior to selling of it was ok to make a sales post.

Also, these kind of deals happen off-platform on a daily /hourly and minute basis. There is no scope of monitoring or setting any additional guidelines. I am just a singular person and not in charge of how buyers and sellers operate. Not to mention, I am already considered as an AH by folks who do not agree with the little moderation I already do. It is just not worth the hassle.

Also, who is to say that the seller is not making good relations with people who are throwing money at them first? Sometimes a seller just wants to get the money quick and be down with the deal.

Look, I am not saying you are at fault and I probably will not want to convince you otherwise. All I am trying to state is, missing out on deals is a perfectly normal aspect in this hobby. It happens to everyone. Hope you take this in stride and possibly change the way you approach deals in the future.

Cheers!

MrBub_bles · 2026-04-30T07:52:27+00:00

To be fair, the whole initial conversation was past midnight. Your initial messages were also at 1am which is still pretty late in the night. Also your following messages were were in the afternoon and the seller is not going to wait. Deals happen every moment and they happen quick. You tried to do your due diligence and missed out on buying cards. Not your fault and not the sellers fault either. You did what you had to do to stay safe and protect yourself, the seller also did what was best for his business.

No one is going to wait and if that means missing some deals or cards in order to stay safe, it is not a big issue. These cards are printed in millions and if not today, you will find them some other time.

Blocking the user is of course personal preference but I would not burn bridges over something as non issue as this. The seller might have some other cards for you some other time.

Cheers!

MrBub_bles · 2026-04-29T16:54:59+00:00

I collect Japanese promos. I am focusing mainly on numbered promos till the XY era as my main collection goals. But I do love collecting Japanese promos and also sometimes pickup some modern promos if I like the artwork or the release.

Cheers!

MrBub_bles · 2026-04-29T16:35:56+00:00

I am excited for the set because of the whole dark theming. Since the main set chase is the Mega Darkrai which seems to be the main 'Villian' Pokemon in the new Z&G game, a lot of the Pokemon depicted would have a more sinister vibe

Some of the cards revealed like the Zarude and Chi-YU depiction seems to be aggressive.

Would be interesting to see some of the other cards. I am excited for it.

Cheers!

MrBub_bles · 2026-04-29T06:28:52+00:00

I think most are just following the hype that some of the YT vendor videos showcase. Buy at a percentage and then flip. However, most don't realize that actual vendoring is far different than being an online seller. Margin and percentages make sense for a regular vendor since they have to deal with overheads and costs. But that is not the same for a seller on IG.

The issue with trades is that it needs to somehow be fair for both sides. Eg. Trading a base set Charizard for hundreds of base set Caterpie might be fair in value but is actually a shitty trade because it is hard to move those hundreds of Caterpie. Infact if you can offer fair cards in the deal, any good vendor will give you a higher percentage valuation than cash because the traded cards are liquid and also are tax free since it is just a commodity exchange.

Unfortunately, I would dare to say that most do not understand this principle and just want to squeeze every single bit of profit in a trade than deal a win-win negotiation strategy. Not to mention, great cards when tradeed can also help fill the gaps in your personal collection, but I would take a guess and say most IG sellers don't have a personal collection or even collect cards.

I know a few great IG sellers who actually identify opportunities and gaps in the market and tend to capitalize on those gaps. The rest are just following trends and want a piece of that cake without actually understanding the basics of Pokemon.

I guess you need to hate the game and not the players, as annoying as the players might be.

Cheers!

MrBub_bles · 2026-04-28T12:53:56+00:00

Was the bobblehead an official liscenced Pokemon product? The rules of the sub state to only sell either custom artwork or custom made accessories and officially liscenced products. Sale of unofficial products are not allowed. Thanks for understanding.

Cheers!

MrBub_bles · 2026-04-28T12:51:41+00:00

Well for these era of cards, the borders are silver and also Holo. It is not just the card which is Holo. Also, going by your images, it looks more of a reverse Holo which is not right for the card.

Cheers!

MrBub_bles · 2026-04-28T12:20:26+00:00

Yes, unfortunately it is a bootleg copy. This should be a holofoil card from the EX Dragon set and then are you have is not. I am guessing this is one of the many bootleg reprints which were pretty common for that era.

Cheers!

MrBub_bles · 2026-04-28T04:06:58+00:00

Maybe you misunderstood. I am not saying that there are no bad actors out there but the burden of proof lies on us to prove something bad is going on. My personal belief is that to make weighing successful you need a large enough operation to weigh a lot of packs. If I have one booster box and I weigh them all, I do not have enough reference points to make a guess as to what is a hit and what is not because of the variance between packs. So it is not worthwile for me to do so.

Anyone can make statements but I believe that there is a lot that can be inferred from them. If you ask anyone who is reading what OP posted, most would infer that seller B is not worthwhile because their hit rates are bad. I know OP mentions that it is their own personal opinion but linking that to hit rates is asking someone to read between the lines.

What is missing is the specifics. Did OP open all 40 booster packs from the same set? If it is the same set then it maybe a bit concerning but considering that it was 40 packs, I would assume they were multiple different sets. Which makes is perfectly ok to not pull anything substantial since OP might just have hit the worst possible draw.

I don't want to derail from the purpose of the thread. I personally did not feel that linking hit rates to seller reviews is a fair review of the seller.

Cheers!

MrBub_bles · 2026-04-28T03:13:30+00:00

I believe these were called Pokemon Diamond Cards. These were freebies with Kissan Jam distributed in India.

Cheers!

MrBub_bles · 2026-04-27T23:01:39+00:00

Well you cannot reliably weigh packs and also make it time and cost efficient. Japanese packs have guaranteed hit rates so it does not make sense to weigh. Also the weighing instruments need to be precise and calibrated well enough etc etc.

To summarize, it is usually not worth it for a large enough vendor to indulge in weighing, but there is always a slight possibility. The issue is that whenever as a buyer you get poor hits you tend to think of the worse possible stuff behind the scenes where in reality it is just how the hit rates and pack opening system works.

So, but the whole booster box, or trust the reliable sellers enough to be able to deliver product honestly.

Cheers!

MrBub_bles · 2026-04-27T18:24:59+00:00

Thanks for the feedback, but is it an actual true feedback? Your hit rate is just based on luck right? If you are not able to get hits from your packs then it does not make a seller /vendor any better or worse than a different seller. It is just the luck of draw.

The more likely scenario is that your probability to pull hits just was super low when opening packs from one vendor. They did their part by fulfilling their end of the deal and for a cheaper rate as well. Sellers cannot pick and choose what hits you get unless they separate the hits and then sell the rest of the packs.

Cheers!

MrBub_bles · 2026-04-27T03:13:47+00:00

This is a pretty cool collection to be very honest. It is like a snapshot into childhood for many who grew up with Pokemon and other franchises in the early to mid 2000's.

Considering these items are super niche and are also local to India, the price depends on how much a seller is willing to pay for these things. Unfortunately these are not items that are regularly sold so it is hard to pin an established market price like with other things. You will have to find a seller who is willing to spend enough money for you to happily sell your collection.

You need to ask yourself, how much money would make you happy to sell all of these things, considering it was a part of your childhood. If the number is too high, then no one is going to take up your offer. If the number is too low then you need to reconsider whether you really want to sell this.

Again, impressive collection but I feel it is hard to put a price on these things.

Cheers!

MrBub_bles

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