Pokemon TCG

[kansasbbq]

Our son is becoming more and more interested in Pokemon cards. I was hoping to avoid it, but it now seems like a rabbit hole I must go down.

Does anybody on here collect? If so, what sort of advice or tips do you have?

-Where are the best places/sites to buy packs?
-Where are the best places/sites to buy singles?
-Where are the best places/sites to trade?

Thanks!!!

[guryter]

Oh my, I've been called into action.

Buy from reputable places like target & walmart (NOT third party) and costco. There are also a bunch of pokemon sellers that are legit and reputable outside of those big boys. Amazon is a crapshoot tbh, I have def read about reseals and opened boxes etc. Honestly you can just avoid them altogether unless they have some exclusive box in the future. Good/great prices have you spending @$3 per pack. Average prices are closer to $5/pack. Keep an eye on pokemoncenter as well, they release exclusive ETB's with extra cards/packs that are more desirable. Ebay is obvi a huge resource for older stuff, just check the sellers like you would anything else.

Sites like tcgplayer and tcgcollector are good resources for prices and singles. I have not bought singles but I know a few people who have (from tcgplayer) and it has been positive.

Trading is an interesting one.....probably look for a local card shop and ask around there. Your child will also most likely trade at school/camp etc. They'll know where and who is into it.

The most important thing to remember is that these are mass produced pieces of paper and they will get thrown around and stuck in your couch and mashed into books. You'll need to come to terms with it or it'll prob stress you out. The more you learn the more you'll be able to understand what is actually valuable and what isn't. Try to instill a bit of the collector mentality but also be ok with seeing a "rare/ultra rare" card bent to fudge. Just try to have fun. You'll eventually have piles and piles of the damn things.

Oh and pokemon go is kinda great. Can be a grind like anything else but it'll def help with getting some of the 'mons names and types. You can grab an old phone and set up an account for your child and tether to yours and play together. Raids/research are all fun things.

I'll add I felt the same way about pokemon......I was older when it came out and always considered it just another kid thing. But now that I have kids I realize it is exactly that, and a ton of fun if you get into it.

[jojobadass]

my son wastes his money on this crap. Mostly at target.

He resells them on ebay (except for no one buys them).

[Codeblue]

Oof.

[jojobadass]

live and learn

[kansasbbq]

my son wastes his money on this crap. Mostly at target.

He resells them on ebay (except for no one buys them).

Come on dad....help him out.

[kansasbbq]

Oh my, I've been called into action.

Great info. Great advice. Thank you!

[kansasbbq]

Buy from reputable places like target & walmart (NOT third party) and costco. There are also a bunch of pokemon sellers that are legit and reputable outside of those big boys. Amazon is a crapshoot tbh, I have def read about reseals and opened boxes etc. Honestly you can just avoid them altogether unless they have some exclusive box in the future. Good/great prices have you spending @$3 per pack. Average prices are closer to $5/pack. Keep an eye on pokemoncenter as well, they release exclusive ETB's with extra cards/packs that are more desirable. Ebay is obvi a huge resource for older stuff, just check the sellers like you would anything else.

-Prices at Target seem higher than at other places.
-We've been told to stay away from Walmart.com (actual Walmart stores should be fine though).
-Amazon seems to be 50/50, so we're going to stay away.
-Haven't purchased anything from Pokemoncenter.com yet.

We've seen a good selection and good prices at Best Buy. That's where he buys most of his cards/packs now.

[guryter]

Yeah Best Buy is another spot that you can get some good deals etc. I neglected to list them only because I rarely go there nowadays.

Check slickdeals and set up a pokemon alert. Check reddit for pokemontcgdeals. Discord is the real spot now for the instant posts for deals but I haven't dabbled much.

[kansasbbq]

Check slickdeals and set up a pokemon alert.

Good idea.

[ygolohcysp]

Barnes and noble also has the Pokemon flow, I believe most places will let you know when they are expecting new stock and then it's FCFS

[guryter]

Also wanted to mention that the battle academy is a great intro into actually playing the game. Comes with 3 decks, counters, playmat etc. Fifteen bucks, it's a great deal for what you get and it's more like a self contained board game as opposed to 'mons everywhere lol

https://www.target.com/p/pok-233-mon-tr ... A-79396387

[iwokeinrelief]

I always buy the new sealed booster boxes as they come out from Amazon without issues. Sometimes Amazon directly sells them (of which I've never had an issue) and sellers like MTGBiz and Burning Tree Gaming tend to almost always have the stuff as it comes out, at cost, and have always provided legit/sealed products. I just buy the booster boxes because I use the packs as rewards / gifts / stocking stuffers for the kids and it's easily the cheapest way to buy packs with some guarantee of hits.

There's a facebook group called Discount Collectibles that will have cheaper sets for sale on occasion (but the better deals tend to sell out really quickly) - I've probably ordered 20 or so different sets from them and they've always been completely legit.

[kansasbbq]

Also wanted to mention that the battle academy is a great intro into actually playing the game. Comes with 3 decks, counters, playmat etc. Fifteen bucks, it's a great deal for what you get and it's more like a self contained board game as opposed to 'mons everywhere lol

https://www.target.com/p/pok-233-mon-tr ... A-79396387

This is exactly how we started.

[kansasbbq]

Best Buy is currently running a 24 hour sale today. A few things are at a really good price.