Learn To Spot Fake Cards And Packs
If you cant accurately spot fake cards not in person, theres a pretty good chance youll get burned here, too.
Unfortunately, a byproduct of pandemic reemergence is the similar rise in fake product designed to cash in. Advances in technology have made identifying fakes harder than ever before, but the heavy scrutiny of cards by an experienced collector can still catch nearly all instances.
Booster Packs And Booster Boxes
The Pokemon TCG is a trading card game, meaning players collect cards to build unique decks and play against each other. The primary way players collect these cards is through booster packs.
A booster pack contains 10 random cards, similar to a pack of baseball cards. Each card has a rarity, ranging from common to super rare . The standard distribution of cards in a booster pack is 6 common cards, 3 uncommon card, and 1 rare card.
Booster packs are released in sets. New sets are released roughly four times a year, each with a unique name like Sun and Moon Team Up. Each set contains a fixed number of new cards, usually around 200.
When you buy a booster pack, it will indicate the set that it is from. As you can see in the picture above, the booster packs are from the set Sun and Moon Team Up. If you bought 10 packs of Team Up, you would end up with 10 rare cards, 30 uncommon cards, and 60 common cards. While you can buy booster packs individually, they are also commonly sold in a booster box of 36 packs.
One of the best reasons to buy booster boxes is to get a better distribution of cards. Imagine there are 220 cards in a set. In that set, there is somewhere around 70 rare cards, 70 uncommon cards, and 80 common cards. When you buy a single pack, you will get a random rare card, 3 random uncommon cards, and 6 random common cards.
What Are The Best Pokemon Card Packs To Buy In 2022
In this article were going to look at the best Pokemon card packs to buy this year.
Although demand has never been greater, and some prices are through the roof, Im going share with you my top tips for selecting packs that are:
- Fun to open
- Have great chase cards
- Not too expensive
It goes without saying, this is not investment advice! Im merely sharing my opinion. You are responsible for how you spend your money!
Big disclaimer out of the way, lets jump into it!
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Pokemon Evolutions Booster Packs
Best Modern Packs for Nostalgia
Want a way of experiencing the thrill and nostalgia of 1999 Base Set artwork, without having the shell out hundreds for pack?!
Get your hands on some Pokemon Evolutions booster packs on eBay!
With a wonderful mix of new full art cards, old artworks and reverse holographics, Evolutions is a much loved modern set.
In fact, because it contains the original Base Set Charizard artwork, which is extremely hard to grade in a PSA 10, this is a set where GEM MINT cards are sure to increase in value over time.
If It Doesnt Have Excellent Pictures Dont Buy It
The trap that literally everyone falls into. Buying single cards on the internet is a dangerous proposition, especially if youre buying them with the intent of getting them graded to sell at an even higher price.
Your eyes will fool you. Sellers will intentionally fool you. Whatever condition you think a card is coming in, odds are its coming in one tier worse than your most optimistic expectation. Sellers know if they showcase/highlight every flaw on a card, theyll lose value because who wants to pay for damaged goods?
Instead, theyll intentionally obfuscate the true condition of the card by using poor lighting, reflections, poor angles, etc. Anything they can do to hide flaws . On the other hand, you have generally well-meaning but naive sellers who are just offloading their childhood collection who dont mean to take poor pictures/hide things. It just happens.
Simply put, if there arent half a dozen or more pictures showcasing every possible angle, and/or at least a few stupidly high definition photos of the front and back, do not buy the card.
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Xy Flashfire Booster Packs
Best Pokemon Booster Packs for Pulling Charizards
Want to go Charizard hunting?!
Not many sets have multiple Charizard cards, but did you know XY Flashfire has a whopping 7!
If you want the thrill of opening packs, good growth potential, and above average chances of pulling a Charizard, XY Flashfire booster packs are the ones for you!
The Purpose Of This Memory Game:
The purpose of this memory game is to memorize the locations of the cards in the game and to make pairs of cards by turning them over 2 by 2. When the 2 cards match, it’s a pair! You win the pair and have the right to play again, otherwise the cards are automatically turned face down and you have to make a new try.
- For the “SOLO” mode, the purpose of the matching game is to find all the pairs in the least moves and in a shortest time.
- In the 2 players mode: the player who finds the most pairs wins.
Every time you start a new game, a random selection and a random positioning of the cards ensure you a different game than the previous one, so you can play as many times as you want!
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Chapter 2 Of Learning Pokemonthe Pokemon Tcg Buyers Guide Booster Packs Boxes And Decks
Learning Pokemon TCG is a series of blogs and videos that teaches you everything you need to know to start playing! This series is updated regularly to ensure all information is accurate.
Once you know how to play the Pokemon TCG, the next step is to buy what you need to do it! One of the best, and sometimes most overwhelming, elements of Pokemon is the massive amount of cards available.
If youre looking for a fast and easy way to try the Pokemon TCG, we recommend buying a couple of theme decks. These are pre-constructed, ready-to-play decks that allow anyone to start playing right away.
While theme decks are incredibly convenient, they are only the beginning of what is available to play the game. In this chapter, we cover everything you need to know to decide how you want to collect the Pokemon TCG!
Pokemon Card Pack Trick
There is a way to up the hype and anticipation for the rare and good card that comes with a booster pack once youve gotten through the packaging.
Some preliminary shuffling of the new cards will ensure that your Energy card is the first one youll see and that your rare card is at the back.
The code card color will indicate whether or not your card is good or bad. Blue means it will be a holo or better, and green means it is going to be a regular or better.
In order to make sure your best card is the one youll see last, after youve carefully opened the packaging and removed the cards, take away the code card. You wont need that for the rest of the opening.
Move the three cards from the back to the front and the last card on the back should be your energy card. You can turn your deck over to reveal the face and should have the good and special card at the very back now.
Youll then be able to go through your cards, looking at the common and uncommon. Sort them accordingly so that you have some good organization and will be able to differentiate what you would like in your playing deck and what will go in your storage and collection.
For those of you that want to see how this is done, check out this short video that will walk you through an example of doing the Pokemon card pack trick.
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Pokemon Shining Legends Booster Packs
Best Pokemon Packs for Shining Cards
We first experienced the wonder of shining cards back in the Neo Era of 2001. These secret rare cards offered collectors a type of artwork never seen before, and theyre much loved and appreciated to this day.
Thats why the reintroduction of shining artwork in 2017 was nothing short of a revelation .
With the likes of Shining Rayquaza, Shining Arceus and Shining Mew, Pokemon Shining Legends booster packs give us as collectors a wonderful chase for some absolutely stunning cards.
Pokemon Celebrations Booster Packs
Best Anniversary Pokemon Packs
Pokemon Celebrations is the 25th Anniversary collection of cards. Hands down, its the most fun set to open in recent memory!
Alongside the main set of 25 cards, there is whats called the Classic Collection, which is a subset of 25 of the most popular cards from Pokemons history.
It features preprints such as Base Set Charizard, Birthday Pikachu, Shining Magikarp and the Gold Star Umbreon.
Each Celerations booster pack contains four cards, and they can only be found in special collection boxes.
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Japanese Pokemon Celebrations Promo Packs
Best Modern Japanese Promotional Pack
Sticking with Celebrations, did you know the Classic Collection in Japan works a bit differently. Instead of being able to pull these awesome cards from the normal booster packs, they come in special promo packs with only one card inside!
The big hitters also have a gold holographic border which I think looks really awesome!
Pokemon Tcg Online Illustration Exhibition Is Open Temporarily
An online exhibition of Pokemon TCG illustrations has opened on the internet. The Pokemon Company is working with Anique to hold the Pokemon Trading Card Game Online Illustration Exhibition temporarily between August and October 2022. The website is available in multiple languages, including English.
The exhibition website primarily consists of three areas. The Life area showcases illustrations of Pokemon in their natural habitats. The History section highlights the evolution of card layouts since the TCGs debut in 1996. And the Artist area lets viewers search images made by a specific illustrator. The site also has a special area that features specific content, such as a room containing commentary from the card illustrators and another one dedicated to the winners of the 2022 illustration contest.
Anyone can visit the online exhibition website, but those who want to get actual viewing access to the illustrations must register new accounts on the site. The organizer only allows users to publish the sites content on social media by using its official sharing feature. It strictly prohibits any other publication methods, such as manual screenshots.
The online exhibition is one of The Pokemon Companys projects to promote the card game series. In July 2022, the company opened a casting call for an unscripted Pokemon TCG show series in Los Angeles. It is also working on launching Pokemon Trading Card Game Live, a free-to-play game for PCs and mobile devices, in 2022.
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Celebrate The Stunning And Diverse Artwork Of The Pokmon Tcg With A Unique Exhibit And Viewing Experience Available Now
From battling to collecting to appreciating the art, the Pokémon Trading Card Game offers fans numerous thrilling ways to engage with the world of Pokémon. The virtual Pokémon Trading Card Game: Online Illustration Exhibition, open through October 23, 2022, expands on that opportunity to interact with artwork from the comfort of your own home.
The exhibition features three distinct themes that fans can explore: Life, History, and Artist. Life provides a glimpse of the habitats and routines of Pokémon History traces the evolution of Pokémon TCG illustrations since their beginnings in 1996 and Artist shows the different approaches that artists take to capturing a single Pokémon in their work.
You can zoom in on cards to see details you might not previously have noticed. And to get a better understanding of what the artist was thinking when they created the card, the exhibition features comments from the creators who designed each piece on display.
With 50 artists each commenting on one of their illustrations, sharing their inspiration and passion for art and Pokémon, its a rare and exciting opportunity to learn more about the talented minds behind the art. The exhibition includes pieces from artists including Yuka Morii, Megumi Mizutani, Akira Egawa, and many more.
Have Your Listings End At Opportune Times
Remember how we said buy at off-hours? The opposite is true for selling.
Third-party research gives us a pretty good idea of the days and times of the week where there is the highest activity for items sold on major platforms like eBay. Dont make the mistake of having your listing end at obscure times. No one will see it and you wont get close to the max value for it.
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Pokmon Tcg Online Rewards
The Pokémon Trading Card GameOnline is an awesome way to play the Pokémon TCG against players around theworld. There’s much more to playing than simply the thrill of competitionyoucan earn great rewards and bonuses, too! Take a look at all of theopportunities for you to earn rewards and bonuses in the Pokémon TCG Online.
Look For Deals During Off
Im located on the East Coast of the United States. Coincidentally, several studies have shown that eBay activity, or internet traffic in general, is highest during primetime or between 8-11 PM EST.
Thats when the highest number of people have free time to scour the web with the intent of making a purchase. Its also the time youre most likely to compete with other bidders/buyers for a potential card youre interested in. Great for sellers, bad for getting the best price on a card.
I have a newborn and so, as luck would have it, I was often awake at super-off hours stateside. This often led to me stumbling/saving eBay auctions that ended at obscure hours, and with fewer competing eyes.
At least 50% of the acquisitions I make are between twelve-midnight and twelve-noon the following day. There are simply fewer people to compete with.
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Become Familiar With Promotional Methods
Platforms like Mercari and eBay have robust seller tools for getting extra exposure on your listings, often for a very reasonable cut. If youre flipping cards, it may be of interest to offload quickly as market conditions are changing.
Sometimes its better to take less profit than holding and taking a loss, especially if you have cash flow concerns. Furthermore, Mercari even has free promotional options that enhance exposure without them getting a hand on the final sale price. Take advantage of any option you can find that gets your listings in front of more relevant buyers.
Pokemon Hidden Fates Booster Packs
Best Pokemon Card Packs to Open
Hidden Fates is one of the most loved Pokemon sets of the modern era.
Stacked with first generation Pokemon, full art cards, rainbow and gold cards and to top it off a Shiny Vault subset, the diversity in the artworks is incredible. And because of this, you can often pull very good cards from booster packs.
Oh yes, and to top it off, there #SV49 Charizard GX card looks amazing!
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Turning A Hobby Into A Side Hustle
To the fervent card collector, one who holds the view that a cards intrinsic value is measured in memories, not its monetary worth, the rest of this article may present as a nuisance plaguing the hobby.
But I promise there are several ways to flip undervalued cards without harming the hobby in the same way that scalpers prevent the next generation of Pokemon lovers from finding product on modern store shelves.
And to that effect, that is where my October Pokemon rediscovery began. I spent weeks in early-to-mid October studying the value of the vintage products I was already familiar with both sealed packs and single Wizards of the Coast -era cards.
I wanted to make at least semi-informed decisions about the cards I was buying. I wanted to have a systematic way of approaching and identifying undervalued cards, and an equally systematic way for selling them, taking any guesswork/emotional attachment out of the process.
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Where To Go From Here
I should probably clarify that I am by no means an expert. Perhaps an above-average informed enthusiast, at best. My biggest piece of advice is to guard yourself against overvaluing your cards and/or overvaluing a card youre interested in purchasing. This is seemingly rampant in the industry, and it doesnt factor in well to your bottom line when you try to flip cards that people dont value the same way you do especially when those people are professional card graders.
Fortunately, I found a money-making gig that not only helps pay the bills, it also extinguishes the urge to constantly rip open expensive packs with no way to recoup my entire paycheck. And at the end of the day, Ive still got a bunch of inventory to sell, so stay tuned to see where it goes from here.
If this is the first story youve read about Pokemons pandemic boom, I urge you to hop over to YouTube and dwell on the likes of Leonhart and PokeRev as they serenade you with memories of the Pokemon glory days. From daily pack openings, card gradings, and general goofing off, I thank them for hours of cool content over the past 6 months I got to enjoy while locked up at home.
What about you? Have you bought or sold Pokemon cards with some level of success? Let us know what other tips you have for snagging deals or getting the most out of your cards in the comments below.
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