It’s time for another check-in on my Pokémon Trading Card Game journey.
The last time I talked about this topic was back in the middle of April, and I think a lot has happened in a way since then. It has been a mixture of collecting and building up my bulk to help create decks. However, it’s been lots of fun along the way. So, let’s break it all down!
Table of Contents
The Collection Journey
While Project Pikachu has slowed down, my collection has grown at a steady pace since I last checked in. This has been helped again by some trading at one of my local game stores, as well as my brother rediscovering some forgotten cards.
Trade-wise, I had a handful of duplicate cards, as well as some older cards that simply don’t fit my collection anymore. I had about a dozen cards I traded in overall, which gave me about £40 in value. This allowed me to pick up a handful of cards for my single Pokémon master sets, such as Mareep, Flaaffy, Ampharos, Dedenne, Morepeko, and Quagsire. Most of these cards were from the modern era rather than older mid/vintage cards. I did pick up a Flaaffy from Neo Genesis at a different local card store, which was a random find recently.
My younger brother has been rediscovering his old childhood Pokémon collection, and he’s given me a handful of duplicate cards he thought my partner and I would like. This has included a lot of Delta Species cards (which I still need to properly go through) as well as a Falreon EX from the Generations Radiant Collection.
As for my collection going forward, I think I really just need to organise it first. I have an Elite Trainer Box full of cards that need to go into my binders, but I just haven’t gotten around to it. Once I’ve done that, I’ll have a clearer picture as to what I want to do next.
Card Shows & Pre-Orders
I haven’t attended any card shows since February. This is mainly due to two reasons. I’ve either been working when they’ve been on, or the newer, smaller one I had been attending regularly has been postponed for the time being. I’m aiming to start attending some more local ones again over the summer months.
As for pre-orders, I mentioned previously about Perfect Order, and that was a successful pre-order. I was also lucky in picking up the new Chaos Rising set, which I’ve really been enjoying this past week.
The next pre-order on the horizon is, in fact, the Pitch Black release that’s planned to launch at the end of July. Personally, I think this is going to be a hard one to get hold of since there’s a lot of buzz around the set already before the pre-orders, but also due to some of the Pokémon, with the lead being Darkrai and Zeraora in their Mega variants set to feature in the set.
Credit: Pokemon Company International
Playing The Trading Card Game
I’ve finally been putting in the time learning how to play the Trading Card Game properly, as well as building my own decks. This has been so much fun but also a lot to think about at the same time.
As part of this, I’ve been spending time at my local hobby centre with my partner and one of our friends, building up my skills, confidence and playing against one another. We’ve been helping each other out, and one day soon, we are hoping to join their league night to play and meet others. Scary but also exciting to have something to look forward to.
Of course, I have kitted myself out with a rather fun playmat, a Spheal one to be exact, as well as picking up some more sleeves and deck boxes for the few decks I’m working on learning.
Cute, right?
Also, you know those little code cards you get with your cards? Well, I’ve finally started making my way through the hundreds of ones I’ve got and never used for Pokemon TCG Live. That’s another thing I’ve been playing a lot of recently, and it is helping build my confidence with playing the game in general. I’ve also been enjoying it more than Pokémon TCG Pocket, yet that’s a topic for another day.
Overall, it’s been a steady couple of months since my last update. Lots to look forward to, to learn and work on, but still loving every moment of it along the way!
