The Basics of Pokemon Cards
The world of Pokemon has so many choices and it can be hard to decide what is the best way to start or continue. I’ve been collecting Pokemon cards for about ten years now and with the holiday season just around the corner, Pokemon cards can be a great gift but with so many options it’s hard to figure out where to start. With so many kids wanting to start collections of their own here are the best Pokemon Cards for each type of collector. Don’t forget, we always post new releases and deals in our Facebook Group The Find – if you’re not a member, be sure to join here!
What are the best Pokemon Cards for Beginners?
For a kid just starting I would look toward getting the pre-made Pokemon battle decks. These pre-made decks are perfect for first time collectors because the cards are not rare. This makes them great to test run to see how well the cards will be handled. A good option to start off with is the Pokemon TCG: Sun & Moon Unified Minds, Laser Focus Theme Deck. It’s a fairly recent release and on sale! Keep in mind that these pre-made decks are all the same, so you will not want to buy the same child two.
It’s also important to begin to instill a collector’s mind set in your child. This is where binders and card protectors start to enter the playing field. Technically, any two inch binder with roughly fifty binder card sleeve protectors will work. I believe, however, that the first binder should be a little more than that so that as their collection grows they have a safe place to put all their favorite cards. There are some great Pokemon themed binders here (just make sure that they come with sleeves).
Another great option to consider is the Pokemon Pin Boxes that come with a Holo Promo card, three booster packs, and a collectors pin. You can pick up the Pokemon TCG: Shining Legends Pin Collection Pikachu pin collection here and get the Mewtwo Pin Collection HERE)
Walmart also has some Pokemon Black Friday deals up and running! You can check out their promotion on the popular Detective Pikachu line here!
What are the best Pokemon cards for Intermediate Collectors?
For those who have already started collecting and are wanting to get more in-depth with their collection the next step up is the collector tins and GX boxes. The tins come with one holo card and four booster packs. The tin is also a great place to put all those excess energies your child will get in their collecting adventures too. Walmart has several options on sale that are perfect here! The GX boxes are quite similar to the tins but also include and enlarged featured GX card. The Hidden Fates line is currently the most popular line – they are currently all in stock here – I recommend snatching them up! These are great for intermediate collectors because each booster pack has a chance to have one of that set’s GX, EX, Full art, or Secret rare cards which sometimes those cards can have major value.
What are the Pro Pokemon Collectors are looking for?
For those who are at the pro collector level, the best Pokemon Cards are the elite trainer boxes or the booster boxes. Elite trainer boxes 8 booster packs, a dice set, condition markers, tag team tokens, 45 energies, 65 cards sleeves, four card dividers, and a players guide. You can check out some of those currently available here. Booster boxes are sets of 36 booster packs which give your kids the best chance to get super rare cards from the series. Cosmic Fates is the most recent series and Unified Minds is pretty popular as well. Amazon has several to choose from here.
Pro collectors can also look forward to the Hidden Fates Poke ball collection box. These feature either a shiny Zoroark-GX or a Metagross-GX, each with an ultra ball card holder and ten booster packs. Both are currently available for a STEAL at Target here! Finally, there is the Hidden Fates Ultra Premium Collectors Box. It’s currently the Holy Grail for collectors. It comes with three full-art cards: Shiny Rayquaza-GX, and special gold versions of Solgaleo-GX and Lunala-GX. It also features a shiny Rayquaza-GX card holder, fifteen Hidden Fates booster packs, and a full size pokemon TCG playmat. It’s sold out at both Amazon and Walmart, but you can watch for restocks (retail price is $99.99 – higher prices are from resellers).
What are the best Pokemon Cards for the 2019 Holiday Season?
Whether your kid is looking to start up their own collection or increase their current one, here some of the best Pokemon Cards to look for this holiday season. Anything Hidden Fates is extremely popular, but the best items to get are the collectors tins like the Hidden Fates Fall Tin-Charizard GX. With the new release of Cosmic Eclipse the elite trainer boxes are a great gifts! Grab them quickly – they’re a steal at $29.99 here! Unified Minds has great packs that make nice add on as well. They contain a special promo, a Pokemon coin, and three booster packs. Your options are Stakataka or you can get Vikavolt HERE). Finally with the release of the popular Switch games Pokemon Sword & Shield (they are two different games), there are three new Sword & Shield sets: Sobble, Scorbunny & Grookey that kids will be asking for!
How to keep and store Pokemon cards
The best way to store you Pokemon cards is with binders and binder card sleeves. When it comes to binders you should get a few at first because you child’s collection will grow fast. Two to three inch binders work best because they won’t get too heavy once they are full. There are also fun Pokemon themed–binders with padded binder pages to hold your cards. As your child’s collection grows, you’ll also need lots of Binder card pages. We get the 100-pack Ultra Pro pages here. Finally for ultra rare cards, you need hard case sleeves to keep those valuable cards in their best condition possible. These are great!
