r/WotCPokemonCards

Putting this out there up front, there is no “wrong” way to arrange and enjoy your pokemon cards. I’m just making a case for something more visually interesting than set order.

I was around 10 or so when Pokemon first came out in the US and got to experience peak excitement and the onset of pokemon card collecting.

When we collected as kids and you looked at somebody’s binder, the usual arrangement was usually either:
- by type (can be visually appealing)
- pokedex order (my personal fav)
- by personal favorites (respect)
- zero organization whatsoever, they just needed a place to put them (chaotic good)

Nobody ever really arranged them in order based on the set numbers (Southern Islands excluded of course), and at 10 or so no kids had the goal of completing what we know as a master set today. My goal as a kid was to have all of the original 151 in pokedex order which just felt right considering that was such a common arrangement on posters and in other places. The pokemon and their evolutions just felt like they belonged together.

I’m not trying to gatekeep here, arrange your cards in a way that makes you happy, but I’ve always felt that alphabetical set order runs counter to the spirit of pokemon. The pokedex was already a defined order and placing pokemon next to their evolutions I think makes for a more visually appealing presentation and elevates the presence moreso than if they are isolated.

I also see so many collectors who flip through just the first few pages of a binder to see the “heavies” and treat the rest as “bulk”, which is a shame considering there is so much stunning artwork and design to be found on the non-holo cards as well.

Anyway, here are a few examples of arrangements where I think the cards are at their best near each other but would never be otherwise if in set order. I’m a fan of pokedex order but with a few creative liberties so that the cards arrange nicely in a 9 pocket binder, but I’d love to see the arrangements you guys have come up with outside of set order.

Just finished unlimited Gym Hero. One of my personal favorite sets. Artwork is just amazing

Sorry for the length, I enjoyed writing this and brain dumping.

SETUP: In 2013 I bought a few booster boxes of XY era expansion sets, kids received pack rewards for good grades, doing chores, etc. After a 2014 move, we forgot all about them until we found them tucked away in storage in 2023. Whoa. Pulled back in to Pokemon TCG world.

NOW: Recently found a couple Skyridge cards at a show that I fell in love with. I did a little research and made the very foolish proclamation that “I’m going to master set e-Card era!” (meaning Skyridge, Aquapolis and Expedition)

YESTERDAY: Went to a smaller, no-admission local show and had an absolute BLAST. I’ve been to massive shows of all sorts but I have learned that I like the smaller shows where tables cost less and vendors tend to bring more cards that they maybe wouldn’t bring to larger, more expensive shows. I found about 50 cards towards my goal, a lot of LP or better for 50 cents, a dollar or two. I unfortunately found some that were a bit more expensive.

I normally don’t spend like this, my kids and I have a number of themed collections (fave being “seeing double” where we collect cards with more than 1 instance of the same pokemon, like all Ghastly or all Eevees.) yesterday it was my birthday, I was enjoying the hunt, and I didn’t just but everything I saw, I picked up a lot of things. What is pictures are the more important cards. Wish I could find someone with some bulk singles for these sets!

TL;DR: recently proclaimed my desire to master set a vintage e-Card era, went to local show and spent waaaaaaay too much. It’s ok, I’ll have fun vending in my retirement. Or passing the cards down to my kids. I justified it by telling myself happy birthday.

Another one down for now! Onto the next!!

Completed all of the ancient mew variants + bonus sealed Australian release

- Ancient Mew I (Nintedo)

- Ancient Mew I (Nintendo)

- Ancient Mew II

- Ancient Mew International

- Ancient Mew 2019

- Ancient Mew 2020

The moment I saw it I bought it.

My complete Legendary Collection reverse holo set Part of my master set

If you have any questions feel free to ask !

Been collecting for almost 30 vears 😁😁

When I posted my WOTC binder a few months ago, I thought I was done. A fool, I was 😅

So many folks here showed me SO many more variants and errors I could obtain to really "master" the set. While errors aren't my thing, I did end up collecting some of them, but one particular variant that was very hard to find was the Kanzenban Mewtwo, a variant of the #3 Black Star Mewtwo from the Pokemon movies. Here's a bit more about them if interested:

https://www.elitefourum.com/t/mewtwo-strikes-back-us-version-kanzenban-associated-mewtwo-3-promo-variant/38635

So besides the WB Movie upside down and missing stamp errors that are a billion dollars, I'm pretty sure I caught them all? Tell me if I'm wrong 😆

Huge shoutout to the connections made in this sub to finally obtain the Mewtwo as well as the corrected illustrator birds, no hp Dark Persian, and many others! Black Star Promos are finally completed (for real this time). And no, before the Black Stars is not a real Prerelease Raichu, its a proxy for a card ill never own 🤷 (I wish)

The best card for each Johto Pokemon from WOTC era. All my subjective opinions of course. Thought you guys might find it interesting and curious what you think of my choices :)

Finally finished Base Set 2. Onto the next one!

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I pulled some images from my Twitter account,

@pokecardaddict, and took a few pics today.

I wanted to share my master set with everyone !!

The definition of a Master Set is the complete card set plus the reverse holo card set.

Because the LC was the very first set with reverse holos, it needed more to be a master set imo. So I also collected the box toppers and both decks Turmoil with Raichu and Lava with Charizard, the decks have a special Non Holo Dark Raichu and Base Set Art Charizard. The decks came with a metal pikachu flip coin.

I'll post a "Part 2" with the reverse holos

Oh and I was moving at one point in time. That is why i have painters tape on the pages. Its card safe and ensured my cards wouldnt slide out accidentally for any reason during transit lol

$0.20!

and needed it for the collection 🐢

Anyone have any information they can give on this booster box from jungle set? It looks fine but the one thing that is throwing me off is that most boxes I’ve seen have that TM Expert Yellow logo on the bottom right near the Scyther, whereas this one doesn’t. Then again some of them don’t, so not really sure. Any help is appreciated!