r/pokemoncardcollectors

I am an autistic girl in my 20s. I don’t live in an area with pokemon vending machines so I don’t really know the etiquette (visiting family in an area w machines). Yesterday I was at a vending machine and there was a group of people there waiting, everyone was nice, and everyone got a chance to buy something in the order they arrived. So I assumed that’s the “rules”. This morning I go to a vending machine and figure I’ll wait 5-10 mins by it in case something loads while my partner picks up coffee. Scalper comes in, I tell him I’m waiting, he pushes past me and taps the machine and of course that’s the exact moment something loads. An etb and a few other smaller items (packs, tins). He goes to buy out the machine. I ask him if he’s serious because he knew I was here first. I say I only want the etb and he can have the rest but I was here first. I tap my card and buy the etb. He starts calling me names and taking pictures of me. I’m sure he would have started a physical fight if I wasn’t a 5 foot tall girl. He says he’s going to post the pictures online because I stole it from him. I take the etb and run over to where my partner is in the coffee shop and have a full sobbing breakdown in the coffee shop. Idk if I did something wrong or not. I was just following what I thought was the generally accepted “rules” of the vending machines based on my experience yesterday. I wish I just let the guy have the stupid etb if I knew he’d have a reaction like that. Now it’s been a couple hours and I’m just staring at the etb and I don’t even want to rip it because I feel so gross. It makes me so sad because I’ve been in the hobby for a year and have met some really nice people and before I got into this hobby my communication was not very good and talking to strangers was really hard for me, but being in this community has helped me with talking a lot. I’m definitely never going to a vending machine again and this experience has just really left a bad taste in my mouth about the hobby as a whole. Anyways, just wanted to vent and look for support. Please be kind ❤️

My young kids have started collecting so I go to the store all the time to check. I’ve noticed the scalpers are awful people IMO and fellow collectors and players are awesome. They often let my kids buy packs if it’s series they don’t want.

I know camping the machine is bad etiquette. So let’s say I’m waiting because I think product is gonna open at 12:30 and it’s 12:25 and someone else walks up. Do we just start exchanging tap and timeouts and whoever gets the drop on their tap gets it? This scenario hasn’t happened but I saw a post earlier where that situation kinda happened.

If I check and there are multiple packs and an ETB and someone is waiting, should I just get the ETB and leave packs for them?

I know a lot about sport cards nothing about Pokemon cards besides ripping packs what are the best singles to get for beginners. What should I look for. I’ve heard 151 is good. What should I stay away from. Thank you in advance.