Collecting How Do People Get Such Huge Binders?

LiftoffLizard

LiftoffLizard

Hoenn Nerd
Member
Alright I have always been amazed at the size of some peoples binder size, so here is the question. How do people get such huge trade binders? I can barely maintain a small one because of the trading I do to fill out my deck every once and awhile. I know it isn't just because they get it all out of packs because I actively buy packs to fill out small needs and to trade the code cards. I also know that it can't just be that they have been collecting forever because I have been playing for ten years and my binder is tiny.

So do share the strategies that you all use on how to achieve a massive binder, so that I can learn the ways of the binder force and finally have a stellar set of cards to trade.
 
Money. Chances are they have a stable job and expendable income. Players that are willing to invest in the game will have more cards. Simple correlation.

Or I guess you can win a lot.
 
I can agree. Probably the people with the biggest binders either have a stable job and pokemon TCG is a massive hobby that they're willing to throw massive amounts to. Or they have family relatives that're willing to settle the need of there relatives hobby by buying it for them :)
 
I think a factor to consider is they may rip off newer players and kids. I have reason to believe this.
 
For one thing, they invest huge money into singles, not packs. One thing that I see at league, is kids sinking $20+ dollars into packs every week. Which is fun, yeah, but not economic if you're looking to expand you binder. Ripping off kids is possible, however I attribute it to buying a few single Full Arts or EXs every week.
 
Anthony Orosco said:
For one thing, they invest huge money into singles, not packs. One thing that I see at league, is kids sinking $20+ dollars into packs every week. Which is fun, yeah, but not economic if you're looking to expand you binder. Ripping off kids is possible, however I attribute it to buying a few single Full Arts or EXs every week.
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Spot on man. Singles > Packs for sure. I buy packs for the Promos if I like the art so I have the peace of mind of knowing I'm pulling em fresh from the thing, but I won't splurge on packs if I don't have a reason to.
 
LightningCloud224 said:
I hate to suspicious of others but I think this is definitely a factor...
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This guy (mid 30's) has shown up to the league I've visited a few times.. Just to make trades, doesn't ever seem to play (I've only been a few times for challenges) and he doesn't ever seem to give the value of his cards, makes you tell him what you think is fair, but in a shady way. He's always trading with high school and younger too, I try to keep an eye on his trades when I'm around.
 
I went from 0 to explosive binder within a year without really agressively buying packs really. I'll buy a pack a month, but that's about it.

Yes, I do try to get advantageous trades from time to time with smaller kids, I'm a kid in High School myself, after all, but it's really never a working plan. Their cards will almost always be heavily played, and most of the kids at a league will have a basic understanding of what cards are more valuable. This only works with trainer cards - not ultra rares - as kids tend to devalue them while competitive players seek them.
Best deal that happened off of those trades was a chain from a few bulk cards to a VS seeker at one isolated library event, to a Darkrai EXT BKP at a league - but that's as far as it will go.

Really, the majority of my collection came from aquiring the cheapest singles that held some sort of rarity (EX: Glalie EX, Kyruem EX), and then trading up in small increments.

Essentially, singles are the source of all life
 
Moved this to News & Discussion out of Competitive Play since it really had nothing to do with competitive play.
 
Keep in mind that in order to obtain something, you have to have a start.
That said, it honestly isn't too difficult if you understand the player value of cards. While a store may sell you something for 5 dollars or so, it doesn't mean a person is willing to trade that much in cards (value-wise). That said, it also doesn't mean that players are NOT willing to do so and you do find situations where you earn more in overall value than you would otherwise.
The biggest trick I found when I used to trade a lot was that the more cards with decent value I could obtain, the better. It sounds like an obvious statement, but there are times where taking, let's say, 3 VS Seeker over a Greninja BREAK is worthwhile. In certain regards, both even out in value (at 12 dollars), but I can potentially trade VS Seekers for more overall. Little things like that carry you a long way. Also, keep in mind that when you want to trade upwards, people are more willing to take more in Quantity than in Quality as a whole. After all, if someone is trying to build a new deck (which is pretty common), they'll most likely need Staples, meaning they'll want more of those and less of whatever they're willing to trade.
Finally, one of the biggest mistakes I feel people make when it comes to trading is...sadly, feeling guilt. When you want nice things, you (typically) have to be ambitious. I know it sucks and honestly, I'm not a fan of it either, but there are simply times where if someone offers you a good deal, you should take it. I'm not saying be a total jerk and attempt to intentionally convince younger individuals to trade their best cards for your bulk, but Business (and yes, trading is business) is sadly cutthroat at times.

Hopefully that helps. It can be quite a chore at times, but assuming you don't simply buy multiple packs or you don't simply spend a bunch on singles, this is most likely how you'll be obtaining anything of true worth when it comes to TCGs in general.

Take care~

-Asmer
 
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