Help New Collector Advice

Lakey

Aspiring Trainer
Member
Hi everyone.

I have just restarted collecting again, after 20+ years after an impulse purchase of a pack of ‘brilliant stars’ in my local shop and need some advice.

I’m not interested in making money, or even owning particularly valuable cards. What I want to do is collect cool cards of Pokémon which I recognise. I played Pokémon red, blue and yellow way back in my childhood so am mainly interested in the original 151 Pokémon as they are the ones I know, other than a few others from the newer generation.

As I’m involving my son into this as well I want to buy booster packs to build my collection mainly as he enjoys opening them and seeing what we can pull. Although I wouldn’t be against buying single cards down the line.

My question is around the types of boosters. The one I bought was ‘brilliant stars’ I think and other than a Steelix I didn’t recognise any other pulls. So what packs would I need to buy to get some (not necessarily all) original gen Pokémon? Would it just be the ‘Scarlett and violet’ boosters or are they scattered throughout all of the packs?

I really just want to collect some cool cards that I recognise and can involve my son in this world. So any help would be gratefully received.

Thanks if you’ve made it this far. 🙂
 
As you mentioned in your other comment, XY Evolutions and 151 sets are the best for original gen 1 Pokémon, but yes, they are a bit pricey now. Might be better to buy single cards for these sets.
Some gen 1 mons are scattered throughout all the sets. If you want to know what cards are in each set, both PokeBeach and Serebii have set lists from the most recent to going all the way back to Base Set!
 
I initially thought the same way, opening new packs and getting mostly unrecognizable Pokémon, most of which I thought were stupid... But after a while I really warmed to them, even to ones I initially really didn't like, like Dragapult or Chandelure.

Since buying 151 packs or Evolutions packs is pretty expensive, I'd suggest buying singles or perhaps preconstructed decks (like Ex Battle Decks, League Battle decks) that contain recognizable Pokémon if you're interested in playing. Or consider buying in a different language. 151 is available in Korean for example for reasonable prices and will soon be released in Simplified Chinese.

I use https://pkmncards.com/sets/ for browsing sets. This might help you find sets that contain cards you're interested in or singles you might want to buy, while also becoming more familiar with Pokémon past the original 151.

I use https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Theme_Deck_(TCG)#Generation_VIII for checking out preconstructed deck lists. Sword & Shield Series, V Battle Decks, ex Battle Decks, League Battle Decks should be widely available. There is also a new Charizard ex League Battle Deck that isn't listed on Bulbapedia. But these are more geared towards playing and contain multiple copies of the same cards.
 
Actually, there is a Pokémon GO set that is a few years old but still in stock in a lot of places for clearance prices (at least online). This is mostly 1st gen Pokémon and quite a small set, so easy to complete.

Also, I've noticed that a lot of people who get into Pokémon later on don't necessary prefer the first 151. It's easy to think they are "better" characters in some way because they are more familiar, but newer fans respond really well to newer creatures as well. So it might end up that your son really likes Pokémon from newer generations!
 
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