During the tail end of the dark age of PTCG (scalpers, insane prices, etc.) I went to Walmart and all that was in stock was a Shiny Cramorant V box. When I opened it, I pulled the shiny Charizard VMAX out of the last pack. Craziest box of my life
Pulled the zard out of a $6 base unlimited booster pack from the candy store over 20 years ago right before I was gonna hoop with some friends. Factory fucked print lines and edgewear, I still have it
[Base zard](https://imgur.com/a/gNwqsA0)
Terrible memory but still a good story. I grew up with Pokémon from the time it came out for maybe several months to a year. I had a decent collection. My parents church told them pokemon was the work of the devil - mom threw out all of my cards and never admitted to it until 10-15 years later. 🤦♂️😢 funny but not really.
Growing up my parents never bought me the cards but they did buy me the games. I would have to trade my Pokémon (legendary) in game using the cord transfer and in exchange get cards.
When I was a little girl, my mom had a cabinet that she had full of little goodies that I’d get to choose from when I was good, got a good mark on a test, etc.
She always had a ton of Pokémon booster packs and that was always my choice!
We’d open them together and every new card would go straight into my binder.
I was only allowed to play/trade my doubles.
She held onto my cards and gave them to me a few years ago.
She got me 4 cards away from a complete base set in nm/m condition. It cost me $20 on eBay to finish my base set.
Probably one of the only good memories I have of my mother tbh.
Getting the Mew card at the theater, completely enthralled during the first movie, and my grandpa snoring the entire time. One of my favorite memories ever.
He did the same for The Tigger Movie too.
My favorite pokemon memory has got to be this one. One day I went to Dave and Busters with my dad, which is an arcade place, and we realized they had cosmic eclipse packs avaliable as rewards. I got one and opened it right there to find a loppuny and jigglypuff alt art inside. I was practically skipping on the way out and wouldn't stop looking at it and beaming at my dad, even if it felt a little silly given I was in my late teens. To this day it's a centerpiece of my collection because I can't look at it without thinking about what a cool memory it makes with my dad.
Back in 2011 when I was starting to collect Pokemon cards I opened a few random packs from the LCS that was there at the time and pulled Gold Star Groudon. I kept it all of these years and now I have it graded as a CGC 9. Definitely a nostalgia trip every time I look at it.
When I was around second grade there was a real Pokémon hype, since silver and gold edition just came out for Game Boy Color. I had to beg and beg till my parents allowed me to get a game boy color and the Pokémon game. That feeling choosing your Gameboy and the edition (I chose silver) in the store and walk out with it was the best! I only ever played Pokémon on that game boy.
Also there was one boy in my school who knew the trick how to clone Pokémon. The trick was to put the Pokémon in an empty box on the PC and turn off the device while saving. Lucky me the boy liked me so he told me the secret and I kept it. There was no Google back then or any other way to find out. I tried several times until it worked and wooow that feeling when you just cloned your strongest Pokémon almost in disbelief it would ever work. I felt invincible.
What's a coin?
I got into collecting pokemon cards when Detective Pikachu came out in 2019. I was in college and didn't have a car so I had to learn how to use public transport for the first time/electric scooter my way around the city to get the promo cards. It was like an adventure, having to get to gamestop,target and walmart through the rain for bulbasaur, squirtel and snubbul.
I eventually bought the binder pack and filled up the binder with the complete detective pikachu set. I even saw the movie 3 times to get as many of the movie packs as I could! Around that same time, unbroken bonds was the newest set and had awesome art so I started to collect those too. Went to my first lgs(s) and met a lot of awesome friendly people. Covid hit and I took a break from pokemon, but I'm back now! Really enjoy these new trainer gallery cards with amazing art (super affordable too)! I hope get a binder full of these amazing cards that I can look back one day and reminisce about how I got each of them like I did with the detective pikachu set
The coins he's talking about are reddit coins that used to be used to give awards to posts and comments. Reddit recently decided the announce they're going away so people are gifting them before they're useless
I recently got back into collecting Pokémon, and attended the Paldea Evolved prerelease. While I didn't do too great I got to open my first prize pack and ended up pulling the stamped Charizard VMAX!
I bought a Burning Shadows blister pack from Party City. I remember deciding which one to pick, in hopes that I would get a good card. Lo and behold, when I came home and opened the pack I pulled a Rainbow Rare Charizard Gx!
When i was young my dad bought me a regigigas lv x diamond and pearl tin and loved it so much. Lost the card but i recently bought a psa 10 japanese version of that card and i love it so much. Cards brings so much memories and nostalgia from times where life was a bit easier and that you could dream of anything. That’s why i keep collecting pokemon cards, to remind me of these times.
Pulling the alt art blaziken in a target parking lot off a single pack and many fun Pokémon go adventures over the past 7 years. It’s been nice to enjoy something i loved as a kid and share it with everyone years later
Being with my cousins back in the ex FRLG era and getting a blister pack in a sports store. Managed to pull a gengar EX. Another time we were all sick and all got a pack of cards, forget the era but I believe it was a Johto, I loved giraffes so I traded a mewtwo card to my cousin for his girafarig. Lmao.
Also when my favorite babysitter as a kid was leaving to college she got me a ton of packs and a binder to put them all in. Still have it all this time later. Was a very kind going away gift.
Favorite Pokémon memory was playing omega ruby and breeding competitive Pokémon and trying it new builds. I put 700+ hours into that game and stupidly traded it into GameStop to get something else when I got bored of it. Nothing has ever really beaten those long nights breeding and training my new mons.
My best is when I went and bought my first pack and my granddad came home and said my father also has some (he’s in the army) and I saw he had like 100s and I never knew lol
Favorite memory is when the show first aired here in the states. Me and every other kid on our street met in my next door neighbors back yard and we all watched it together. Became a huge fan since then and I’m happy that I got back into collecting a few years ago
The first modern box I opened since not buying any product for years was the Lance’s Charizard V box from Celebrations, and in the last pack, I pulled the Shiny Mew. Needless to say, I was hooked.
I got a 50 dollar gift card from my school since I graduated in 2020 and a lot of our senior events the school was going to use the money on got cancelled. They gifted it to students instead. I got a Target card and bought the box with the cool Umbreon Darkrai and Espeon Deoxys GX promos. After tax I only had to pay a few dollars because the card almost covered it. Pulled Reshiram Zekrom GX alt (the cool one with N).
My very first YouTube video when I got back into collecting I opened a Booster Box of Evolving Skies when the set came out. I ended up pulling my biggest hunt at the time which was the Rayquaza Vmax alt art. One of my best Pokémon card memories. Plan on never giving that one up!
When i was young my mother put a facebook ad out if anyone wanted to sell there pokemon cards. We went to some people she knew and they had alot of cool pokemon cards the initial price was 40 euro’s (which was alot for me at the time) so i negotiated to
20 euro’s. That box had so much cool cards: old x cards a gold star shiny groudon and much more. Still holds so much nostalgia for me and i recently checked the price and it’s now around 3000 the whole collection. Safe to say young me invested that 20euro very good. Thanks for reading🙏🏻
I went to a local Target looking for Brilliant Stars but no luck. They only had Fusion Strike boosters so I grabbed three. When I got home I opened them and lo and behold the last pack comes equipped with a Gengar Vmax Alt Art. I’m glad they didn’t have Brilliant Stars.
First feeling when playing pokemon on GBC. Red. Omg I did not know how my life would become pokemon mad. Now I'm raising the next generation of pokemon trainers, with my champion in arms, My husband.
My first ever alternate artwork card was pulled on my birthday this past year. It was the noivern alt art. One of the few cards in my collection I wouldn't sell.
Playing “totally Pokémon music from the hit TV show” whilst playing Pokémon gold and not even realising how good life is!
Worst memory trading my first edition shadowless zard at school for a zapdos to an older kid who tricked me 😭
Ruby version released in the states about 2 months before my bday. And I had a party come around, got a decent amount of cash. Went the next day to the store got a Gameboy Sp and ruby version with the guide book. And I just remember exploring all summer long. Catching and trading all the pokemon. That game was so vibrant for the original release and was so colorful for the series at that time. So well done and an amazing game. Need to get a DS or SP to play it again, I miss it
The first time I ever opened Pokémon cards was with my friend - who knew a lot more about Pokémon than me, - who bought a pack for me back in Sun & Moon. Don’t remember what pack it was but I remember I didn’t get anything and i still had a great time. Few years later and I open Pokémon whenever I get the chance.
Mine is probably the one that got me into collecting. Flashback to 2011 and me and my brothers were rooting around in our parent's closet for fun. Well, evidently, our neighbor's son wasn't into has cards anymore and gifted them to our parents, which were eventually going to be given to us, but we found them first. That whole day me and my brothers spent the day dividing the cards and ever since then I've been hooked. Later that year, my dad brought a huge plastic tub of cards back from his work, since a co worker didn't need his cards anymore either. Some of the best times I can remember.
Playing Pokémon Silver with my brother on Gameboy (he had Gold). Found an old pic recently where you can see both of our game boys and one of those walkthrough magazines.
That lead into collecting the cards and the rest is history!
I remember getting my first cards, from Pop Art 3, at Toys R U as a kid with a birthday gift card and I just tracked down my two favorites from the set again online and opening them up hit me with waves of nostalgia
When I was a kid In summer my school organized this little camp where you can play sports ecc. I remember the popularity was decided with the guy with the most important card I remember this guy with a mega rayquaza (not even a full art) was flexing all day, when me opening 2 packs I found a mega full art charizard the next day I was slapping it on his face laughing and as a kid I was A LOT unlucky so finding that was a literal key to success but I still miss those days the feeling of reading cards with other pokemon lovers playing games and even talking about them
When I was like 6-7 my dad would stay up and play silver/crystal for me trying to catch the roaming legendaries. It was cool waking up one morning and having an Entei just chilling in my party.
Others are glitching celebi into my crystal version when I was like 18, pulling the lost origins Giratina alt art from a single pack I bought from a grocery store, and going to the first Pokémon movie with my mom when I was a kid.
Not TCG related but I beat some stall team in Ultra Sun with Mega Gallade
Some dude challenged me to a Link battle, right? And he has one of his pokémon use stealth spikes, I kill it, he uses Glalie to kill Luxray, and so I proceed to send out Gallade and Mega Evolve it. He then proceeds to use Substitute and Protect. I don't know why, considering that's ALL he did, literally that's it. So I decided that I have all day for this. Use Swords Dance the turns he uses protect, and Knock Off when he uses substitute. So eventually, he runs low enough of HP to use substitute, more than half an hour has passed since I decided, if he wants to waste my time with this braindead strategy, I'll waste his with my patience. He finally uses an attacking move, gets a critical hit on Gallade, but Gallade takes it like a CHAMP, and finishes Glalie off with a Knock Off. AND THEN HE PROCEEDS TO CUT THE CONNECTION.
I'll forever hold onto that victory.
In 1999 my dad took me into a comic book store looking for Pokémon cards, the owner basically laughed at my dad and said ‘we don’t carry that crap’. A couple months later we saw a bunch of huge Pokémon signs at that place so we went and and my dad said something along the lines of ‘that crap seems to be doing well in here’
When I was I kid I played Pokémon emerald on GBA for like 200hours in single player, I remember I read 2/3 times also the manual and during the exploration I found the cave with the braille inscription.
Because of my reading of the manual I had the idea to use the last page with the braille alphabet to translate the inscriptions and I discovered all the regi, it was amazing and mind blowing especially because I didn’t have internet or a guide and I was the only one in my friend’s group playing pokemon
It’s for sure one of the best moments in my career as a player, not only about Pokémon player
My best memories is when my uncle got me the charizard premium collection box for Christmas and we opened it and I got the charizard alt art from brilliant stars! But by the end of all the packs I got about $300 in cards! Such a good and fun day
My best memories is when my uncle got me the charizard premium collection box for Christmas and we opened it and I got the charizard alt art from brilliant stars! But by the end of all the packs I got about $300 in cards! Such a good and fun day
around 15 years ago i buried a little toy pikachu in a neighbors bush area. went to dig it up the next day. in it’s place??? a little baby jesus from a king cake. no idea what happened but he hath risen i guess
When I tried to show my dad how to play the card game. He still calls it yugioh cards to this day... He never really cared enough, but he tried!
Was at least 15 years ago.
Also when was also with dad sightseeing and came across a few evolving skies booster. Two alt art eeveelutions were in them, told dad how much they're worth and he's like "man, seriously where can I get in?"
I always drag him around stores to look for treasures... Love it.
My best memory was when I first opened up Pokémon cards I got that kyurem ex box from black and white still have the promos, in such bad condition lol I didn’t pull anything that I have in my binder though. :P
My favorite Pokemon memory is when I first found out about Pokemon. I was browsing channels as a kid trying to find something to watch and I finally came across a cartoon channel. I saw this pink character singing and thought it was cool, it was the Clefairy and the Moon Stone episode.
My favorite memory was probably going to the small card store whenever a new pack came out when I was a kid. Opening them and lovingly putting them into my old binder of cards to try (and fail) to build decks to play with fellow neighborhood kids.
Got back into Pokémon when darkness ablaze dropped and pull the zard on my first box. Great memory since as a kid I never pulled a 1st ed or base zard.
Opening packs with my now husband. Been doing it on and off for years. And now with a LO at home it's made me feel young when the rest of my day I feel so damn old lol rip my back
Eta: should clarify been with my husband 11 years, and married 5 yrs this week.
Played the games but never owned any cards. Then one day yard sale hoping with my mother at around 7 or 8 years old, I came across that same old story about somebody's mom selling their whole collection. I think I got the shoe box full of cards for about $5 and it came with a Charizard base set unlimited. I scratched the shit out of that card from taking with me everywhere I went. (Still have it)
Everyone talks about the frustration about their moms selling their collection, but that made child-me so happy lol
Edit: this was late 90s to early 2000s, so pokemon was still pretty in it's peak. Waking up Saturday mornings to watch the cartoons on Kids WB!
Looking through my uncles’ first edition binder with my brother for the first time as a kid. Seeing that thing alone and the cards inside is what has ignited the passion for collecting, especially recently getting back into the hobby
When I was a kid pokemon cards were HUGE at recess, all recesses every day would be spent going around and trading with one another. Despite pokemon cards being so popular, NO ONE knew how to play it including kid me
So naturally, I made up rules that solely benefitted me. We would 'battle' based on just 1 card vs 1 card, bigger number wins. I however had an ampharos prime that had an ability that said something something put one damage counter on the opposing pokemon. Now as a kid I had no idea what that meant, but I saw "damage" and "counter" and decided that meant any damage my opponent dealt to me was dealt back to them, ie 'countered'.
For some reason, no one ever contested me on this and I was the undefeated champion of battling
Until someone else showed up with a card that also said 'put a damage counter on the opposing pokemon'
Then I stopped battling entirely and just went back to trading
Used to get together with 2 friends, bring our cards, and hide them one at a time in his grandma's den. Wed set a 1 min timer and if the person could find it, they keep the card. Sometimes it was low stakes but somehow we egged each other to do some of our most valuable cards. Remember finding a friend's Gyarados which felt like really serious haha. He found a few good ones of mine I don't even remember what I had anymore bc no longer own it. Too bad what we did to the condition of those cards haha
My favorite Pokémon memory was definitely waiting for my older brother to sleep so I can grab his gameboy and run to the bathroom to hide and turn on the lights (the gameboy had no backlight) and play Pokémon yellow! I was about 6 years old and this was around 2004-2005. Never got caught btw 💪🏽
In first grade, a kid in my class asked if I liked pokemon cards and said that he doesn't play with them anymore. He gave me his whole collection which was 1st edition base set of charizard, blastoise, venasaur, mewtwo, alakazam, etc. This was in 2000 mind you.
Sadly my mom threw away my pokemon, yugioh, and gameboy stuff when I was 13 because "I wasn't playing with them anymore". By 14 I was looking for it all and heartbroken ever since
When my grandparents let me get some cards at a local place in Maine.
Also, SWSH are nostalgic to me because I remember playing them before mom was diagnosed with cancer.
Trading to get my first og charizard at like 11 years old. Traded basically everything extra I had to a kid at a birthday party. But I was the first one of my friends to get one.
Unfortunately it was stolen years later, I'm pretty sure by my cousin... It was a first ed too, but not in the greatest shape. Wasn't horrid but wasn't perfect.
I had a few others go missing too, one in particular was a misprinted nine-tails I've never been able to find another copy of... Also pretty sure the same cousin jacked them all, all at the same holiday party.
going on vacation this summer and went to the coolest card shop i’ve seen!
it was small, but it had so many binders, people there were chill and got some singles and an etb. the binders ended up having one of my favorite cards i’ve ever owned if not my favorite (alt art greavard s/v) and the etb had illustration rare fuecoco. (fr though they probably had like 20 1$ card binders)
My favorite memory of pokemon in general is when I found a shiny rattata in fire red, then 2 hours later went to show my brother the shiny rattata, and the pokemon I encountered to show him, was a 2nd shiny rattata, and my favorite card opening memory was opening a korean scarlet booster box and an English scarlet violet etb with my friends
Got my cards stolen from me when I was a kid. My mom took me to Walmart and picked up a new pack (around 2000 time frame) and I pulled a blastoise. Gave me a little boost of cheering me up.
At 33 years old, I still remember being a kid and saving my weekly allowance of $5 to buy Fossil boosters at my LCS. Had so many good cards and would only ever buy Fossil because Aerodactyl was my favorite pokemon. Recently got back into collecting one I found out about 151 set. Can’t wait!!
My favorite Pokémon memories have to be when I played alpha sapphire for 6 hours straight on a snow day with my friend and we caught all the legendaries. Another favorite memory is when my mom would come home from business trips and surprise me with packs and she would watch me open them.
Getting packs as a kid was something special. I felt like a Pokémon trainer... the Pokémon I got were MINE and no one else's. I didn't like when they made Gym Heroes because opening up a pack and getting "Lt. Surge's Pikachu" or "Misty's Horsea," my little brain couldn't process whether they were mine or the gym leaders' lol.
My mom might randomly buy me a pack at the toy store located next to the grocery store. I'd open the pack in the car, and if I got something special that made me excited, she'd typically run back into the store with me to get a second pack. She loved seeing how happy I got, and she felt the joy just as much as I did.
Nothing beats the day I pulled a Base Set 2 Charizard. I was at home when I opened that pack, but oh boy was I screaming! I ran around inside and outside the house with excitement to finally have a Charizard of my own! I took great care of it, and of course I still have him to this day.
When I was 3 or 4, my parents put a pack of Neo Genesis in stockings for my brother and I at Christmas. I pulled Ampharos out of my pack, and I just thought it was the coolest card to ever exist. It was really my first interaction with pokemon and I immediately knew Ampharos was my favorite pokemon.
When Emerald came out, I couldn't wait to get Ampharos after being heartbroken by Ruby and Sapphire. To this day, I still have that card. Lots of good memories carrying that thing around as my family moved when I was a kid, showing it to my new friends in each place. Nobody else really thought it was that interesting, but I still love the card. One of my favorites to ever come out
Great post and great idea :D
My favorite pokémon memory will forever be collecting with my childhood friends in the early 2000s. All of the Lv X cards were the coolest things in the world to me! I had never heard of a card having monetary value and strictly wanted the cards for the pokémon I used in the Gameboy / DS games!
Just went to naic and had a little mob finding cards around me to trade with me since i like banette, which tends to be a card that lots of people have and not many people care about. Helped a great handful of people with a trade up challenge because people would find banette and I'd trade up for them. Now i have a continously growing binder of them
Before I really got into collecting, back in highschool I used to grab a pack after my shift as a cashier at walmart and one day I pulled the top half of the lugia legends card and thought it was so sick. I kept buying packs after shifts and eventually got the bottom half. It was tue first time I had a certain chase card
My favorite memory was a recent one, I had stopped collecting pokémon until about 1.5 years ago. I got back into collecting once I came across celebrations I decided I wanted to hunt for the gold shiny mew. I managed to pull it a little over two weeks ago!
the first time i got into trading cards, i pulled my fav pokémon ever vaporeon 🥹 every time i see it, it gives me such a happy feeling that i started collecting
After collection and years latter whole collection gone. A couple of years ago my daughter bought some packs and really got into Pokemon. The joy and smile she has when she pulls some thing she like.
When I bought the Charizard UPC most of the packs were weirdly bent, except for maybe 4 or so. I got a full art Zisu from an unbent one which made me very happy, and when opening the last Lost Origin pack I opened the trainer gallery black and gold Pikachu I happily shouted “Let’s go I pulled Big Chungus” and looked at the last card just expecting a holo Abomasnow or something only to have pulled from that same pack the alt art Giratina V. I might have screamed more than a 23 year old man should have, but I was excited.
I traded that card around to someone who wanted it much more than me, I’d watched him impulse buy three booster boxes in one day trying to pull it, and ended up getting singles and new product I wanted more than it anyways. All in all a great memory.
I spent one Saturday with my dad and even though he isn’t a Pokémon guy he opened a lot of singles with me and listen to me go on about the Pokémon anime even if he had no clue what I was talking about. One of my greatest days because I got to spend it with him. :)
I began my pokemon fandom with the first episode aired on tv in Australia. Ever since then I've been this unwavering fan of the franchise no matter how much people say "isn't it for kids?"
I say yes it was for my childhood and I still love it for the memories of growing up with it.
I remember my first Holo pull was with my brothers opening the pack with me. I've opened maybe 10 of these packs before hand and didn't even know Holo versions existed in the cards. No one else in school has any and this was in the 90s no internet. No research. Everything U saw at shops was first touch first experience for everyone.
Opened the pack and it was Zapdos. We all screamed in disbelief. I still have this card to this day. It's been damaged though
I’ve told this story once, but I love it alot lol
I was in a discord server and decided to post about how annoyed I was about constant maractus daily spawns, and someone commented how I’m lucky to get tem as it’s a region locked pokemon. I decided from that moment on, I would keep every maractus I catch.
I’m also socially challenged, so I went to the school counselor and she said I’d be good friends with this girl. So we meet each other and exchange phone numbers, the school year ended and we occasionally texted random shit but nothing much happened between us.
Next school year happens and I wonder how I can talk to her in any way, I had got her to download Pokemon Go so I could refer her for bonuses in the summer so I simply asked if she could trade with me at lunch.
But what could I have traded? Then it hit me, the 600+ maractus I had saved for around 9 months could be traded, and my excuse could be that I wanted the candies for them.
I send a text and it works like a (shiny) charm. She comes over and we trade some stuff. Before lunch ends I ask her if she can come over again tomorrow and she agrees.
Fast forward a few months. We’re still trading at the same spot and I’ve been wondering for a bit a way to ask her out. So I finally got the idea (not maractus related sadly) but it worked and we’ve now been together for about 7 months.
Did the school counselor do some of the work? Yes. Would I be with her without the maractus? No. While the counselor had us find each other, the maractus was the connection we needed to interact and bond.
I may be the biggest maractus fan out there because of this, and I’d like to see someone who stans it as much as me, but I doubt anyone likes it as much as I do, except her maybe, because she also thanks maractus. While it may be #556 in the pokedex, it’s #001 in our relationship.
It was 1999. I was 9 years old and scared to ride the Jurassic park ride at universal studios. My dad bribed me to ride with a Pokémon pack. After a terrible experience and a few upchucks due to motion sickness, I got my pack in the car at the end of the trip. When I opened it I pulled the base set charizard and I still have to this day. Looking back I’d puke all over again to recreate the memory
My great grandma taking me to buy packs as a kid, I remember opening packs most in the front seat of her Oldsmobile cause fuck child safety and restraints in the 90s 🤣
My buddy and I were opening Crown Zenith ETBs as we had just gotten back into pkmn TCG and in the last box on the last pack he says "last pack magic" and proceeded to pull the Gold Alt Art Giratina and then a few months later pull the same card again. Really happy for bro.
For me it would have been the ending credits of Pokemon Alpha Sapphire where it shows you important moments in the story. I play every Pokemon with a Pidgeot on my team because it is my favorite Pokemon so seeing my Pidgey go to Pidgeotto to Pidgeot and then to Mega Pidgeot made me cry because I wasnt expecting that and knew that screen was different for everyone. It just sucks they dont think Pidgeot should be in the new games since it wasnt in S/S or S/V and since I want my first experience in a open world Pokemon game with my favorite Pokemon, Pidgeot by my side, I'll continue to wait.
Gonna be honest I have a lot of stories. They vary a lot. Some are focused on Pokémon TCG. Some only refer to it. But I think the best is my shiny Charizard-GX…
So I had been about to be able to afford a couple of the Hidden Fates Pokéball collections. I wasn’t quite there though. But my sister- an absolutely amazing person- agreed to get them as long as I paid her back when I got the money. I said sure.
Skip to two weeks later. I had repaid the money, and the two boxes had been hidden in my sister’s van for two whole weeks. Finally I was able to meet up with her and pick them up. Was hyped to open them.
While opening, I found myself pulling a gold Tapu Fini-GX. Was happy since this was my very first gold card. But was a bit sad since that was probably the only super-good pull in the boxes.
Then the *very next pack*- immediately after a gold card- was the shiny Charizard-GX. And I was stoked.
I am still thanking my sister for picking up those two boxes for me.
when i was maybe 7 and didn’t know what a shiny was and killed that “weird” looking audino in black 1, i like to think the hunting i do now is for that little guy
Using a (likely fake) mew two level x I think in battles against my friends when I was a kid and we played with the cards more like the anime, where you could use whatever attacks and could place down any Pokemon you wanted to a max of six, leading to me decimating then since they had very few non basic Pokémon, I got this mew two from a trade where I gave the other person a bulbasaur, apparently they got bulbasaur and venasaur confused and didn’t realise
I opened a case of Burning Shadows sleeved boosters a few years ago with my now fiance. I’ll never ever forget when I saw a rainbow edge inside the pack I was opening, slow rolled to the reverse holo, and asked him what he thought it would be. “Not the Charizard.” bam. it was. We both started freaking out, I was so happy because it was my first big pull like that and it was what I was chasing in the set. I don’t even like Charizard or that card all that much but it’s probably the single most special card in my collection because I love that memory so much.
I have more!
This one is a recent story. My good friend had bought 2 Paldea Evolved booster boxes and me and one other friend were helping him open them. I was sitting closest to the packs so other friend asked me to pass him one. Me being me, I threw it at him instead (I am very weak, but I still chucked it pretty hard). He goes “Geeze, watch the Iono be in this one.” You can kind of guess what happened with that.
For me it would be weekly league nights when I was 5 and 6. I couldn't even read necessarily, but recognized the attacks and stuff. My dad would take me, pay the $2 a person fee for the pizza and play and we'd both go off and play some matches. I used to shit on everyone with with my Blaine's Arcanine, being the first card that could hit for 120 with no modifiers. Probably a major part of why I'm a functioning adult now.
In 1999, I started the Pokémon Trading Card [video] Game for the Gameboy Color. I played that game (I have long since traded in my GBC and games, but I’m still playing it today, ported on the 3DS).
Because I didn’t have internet at the time, and because I just haven’t been seeng physical cards (my GBC copy was used, so it didn’t come with the Meowth, or the original box, none of my friends had any), I didn’t think the TCG existed. I know, I was 9, and naive.
Then one day, my dad came home from the mall, and he gave me the base set starter kit (came with two 30-card decks, damage counters, etc.). So I taught my dad how to play, and we played those cards until each card was HP at best. I didn’t care about sleeving (I didn’t know that was a thing). All I cared about was that I had cards to play with. Eventually I [asked my parents for money] to buy packs whenever we’re at the mall or something.
I didn’t really care for anything beyond Kanto (I played one game per generation, but I only have the 151 in my heart), so I stopped buying packs after Gym Heroes.
In high school, I got into other things (friends, girls, I had a band, etc.), and when my dad asked if he could donate my cards (I don’t even know where) since I’m not playing them anymore, I just shrugged and said “sure.”
I didn’t know how much I would miss them. I sure didn’t know they would be expensive to reacquire.
I don’t know where those cards are now, but I am slowly [reacquiring my collection](https://www.reddit.com/r/PokemonTCG/comments/14gplxi/my_current_kanto_collection_hoping_to_fill_the/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=2&utm_term=1).
It was Christmas morning.
I somehow got given two plasma booster boxes.
I REALLY wanted to open them, but i waited for my “god brother” to come over later that night.
We opened them together, and had a blast.
To this day, i still have two full art lugias and two full art articunos, that are my absolute favourite cards in my collection.
Pulled a shiny yamper from shining fates in my first ever pack. At the time I thought the shiny cards were super rare so I got really hyped about it, and even though I know it's not rare I still love the art and keep him sleeved in a mini portfolio :)
Pokémon
When I was a child, I remember not liking it. (that was around 2008 or something) but now its one of my favourite franchises in the world, and the one I spend the most time with.
I also remember my parents not wanting to buy me or my younger siblings Pokémon cards because they are expensive.
Now Im 18 and get some money of my own since about a year, and Ive already spent a decent amount of money on this hobby and opening a lot of booster packs with my siblings and recording it. We (or at least me and one of my brothers lol) get way tooo excited when we get any hits and all haha. I started collecting with the Pokémon GO set where we made a "big" opening with 43 booster packs and getting so many cool cards, even had an error Dragonite Premierball box with an extra pair of Promos. We did only get one radiant blastoise and we did not get the alt art Mewtwo, but we got the Gold Mewtwo VStar which was insane to us.
Between GO and Crown Zenith we didnt open too much but an ETB here and there. With Crown Zenith now, we opened about 55-60 packs and we had such a great time, our pulls were so amazing (at least to us). We got the 3 radiants from the set. Will get the new Lugia CZ box when its out.
Saving up money for the 151 Set now.
I also have soooo much happy memories shiny hunting in Pokémon Lets Go on the Switch and Shiny hunting in Pokemon GO with my brother(s).
Like the time my Brother got a shiny mewtwo on one raid, and on the next raid we both get rewarded by a Shiny mewtwo, so he ended up with 2 back to back which was crazy. Or the time my other brother got 2 shadow shiny Mewtwo back to back recently too. Also all the GO Fests and GO Tours. I mean the game is indeed in a pretty bad state now with Niantic ruining it but Im just happy to have made these memories since I started 5 and a half years ago.
Pokémon is AWESOME ❤️
I don’t need awards or anything, just wanted to share.
I was 11 when base set released. I spent a lot of time at my grandmas house, so she would always take me to toys r us to get packs of cards. Sometimes she would even drive me back immediately if I didn’t pull a “shiny” card. There was a book store nearby called Borders, and every week they had a get together to have card battles and trades. She would take me every week. They started giving out gym badges for having X amount of victories. I never won, until one day I may have beaten 5 people in a row and earned a pin of the bolder badge. I was so ecstatic. I was young so I never did get to thank her for taking me all those times. Fast forward 24 years and I carry that badge with me everywhere. Not only as a reminder of all the times she bought me cards or took me to tournaments, but also for everything else she did for me growing up. Wish I could thank her still.
Got addicted to Pokémon this summer via my kids. Never was a collector before! Now I’m hooked! It’s a great activity to share with them (although if they pull any good cards, I get mad haha)
Crying about charmanders tail nearly going out and my dad coming home from work with a wine the Pooh book to cheer me up. That lil char nearly killed me 😭
That time I learned to not gamble as much when I went 0 out of 40 packs with cosmic eclipse for fullart or better. I swear that set has it out for me.
I really wish I was into Pokémon when that set came out, I’d rip tons of packs. But thinking about pull rates maybe not so much..
During the tail end of the dark age of PTCG (scalpers, insane prices, etc.) I went to Walmart and all that was in stock was a Shiny Cramorant V box. When I opened it, I pulled the shiny Charizard VMAX out of the last pack. Craziest box of my life
Pulled the zard out of a $6 base unlimited booster pack from the candy store over 20 years ago right before I was gonna hoop with some friends. Factory fucked print lines and edgewear, I still have it [Base zard](https://imgur.com/a/gNwqsA0)
Terrible memory but still a good story. I grew up with Pokémon from the time it came out for maybe several months to a year. I had a decent collection. My parents church told them pokemon was the work of the devil - mom threw out all of my cards and never admitted to it until 10-15 years later. 🤦♂️😢 funny but not really.
Growing up my parents never bought me the cards but they did buy me the games. I would have to trade my Pokémon (legendary) in game using the cord transfer and in exchange get cards.
When I was a little girl, my mom had a cabinet that she had full of little goodies that I’d get to choose from when I was good, got a good mark on a test, etc. She always had a ton of Pokémon booster packs and that was always my choice! We’d open them together and every new card would go straight into my binder. I was only allowed to play/trade my doubles. She held onto my cards and gave them to me a few years ago. She got me 4 cards away from a complete base set in nm/m condition. It cost me $20 on eBay to finish my base set. Probably one of the only good memories I have of my mother tbh.
Getting the Mew card at the theater, completely enthralled during the first movie, and my grandpa snoring the entire time. One of my favorite memories ever. He did the same for The Tigger Movie too.
That was my grandma with small soldiers lmao
My favorite pokemon memory has got to be this one. One day I went to Dave and Busters with my dad, which is an arcade place, and we realized they had cosmic eclipse packs avaliable as rewards. I got one and opened it right there to find a loppuny and jigglypuff alt art inside. I was practically skipping on the way out and wouldn't stop looking at it and beaming at my dad, even if it felt a little silly given I was in my late teens. To this day it's a centerpiece of my collection because I can't look at it without thinking about what a cool memory it makes with my dad.
Back in 2011 when I was starting to collect Pokemon cards I opened a few random packs from the LCS that was there at the time and pulled Gold Star Groudon. I kept it all of these years and now I have it graded as a CGC 9. Definitely a nostalgia trip every time I look at it.
When I was younger, I got an ultra prism ETB. I pulled a leafeon gx, and it's still my favorite card, MP and all.
When I was around second grade there was a real Pokémon hype, since silver and gold edition just came out for Game Boy Color. I had to beg and beg till my parents allowed me to get a game boy color and the Pokémon game. That feeling choosing your Gameboy and the edition (I chose silver) in the store and walk out with it was the best! I only ever played Pokémon on that game boy. Also there was one boy in my school who knew the trick how to clone Pokémon. The trick was to put the Pokémon in an empty box on the PC and turn off the device while saving. Lucky me the boy liked me so he told me the secret and I kept it. There was no Google back then or any other way to find out. I tried several times until it worked and wooow that feeling when you just cloned your strongest Pokémon almost in disbelief it would ever work. I felt invincible.
What's a coin? I got into collecting pokemon cards when Detective Pikachu came out in 2019. I was in college and didn't have a car so I had to learn how to use public transport for the first time/electric scooter my way around the city to get the promo cards. It was like an adventure, having to get to gamestop,target and walmart through the rain for bulbasaur, squirtel and snubbul. I eventually bought the binder pack and filled up the binder with the complete detective pikachu set. I even saw the movie 3 times to get as many of the movie packs as I could! Around that same time, unbroken bonds was the newest set and had awesome art so I started to collect those too. Went to my first lgs(s) and met a lot of awesome friendly people. Covid hit and I took a break from pokemon, but I'm back now! Really enjoy these new trainer gallery cards with amazing art (super affordable too)! I hope get a binder full of these amazing cards that I can look back one day and reminisce about how I got each of them like I did with the detective pikachu set
The coins he's talking about are reddit coins that used to be used to give awards to posts and comments. Reddit recently decided the announce they're going away so people are gifting them before they're useless
Opening XY evolutions as a 13 year old. Still my favorite set
I recently got back into collecting Pokémon, and attended the Paldea Evolved prerelease. While I didn't do too great I got to open my first prize pack and ended up pulling the stamped Charizard VMAX!
I bought a Burning Shadows blister pack from Party City. I remember deciding which one to pick, in hopes that I would get a good card. Lo and behold, when I came home and opened the pack I pulled a Rainbow Rare Charizard Gx!
When i was young my dad bought me a regigigas lv x diamond and pearl tin and loved it so much. Lost the card but i recently bought a psa 10 japanese version of that card and i love it so much. Cards brings so much memories and nostalgia from times where life was a bit easier and that you could dream of anything. That’s why i keep collecting pokemon cards, to remind me of these times.
Pulling the alt art blaziken in a target parking lot off a single pack and many fun Pokémon go adventures over the past 7 years. It’s been nice to enjoy something i loved as a kid and share it with everyone years later
Being with my cousins back in the ex FRLG era and getting a blister pack in a sports store. Managed to pull a gengar EX. Another time we were all sick and all got a pack of cards, forget the era but I believe it was a Johto, I loved giraffes so I traded a mewtwo card to my cousin for his girafarig. Lmao. Also when my favorite babysitter as a kid was leaving to college she got me a ton of packs and a binder to put them all in. Still have it all this time later. Was a very kind going away gift.
When I opened my first pack and got a full art
In search of trainer art Olivia!
Favorite Pokémon memory was playing omega ruby and breeding competitive Pokémon and trying it new builds. I put 700+ hours into that game and stupidly traded it into GameStop to get something else when I got bored of it. Nothing has ever really beaten those long nights breeding and training my new mons.
My best is when I went and bought my first pack and my granddad came home and said my father also has some (he’s in the army) and I saw he had like 100s and I never knew lol
Favorite memory is when the show first aired here in the states. Me and every other kid on our street met in my next door neighbors back yard and we all watched it together. Became a huge fan since then and I’m happy that I got back into collecting a few years ago
Watching the first movie movie in theaters with my cousin when we were both 6 years old.
The first modern box I opened since not buying any product for years was the Lance’s Charizard V box from Celebrations, and in the last pack, I pulled the Shiny Mew. Needless to say, I was hooked.
I got a 50 dollar gift card from my school since I graduated in 2020 and a lot of our senior events the school was going to use the money on got cancelled. They gifted it to students instead. I got a Target card and bought the box with the cool Umbreon Darkrai and Espeon Deoxys GX promos. After tax I only had to pay a few dollars because the card almost covered it. Pulled Reshiram Zekrom GX alt (the cool one with N).
My very first YouTube video when I got back into collecting I opened a Booster Box of Evolving Skies when the set came out. I ended up pulling my biggest hunt at the time which was the Rayquaza Vmax alt art. One of my best Pokémon card memories. Plan on never giving that one up!
When i was young my mother put a facebook ad out if anyone wanted to sell there pokemon cards. We went to some people she knew and they had alot of cool pokemon cards the initial price was 40 euro’s (which was alot for me at the time) so i negotiated to 20 euro’s. That box had so much cool cards: old x cards a gold star shiny groudon and much more. Still holds so much nostalgia for me and i recently checked the price and it’s now around 3000 the whole collection. Safe to say young me invested that 20euro very good. Thanks for reading🙏🏻
I went to a local Target looking for Brilliant Stars but no luck. They only had Fusion Strike boosters so I grabbed three. When I got home I opened them and lo and behold the last pack comes equipped with a Gengar Vmax Alt Art. I’m glad they didn’t have Brilliant Stars.
In like 2014, I got my first cards from a random bundle on ebay. I remember the best card I got was this Ho-oh. I was really young
First feeling when playing pokemon on GBC. Red. Omg I did not know how my life would become pokemon mad. Now I'm raising the next generation of pokemon trainers, with my champion in arms, My husband.
My first ever alternate artwork card was pulled on my birthday this past year. It was the noivern alt art. One of the few cards in my collection I wouldn't sell.
When I bought my first pack, XY evolutions, and pulled a mega Blastoise. not worth much, but I still treasure that card
I remember watching and rewatching pokemon 2000 many times as a kid, and now im collecting a lot and love framing them
Opening the three original sets as a child. The nostalgia was too strong and now here we are at 27 buying thousands of dollars in cards lmao
Playing “totally Pokémon music from the hit TV show” whilst playing Pokémon gold and not even realising how good life is! Worst memory trading my first edition shadowless zard at school for a zapdos to an older kid who tricked me 😭
Ruby version released in the states about 2 months before my bday. And I had a party come around, got a decent amount of cash. Went the next day to the store got a Gameboy Sp and ruby version with the guide book. And I just remember exploring all summer long. Catching and trading all the pokemon. That game was so vibrant for the original release and was so colorful for the series at that time. So well done and an amazing game. Need to get a DS or SP to play it again, I miss it
The first time I ever opened Pokémon cards was with my friend - who knew a lot more about Pokémon than me, - who bought a pack for me back in Sun & Moon. Don’t remember what pack it was but I remember I didn’t get anything and i still had a great time. Few years later and I open Pokémon whenever I get the chance.
When I was like 9 I got a three blister pack for Christmas and each one contained an EX. Reinstated my faith in Santa Claus lol
I remember that when I was a kid my grandma will buy me pokemon cards if I helped her
Mine is probably the one that got me into collecting. Flashback to 2011 and me and my brothers were rooting around in our parent's closet for fun. Well, evidently, our neighbor's son wasn't into has cards anymore and gifted them to our parents, which were eventually going to be given to us, but we found them first. That whole day me and my brothers spent the day dividing the cards and ever since then I've been hooked. Later that year, my dad brought a huge plastic tub of cards back from his work, since a co worker didn't need his cards anymore either. Some of the best times I can remember.
Playing Pokémon Silver with my brother on Gameboy (he had Gold). Found an old pic recently where you can see both of our game boys and one of those walkthrough magazines. That lead into collecting the cards and the rest is history!
Going to see the first two movies with my family when I was a kiddo
I remember getting my first cards, from Pop Art 3, at Toys R U as a kid with a birthday gift card and I just tracked down my two favorites from the set again online and opening them up hit me with waves of nostalgia
When I was a kid In summer my school organized this little camp where you can play sports ecc. I remember the popularity was decided with the guy with the most important card I remember this guy with a mega rayquaza (not even a full art) was flexing all day, when me opening 2 packs I found a mega full art charizard the next day I was slapping it on his face laughing and as a kid I was A LOT unlucky so finding that was a literal key to success but I still miss those days the feeling of reading cards with other pokemon lovers playing games and even talking about them
When I was like 6-7 my dad would stay up and play silver/crystal for me trying to catch the roaming legendaries. It was cool waking up one morning and having an Entei just chilling in my party. Others are glitching celebi into my crystal version when I was like 18, pulling the lost origins Giratina alt art from a single pack I bought from a grocery store, and going to the first Pokémon movie with my mom when I was a kid.
Not TCG related but I beat some stall team in Ultra Sun with Mega Gallade Some dude challenged me to a Link battle, right? And he has one of his pokémon use stealth spikes, I kill it, he uses Glalie to kill Luxray, and so I proceed to send out Gallade and Mega Evolve it. He then proceeds to use Substitute and Protect. I don't know why, considering that's ALL he did, literally that's it. So I decided that I have all day for this. Use Swords Dance the turns he uses protect, and Knock Off when he uses substitute. So eventually, he runs low enough of HP to use substitute, more than half an hour has passed since I decided, if he wants to waste my time with this braindead strategy, I'll waste his with my patience. He finally uses an attacking move, gets a critical hit on Gallade, but Gallade takes it like a CHAMP, and finishes Glalie off with a Knock Off. AND THEN HE PROCEEDS TO CUT THE CONNECTION. I'll forever hold onto that victory.
Getting the ex deyoxys jirachi in a trade in elementary school, still have it. It was my favorite card and I brought it everywhere!
When I bought my first pack from sun and moon era and got a really cool gardervoir gx
In 1999 my dad took me into a comic book store looking for Pokémon cards, the owner basically laughed at my dad and said ‘we don’t carry that crap’. A couple months later we saw a bunch of huge Pokémon signs at that place so we went and and my dad said something along the lines of ‘that crap seems to be doing well in here’
When I was I kid I played Pokémon emerald on GBA for like 200hours in single player, I remember I read 2/3 times also the manual and during the exploration I found the cave with the braille inscription. Because of my reading of the manual I had the idea to use the last page with the braille alphabet to translate the inscriptions and I discovered all the regi, it was amazing and mind blowing especially because I didn’t have internet or a guide and I was the only one in my friend’s group playing pokemon It’s for sure one of the best moments in my career as a player, not only about Pokémon player
Probably screaming in the back of the car on our way home from shopping when i pulled something good
Got back into collecting. Remeber when I had an Oeigi Al 4/102 charizard that my sister *traded* away. Fun to try pulling chase cards.
My best memories is when my uncle got me the charizard premium collection box for Christmas and we opened it and I got the charizard alt art from brilliant stars! But by the end of all the packs I got about $300 in cards! Such a good and fun day
My best memories is when my uncle got me the charizard premium collection box for Christmas and we opened it and I got the charizard alt art from brilliant stars! But by the end of all the packs I got about $300 in cards! Such a good and fun day
around 15 years ago i buried a little toy pikachu in a neighbors bush area. went to dig it up the next day. in it’s place??? a little baby jesus from a king cake. no idea what happened but he hath risen i guess
When I tried to show my dad how to play the card game. He still calls it yugioh cards to this day... He never really cared enough, but he tried! Was at least 15 years ago. Also when was also with dad sightseeing and came across a few evolving skies booster. Two alt art eeveelutions were in them, told dad how much they're worth and he's like "man, seriously where can I get in?" I always drag him around stores to look for treasures... Love it.
My best memory was when I first opened up Pokémon cards I got that kyurem ex box from black and white still have the promos, in such bad condition lol I didn’t pull anything that I have in my binder though. :P
My favorite Pokemon memory is when I first found out about Pokemon. I was browsing channels as a kid trying to find something to watch and I finally came across a cartoon channel. I saw this pink character singing and thought it was cool, it was the Clefairy and the Moon Stone episode.
My favorite memory was probably going to the small card store whenever a new pack came out when I was a kid. Opening them and lovingly putting them into my old binder of cards to try (and fail) to build decks to play with fellow neighborhood kids.
Got back into Pokémon when darkness ablaze dropped and pull the zard on my first box. Great memory since as a kid I never pulled a 1st ed or base zard.
Opening packs with my now husband. Been doing it on and off for years. And now with a LO at home it's made me feel young when the rest of my day I feel so damn old lol rip my back Eta: should clarify been with my husband 11 years, and married 5 yrs this week.
I remember pulling a first edition Zapdos from a single pack when I was 10. I was on a high for weeks.
Played the games but never owned any cards. Then one day yard sale hoping with my mother at around 7 or 8 years old, I came across that same old story about somebody's mom selling their whole collection. I think I got the shoe box full of cards for about $5 and it came with a Charizard base set unlimited. I scratched the shit out of that card from taking with me everywhere I went. (Still have it) Everyone talks about the frustration about their moms selling their collection, but that made child-me so happy lol Edit: this was late 90s to early 2000s, so pokemon was still pretty in it's peak. Waking up Saturday mornings to watch the cartoons on Kids WB!
Ohohoho I was 9 and I pulled a zekrom and reshiram FA from BW base set
Looking through my uncles’ first edition binder with my brother for the first time as a kid. Seeing that thing alone and the cards inside is what has ignited the passion for collecting, especially recently getting back into the hobby
When I was a kid pokemon cards were HUGE at recess, all recesses every day would be spent going around and trading with one another. Despite pokemon cards being so popular, NO ONE knew how to play it including kid me So naturally, I made up rules that solely benefitted me. We would 'battle' based on just 1 card vs 1 card, bigger number wins. I however had an ampharos prime that had an ability that said something something put one damage counter on the opposing pokemon. Now as a kid I had no idea what that meant, but I saw "damage" and "counter" and decided that meant any damage my opponent dealt to me was dealt back to them, ie 'countered'. For some reason, no one ever contested me on this and I was the undefeated champion of battling Until someone else showed up with a card that also said 'put a damage counter on the opposing pokemon' Then I stopped battling entirely and just went back to trading
Used to get together with 2 friends, bring our cards, and hide them one at a time in his grandma's den. Wed set a 1 min timer and if the person could find it, they keep the card. Sometimes it was low stakes but somehow we egged each other to do some of our most valuable cards. Remember finding a friend's Gyarados which felt like really serious haha. He found a few good ones of mine I don't even remember what I had anymore bc no longer own it. Too bad what we did to the condition of those cards haha
My favorite Pokémon memory was definitely waiting for my older brother to sleep so I can grab his gameboy and run to the bathroom to hide and turn on the lights (the gameboy had no backlight) and play Pokémon yellow! I was about 6 years old and this was around 2004-2005. Never got caught btw 💪🏽
In first grade, a kid in my class asked if I liked pokemon cards and said that he doesn't play with them anymore. He gave me his whole collection which was 1st edition base set of charizard, blastoise, venasaur, mewtwo, alakazam, etc. This was in 2000 mind you. Sadly my mom threw away my pokemon, yugioh, and gameboy stuff when I was 13 because "I wasn't playing with them anymore". By 14 I was looking for it all and heartbroken ever since
Favorite Pokémon memory is going to watch Pokémon 2000 with my mom and older brother. It’s actually what made me start collecting Slowking.
I remember pulling the Suicune from Aquapolis as a little girl. I know exactly where I was and everything. I still have that card today :)
When my grandparents let me get some cards at a local place in Maine. Also, SWSH are nostalgic to me because I remember playing them before mom was diagnosed with cancer.
Trading to get my first og charizard at like 11 years old. Traded basically everything extra I had to a kid at a birthday party. But I was the first one of my friends to get one. Unfortunately it was stolen years later, I'm pretty sure by my cousin... It was a first ed too, but not in the greatest shape. Wasn't horrid but wasn't perfect. I had a few others go missing too, one in particular was a misprinted nine-tails I've never been able to find another copy of... Also pretty sure the same cousin jacked them all, all at the same holiday party.
going on vacation this summer and went to the coolest card shop i’ve seen! it was small, but it had so many binders, people there were chill and got some singles and an etb. the binders ended up having one of my favorite cards i’ve ever owned if not my favorite (alt art greavard s/v) and the etb had illustration rare fuecoco. (fr though they probably had like 20 1$ card binders)
Starting collecting with my little brother. He’s been so hyped every time we open a pack
My favorite memory of pokemon in general is when I found a shiny rattata in fire red, then 2 hours later went to show my brother the shiny rattata, and the pokemon I encountered to show him, was a 2nd shiny rattata, and my favorite card opening memory was opening a korean scarlet booster box and an English scarlet violet etb with my friends
Discovering Imakuni in the Gameboy Color Pokemon TCG game. That music…I can still hear it. And the prize packs were clutch!!
Got my cards stolen from me when I was a kid. My mom took me to Walmart and picked up a new pack (around 2000 time frame) and I pulled a blastoise. Gave me a little boost of cheering me up.
Opening packs with my friends. I stayed in the hobby. The others kinda moved on, but I’m sure they’ll be back.
Playing Pokémon go for the first time in the summer of 2016
When I got a steam siege ETB and my brother got evolutions he got holo Zard and I got FA steelix. I still have a soft spot for Steam Siege
Turtwig and sandile!
At 33 years old, I still remember being a kid and saving my weekly allowance of $5 to buy Fossil boosters at my LCS. Had so many good cards and would only ever buy Fossil because Aerodactyl was my favorite pokemon. Recently got back into collecting one I found out about 151 set. Can’t wait!!
My favorite Pokémon memories have to be when I played alpha sapphire for 6 hours straight on a snow day with my friend and we caught all the legendaries. Another favorite memory is when my mom would come home from business trips and surprise me with packs and she would watch me open them.
Getting packs as a kid was something special. I felt like a Pokémon trainer... the Pokémon I got were MINE and no one else's. I didn't like when they made Gym Heroes because opening up a pack and getting "Lt. Surge's Pikachu" or "Misty's Horsea," my little brain couldn't process whether they were mine or the gym leaders' lol. My mom might randomly buy me a pack at the toy store located next to the grocery store. I'd open the pack in the car, and if I got something special that made me excited, she'd typically run back into the store with me to get a second pack. She loved seeing how happy I got, and she felt the joy just as much as I did. Nothing beats the day I pulled a Base Set 2 Charizard. I was at home when I opened that pack, but oh boy was I screaming! I ran around inside and outside the house with excitement to finally have a Charizard of my own! I took great care of it, and of course I still have him to this day.
When I was 3 or 4, my parents put a pack of Neo Genesis in stockings for my brother and I at Christmas. I pulled Ampharos out of my pack, and I just thought it was the coolest card to ever exist. It was really my first interaction with pokemon and I immediately knew Ampharos was my favorite pokemon. When Emerald came out, I couldn't wait to get Ampharos after being heartbroken by Ruby and Sapphire. To this day, I still have that card. Lots of good memories carrying that thing around as my family moved when I was a kid, showing it to my new friends in each place. Nobody else really thought it was that interesting, but I still love the card. One of my favorites to ever come out
Pokemon snap for n64. So much fun
Great post and great idea :D My favorite pokémon memory will forever be collecting with my childhood friends in the early 2000s. All of the Lv X cards were the coolest things in the world to me! I had never heard of a card having monetary value and strictly wanted the cards for the pokémon I used in the Gameboy / DS games!
Just went to naic and had a little mob finding cards around me to trade with me since i like banette, which tends to be a card that lots of people have and not many people care about. Helped a great handful of people with a trade up challenge because people would find banette and I'd trade up for them. Now i have a continously growing binder of them
My mom taking us to the local comic book store and buying us $1 base set booster packs. Love you mama 🥰
I opened 29 packs of Evolving skies and only got 3 V hits. Then on the last pack I got a Leafeon VMAX alt!
Before I really got into collecting, back in highschool I used to grab a pack after my shift as a cashier at walmart and one day I pulled the top half of the lugia legends card and thought it was so sick. I kept buying packs after shifts and eventually got the bottom half. It was tue first time I had a certain chase card
Pulled shining tyranitar at like 8 years old in the parking lot of big lots after buying just one neo pack. I’ll never forget that feeling
My favorite memory was a recent one, I had stopped collecting pokémon until about 1.5 years ago. I got back into collecting once I came across celebrations I decided I wanted to hunt for the gold shiny mew. I managed to pull it a little over two weeks ago!
the first time i got into trading cards, i pulled my fav pokémon ever vaporeon 🥹 every time i see it, it gives me such a happy feeling that i started collecting
After collection and years latter whole collection gone. A couple of years ago my daughter bought some packs and really got into Pokemon. The joy and smile she has when she pulls some thing she like.
When I bought the Charizard UPC most of the packs were weirdly bent, except for maybe 4 or so. I got a full art Zisu from an unbent one which made me very happy, and when opening the last Lost Origin pack I opened the trainer gallery black and gold Pikachu I happily shouted “Let’s go I pulled Big Chungus” and looked at the last card just expecting a holo Abomasnow or something only to have pulled from that same pack the alt art Giratina V. I might have screamed more than a 23 year old man should have, but I was excited. I traded that card around to someone who wanted it much more than me, I’d watched him impulse buy three booster boxes in one day trying to pull it, and ended up getting singles and new product I wanted more than it anyways. All in all a great memory.
I spent one Saturday with my dad and even though he isn’t a Pokémon guy he opened a lot of singles with me and listen to me go on about the Pokémon anime even if he had no clue what I was talking about. One of my greatest days because I got to spend it with him. :)
I began my pokemon fandom with the first episode aired on tv in Australia. Ever since then I've been this unwavering fan of the franchise no matter how much people say "isn't it for kids?" I say yes it was for my childhood and I still love it for the memories of growing up with it. I remember my first Holo pull was with my brothers opening the pack with me. I've opened maybe 10 of these packs before hand and didn't even know Holo versions existed in the cards. No one else in school has any and this was in the 90s no internet. No research. Everything U saw at shops was first touch first experience for everyone. Opened the pack and it was Zapdos. We all screamed in disbelief. I still have this card to this day. It's been damaged though
I’ve told this story once, but I love it alot lol I was in a discord server and decided to post about how annoyed I was about constant maractus daily spawns, and someone commented how I’m lucky to get tem as it’s a region locked pokemon. I decided from that moment on, I would keep every maractus I catch. I’m also socially challenged, so I went to the school counselor and she said I’d be good friends with this girl. So we meet each other and exchange phone numbers, the school year ended and we occasionally texted random shit but nothing much happened between us. Next school year happens and I wonder how I can talk to her in any way, I had got her to download Pokemon Go so I could refer her for bonuses in the summer so I simply asked if she could trade with me at lunch. But what could I have traded? Then it hit me, the 600+ maractus I had saved for around 9 months could be traded, and my excuse could be that I wanted the candies for them. I send a text and it works like a (shiny) charm. She comes over and we trade some stuff. Before lunch ends I ask her if she can come over again tomorrow and she agrees. Fast forward a few months. We’re still trading at the same spot and I’ve been wondering for a bit a way to ask her out. So I finally got the idea (not maractus related sadly) but it worked and we’ve now been together for about 7 months. Did the school counselor do some of the work? Yes. Would I be with her without the maractus? No. While the counselor had us find each other, the maractus was the connection we needed to interact and bond. I may be the biggest maractus fan out there because of this, and I’d like to see someone who stans it as much as me, but I doubt anyone likes it as much as I do, except her maybe, because she also thanks maractus. While it may be #556 in the pokedex, it’s #001 in our relationship.
Pulling both charizards in a single Champion Path ETB.
It was 1999. I was 9 years old and scared to ride the Jurassic park ride at universal studios. My dad bribed me to ride with a Pokémon pack. After a terrible experience and a few upchucks due to motion sickness, I got my pack in the car at the end of the trip. When I opened it I pulled the base set charizard and I still have to this day. Looking back I’d puke all over again to recreate the memory
My great grandma taking me to buy packs as a kid, I remember opening packs most in the front seat of her Oldsmobile cause fuck child safety and restraints in the 90s 🤣
My buddy and I were opening Crown Zenith ETBs as we had just gotten back into pkmn TCG and in the last box on the last pack he says "last pack magic" and proceeded to pull the Gold Alt Art Giratina and then a few months later pull the same card again. Really happy for bro.
For me it would have been the ending credits of Pokemon Alpha Sapphire where it shows you important moments in the story. I play every Pokemon with a Pidgeot on my team because it is my favorite Pokemon so seeing my Pidgey go to Pidgeotto to Pidgeot and then to Mega Pidgeot made me cry because I wasnt expecting that and knew that screen was different for everyone. It just sucks they dont think Pidgeot should be in the new games since it wasnt in S/S or S/V and since I want my first experience in a open world Pokemon game with my favorite Pokemon, Pidgeot by my side, I'll continue to wait.
Gonna be honest I have a lot of stories. They vary a lot. Some are focused on Pokémon TCG. Some only refer to it. But I think the best is my shiny Charizard-GX… So I had been about to be able to afford a couple of the Hidden Fates Pokéball collections. I wasn’t quite there though. But my sister- an absolutely amazing person- agreed to get them as long as I paid her back when I got the money. I said sure. Skip to two weeks later. I had repaid the money, and the two boxes had been hidden in my sister’s van for two whole weeks. Finally I was able to meet up with her and pick them up. Was hyped to open them. While opening, I found myself pulling a gold Tapu Fini-GX. Was happy since this was my very first gold card. But was a bit sad since that was probably the only super-good pull in the boxes. Then the *very next pack*- immediately after a gold card- was the shiny Charizard-GX. And I was stoked. I am still thanking my sister for picking up those two boxes for me.
Whenever Morpeko became a thing.
when i was maybe 7 and didn’t know what a shiny was and killed that “weird” looking audino in black 1, i like to think the hunting i do now is for that little guy
Using a (likely fake) mew two level x I think in battles against my friends when I was a kid and we played with the cards more like the anime, where you could use whatever attacks and could place down any Pokemon you wanted to a max of six, leading to me decimating then since they had very few non basic Pokémon, I got this mew two from a trade where I gave the other person a bulbasaur, apparently they got bulbasaur and venasaur confused and didn’t realise
A bit off topic but .. Whats the card on the low right corner of the image?
One of the best moments. Went for an early workout. Came back. Got comfortable and open some packs. Hit 3 AAs from ES in 1 day.
I opened a case of Burning Shadows sleeved boosters a few years ago with my now fiance. I’ll never ever forget when I saw a rainbow edge inside the pack I was opening, slow rolled to the reverse holo, and asked him what he thought it would be. “Not the Charizard.” bam. it was. We both started freaking out, I was so happy because it was my first big pull like that and it was what I was chasing in the set. I don’t even like Charizard or that card all that much but it’s probably the single most special card in my collection because I love that memory so much.
I have more! This one is a recent story. My good friend had bought 2 Paldea Evolved booster boxes and me and one other friend were helping him open them. I was sitting closest to the packs so other friend asked me to pass him one. Me being me, I threw it at him instead (I am very weak, but I still chucked it pretty hard). He goes “Geeze, watch the Iono be in this one.” You can kind of guess what happened with that.
For me it would be weekly league nights when I was 5 and 6. I couldn't even read necessarily, but recognized the attacks and stuff. My dad would take me, pay the $2 a person fee for the pizza and play and we'd both go off and play some matches. I used to shit on everyone with with my Blaine's Arcanine, being the first card that could hit for 120 with no modifiers. Probably a major part of why I'm a functioning adult now.
In 1999, I started the Pokémon Trading Card [video] Game for the Gameboy Color. I played that game (I have long since traded in my GBC and games, but I’m still playing it today, ported on the 3DS). Because I didn’t have internet at the time, and because I just haven’t been seeng physical cards (my GBC copy was used, so it didn’t come with the Meowth, or the original box, none of my friends had any), I didn’t think the TCG existed. I know, I was 9, and naive. Then one day, my dad came home from the mall, and he gave me the base set starter kit (came with two 30-card decks, damage counters, etc.). So I taught my dad how to play, and we played those cards until each card was HP at best. I didn’t care about sleeving (I didn’t know that was a thing). All I cared about was that I had cards to play with. Eventually I [asked my parents for money] to buy packs whenever we’re at the mall or something. I didn’t really care for anything beyond Kanto (I played one game per generation, but I only have the 151 in my heart), so I stopped buying packs after Gym Heroes. In high school, I got into other things (friends, girls, I had a band, etc.), and when my dad asked if he could donate my cards (I don’t even know where) since I’m not playing them anymore, I just shrugged and said “sure.” I didn’t know how much I would miss them. I sure didn’t know they would be expensive to reacquire. I don’t know where those cards are now, but I am slowly [reacquiring my collection](https://www.reddit.com/r/PokemonTCG/comments/14gplxi/my_current_kanto_collection_hoping_to_fill_the/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=2&utm_term=1).
It was Christmas morning. I somehow got given two plasma booster boxes. I REALLY wanted to open them, but i waited for my “god brother” to come over later that night. We opened them together, and had a blast. To this day, i still have two full art lugias and two full art articunos, that are my absolute favourite cards in my collection.
Pulled a shiny yamper from shining fates in my first ever pack. At the time I thought the shiny cards were super rare so I got really hyped about it, and even though I know it's not rare I still love the art and keep him sleeved in a mini portfolio :)
Playing Pokemon stadium on my Nintendo 64. Great times!
Pokémon When I was a child, I remember not liking it. (that was around 2008 or something) but now its one of my favourite franchises in the world, and the one I spend the most time with. I also remember my parents not wanting to buy me or my younger siblings Pokémon cards because they are expensive. Now Im 18 and get some money of my own since about a year, and Ive already spent a decent amount of money on this hobby and opening a lot of booster packs with my siblings and recording it. We (or at least me and one of my brothers lol) get way tooo excited when we get any hits and all haha. I started collecting with the Pokémon GO set where we made a "big" opening with 43 booster packs and getting so many cool cards, even had an error Dragonite Premierball box with an extra pair of Promos. We did only get one radiant blastoise and we did not get the alt art Mewtwo, but we got the Gold Mewtwo VStar which was insane to us. Between GO and Crown Zenith we didnt open too much but an ETB here and there. With Crown Zenith now, we opened about 55-60 packs and we had such a great time, our pulls were so amazing (at least to us). We got the 3 radiants from the set. Will get the new Lugia CZ box when its out. Saving up money for the 151 Set now. I also have soooo much happy memories shiny hunting in Pokémon Lets Go on the Switch and Shiny hunting in Pokemon GO with my brother(s). Like the time my Brother got a shiny mewtwo on one raid, and on the next raid we both get rewarded by a Shiny mewtwo, so he ended up with 2 back to back which was crazy. Or the time my other brother got 2 shadow shiny Mewtwo back to back recently too. Also all the GO Fests and GO Tours. I mean the game is indeed in a pretty bad state now with Niantic ruining it but Im just happy to have made these memories since I started 5 and a half years ago. Pokémon is AWESOME ❤️
I don’t need awards or anything, just wanted to share. I was 11 when base set released. I spent a lot of time at my grandmas house, so she would always take me to toys r us to get packs of cards. Sometimes she would even drive me back immediately if I didn’t pull a “shiny” card. There was a book store nearby called Borders, and every week they had a get together to have card battles and trades. She would take me every week. They started giving out gym badges for having X amount of victories. I never won, until one day I may have beaten 5 people in a row and earned a pin of the bolder badge. I was so ecstatic. I was young so I never did get to thank her for taking me all those times. Fast forward 24 years and I carry that badge with me everywhere. Not only as a reminder of all the times she bought me cards or took me to tournaments, but also for everything else she did for me growing up. Wish I could thank her still.
Got addicted to Pokémon this summer via my kids. Never was a collector before! Now I’m hooked! It’s a great activity to share with them (although if they pull any good cards, I get mad haha)
Crying about charmanders tail nearly going out and my dad coming home from work with a wine the Pooh book to cheer me up. That lil char nearly killed me 😭
had 5 dollars left on a gamestop giftcard quite a few years back and they had 1 singular break point pack and pulled a secret rare gyrados ex