/vp/ TCC Pastebin

/TCC/ Pastebin/FAQ
Updated March 26 2021

Q: I'm new. Where do I start collecting?
This highly depends on what you're looking to collect. If you're starting fresh with no cards to your name, a good way to start out is to buy booster packs or a booster box of the current expansion. This is buy far the cheapest way to get your hands on some cards and to roll for something rare.

Another good tactic to starting out is to check out a website that catalogs Pokemon cards and look up one of your favorites. You can easily check out cards at a site like pkmncards.com

You can also try local stores or something like Facebook Marketplace and see if you can buy a full collection for cheap, but as prices raise across the board this has become less of a viable option. That being said if you can pull it off, it's worth it.

Q: Should I buy a theme deck to get some good cards?
There is very little collector's value in theme decks. This is because theme decks are always guaranteed to have the same cards, since their point is to get started playing the actual card game.

Q: I have a question about playing the game...
Head over to PTCGO. That's the general where people actually play the game.

Q: How do I know the value of my cards?
The most famous website that tracks the value of trading cards is Troll and Toad. You can find prices from many major card sellers there. However, Troll and Toad are also well known for inflating prices, so it's up to you if you're willing to trust them. A good indicator of a card's actual market price is sold listings on a site like eBay.

That being said, the main things that dictate the value of a card are

1. The card itself.
2. The quality of the card.

You can have the most sought after card, but if it's been crumpled, folded, burned, or stuck up your ass, it's going to lose quite a bit of value. While even the most destroyed 1st Edition Charizard is going to sell for a lot, how well kept the card is will change things quite a bit.

Q: Okay, but where do I buy the old cards?
Your best bets for any card not currently in circulation are TCGplayer and eBay. TCGplayer will have sellers for nearly any card you can think of. This site can't be beat if you're looking to beef up your collection with commons/uncommons.

For more rare cards, eBay can also be a good source. You can generally find cards for the same prices shown on Troll and Toad/TCGPlayer, but sometimes you can grab them for considerably cheaper if you luck out on an auction.

Q: I keep seeing "PSA Graded" cards for sale. What's that about?
Graded cards are cards that have had their quality officially rated by one of the official authenticators. The most popular and famous of these authenticators is the Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA).

PSA will grade a card from 1 (Poor) to 10 (Mint). A card given the rating of 7 or 8 would be considered Near Mint (NM), a card given the rating of 9 would be considered Mint (MT), and a card given the rating of 10 is considered a Gem Mint (GEM-MT).

For a card to be rated 10, it would need to be as if the card has just come out of a perfect condition booster pack.

Keep in mind that there are other options for grading cards, such as Beckett Grading (BGS) and Certified Guaranty Company (CGC). It's essentially the same thing, but some people prefer grading from other companies than PSA.

Q: So, those super expensive cards are so expensive because they're Graded 10?
Basically, yeah. At least, if you see anyone hyping up their cards having a Grade, it means they're hyping up the monetary value of their specific card, rather than the card itself.

Generally, the more sought after the card is, the more valuable a Grade 10 version of that card is. Since many consider it the "perfect" version of that card, they can go for ridiculously high prices.

You can check the prices of graded cards at sites like pokemonprice.com or psacard.com

Q: Well, I don't want to get my card graded. How do I tell its condition myself?
Essentially, you can sorta eyeball it. Any marks, fading on corners, or bending can lower a card from Mint to Near Mint, or Near Mint to Lightly Played. Something clear and obvious like a crease or rip will generally have a card considered Damaged.

Q: Does the back of the card count? I mean no one really cares about the back, right?
When trying to grade your card, the back 100% counts. Even if the front is perfect in every way, a scratch in the back of a card can lower its Grade.

Q: Alright, I've got all these cards. How do I store them?
There's three main ways to store any cards you want to keep in good quality.

1. Protective Sleeves.
	These are small plastic sleeves you put over your card so you can hold it without worrying about things like oils from your fingers damaging the cards. However, they're not going to protect from much else. These are best if you plan on using these cards for a deck.

	2. Binders.
	Getting yourself a binder for your cards is the most common tactic for protecting cards. Having cards lined up in a binder not only looks good and keeps the cards safe, but is also effective for organization and physical space limitations.

	3. Toploaders.
	If you've ever seen a card in a thick plastic shell, it's a toploader. These are hard plastic sleeves for your cards built to keep them from getting damaged or from bending. It's generally recommended to use these for the most precious cards in a collection, but they can be costly in bulk, and don't fit in a standard binder.

Generally the way to go is to use Protective Sleeves + Binders for any cards you want to protect, and Protective Sleeves + Toploaders for cards you want to protect AND ensure stay in mint condition.

Q: What binder should I get?
The recommended brands for binders are Vault X and Dragon Shield. Vault X are ring free, so you can't add more pages yourself, but are high quality and well regarded for collectors. Dragon Shield are three ring so you can add as many pages as you please, but the rings may cause damage to your cards.

If you're looking for a binder to hold toploader cards, Ultra Pro makes premium binders that are made for exactly that. However, they tend to be expensive.

Q: Oh, I found a cool card for sale, but it says "proxy". Should I buy it?
No. Those are fake cards. They're usually high quality but there are ways to tell a genuine card apart from a fake. Those cards usually only sell because collectors want to "pretend" to have insanely rare cards, or because people don't know what a proxy card is.

Q: WTF why are Charizard cards so expensive!!!!11
There's a variety of reasons that dictate why some cards end up more expensive than others. Mainly though it's usually due to the demand of a card, rather than its supply. This can be because of the Pokemon itself being popular (Charizard, Pikachu, Mewtwo, etc.) or because of outside influences putting eyes on a particular card. A deadly combination of both can lead to outrages prices.
In Charizard's case, the perceived value of the 1st Edition Base Set Charizard has led to most Charizard cards going up considerably in price. Despite many of these cards not being particularly rare or having any value previous, the large influx of new buyers led to most of Charizard's cards to see a price raise.

Q: Who the fuck is Imakuni and why is he on a card?
He's Imakuni, and he's cuter than Pikachu.