So, you are planning to start collection Pokémon cards in 2025 and I am being honest it is more exiting now than ever before.
So, let’s be real, it is overwhelming that you’ve got All arts, Hyper rare and understanding the difference between illustration rares and special illustration rares and honestly it can get messy at times understanding. So, consider this article as a way-finder or a comprehensive guide to start collecting Pokémon cards in 2025.
Pokémon cards are a worldwide phenomenon and we can even see and feel the hype around. As Pokémon cards are more searched now than ever before. So, in this article I am going to walk you through how to begin collecting Pokémon cards within 2025.
The question is why do you need to go through this guide? I mean you can just directly go and buy cards whatever you feel, I mean you can definitely do that, However, A lot of experienced collectors will tell you that Pokémon cards is very expensive. So, the agenda behind creating this guide is to make a guide to ensure that you don’t overspend or burn a hole in your pocket while learning the aspects of hobby.
Everyone has a different approach when it comes to collecting Pokémon cards
Everyone collects Pokémon cards with a different approach and strategy, In my case, it is long term. By that I mean that me and my friends collect Pokémon cards and products from long term investment perspective. So, it is overall an investment strategy along side purchasing those cards for passion and hobby so when can pretty much say that it is sort of mix of two worlds together.
While on the other hand, Others just love collecting them for pure enjoyment and some people start collecting Pokémon cards to play in the competitive TCG scene. Honestly, it doesn’t even matter, where you belong in this journey, In this comprehensive guide, by the end of this article, you should feel confident with understanding Pokémon cards and I am hoping that it will also remove the confusion of what products to buy and also helps you understand what to avoid.
It is fair to say that Pokémon cards have the potential to rise in value. Although, not every card will just rise in value, there’s a criteria that need to be met and that’s what we are going to discuss in this article or you can pretty much call it as a comprehensive guide to Guide to start collecting Pokémon cards in 2025. With that being said, Welcome to the Pokémon world of collecting cards and other products.
Before we ever begin collecting, let’s consider the most important step, that is, to store and protect your card.
Storing and Protecting your Pokémon Cards
As we have already discussed that Pokémon cards have potential to rise in value. However it can backfire as well, and, for that we need to protect our cards from getting damaged. Even the tiniest of bend on your card will crush the value.
It is not about small percentage, it is more than 50% in value decrease and in some cases it can go up to 90% value decrease. And honestly you would not want such things to happen with your Pokémon cards So, try to protect your cards from getting damaged.
For that, You can buy penny sleeves and Top Loaders. Penny sleeves are what you store all your card in right after you pull it from the pack and the Top loader is what you place your card in after it has penny sleeves on.
After you put your cards in penny sleeves and top loaders, put them in the binders where you can flick your cards around and showing your collection to others. All this we are doing this to protect our cards and its overall perceived value. With that being said, now let’s move on to the next step in collecting Pokémon cards, that is, to know the product line up that is available and understanding them. let’s move to that without further a do.
Different types of Pokémon products that are available.
There are a lot of Pokémon products available out there. Though for the sake of making things simpler, I am going to walk you through the most simple and best products to start your journey with.
I have shortlisted three of them, and these 3 are:
- Elite Trainer Box.
- Booster Box.
- Booster Bundle.
Now, this is from a pure collecting perspective, There are different products that you want to actually play competitive trading card game. Though, this article is for collecting purposes. Now let’s discuss how each bundle products are different and their USP.
Elite Trainer Box
Let’s start with the Elite Trainer Box, Easily the best product to start your collecting journey. Why because, they contain almost everything you need to start collecting.
Depending on the Elite trainer box or ETB you buy, You will receive 9 to 10 booster packs inside and you’ll get some card sleeves and extra goodies inside the box.
And of course, you’ll receive a booklet as well and this booklet shows you every single card inside the set. For example; If you buy Stellar crown ETB and within the ETB, you’ll get to see that it will contain a booklet that contains every single Stellar crown card inside the set.
If you are planning to buy your first ever Pokémon product, I highly recommend to start with an Elite Trainer Box.
Are they the best value for money?: The answer is no, however, this starter bundle pack is literally designed to cater the beginner collectors around. Here are the key pointers that’ll help you decide if it the best starter pack to start with:
- Booklet is a great start: The booklet helps you get into the world of Pokémon collecting check of a master set.
- You get Awesome sleeves.
- Potential Promo Cards: In Scarlet and Violet era ETB cards, you get to see the special promo card inside as well.
So, Overall these card sets are good because they are pretty affordable. While ETBs are a great startup product. I would recommend them for your first purchase. Though, they are not the best value for money as you continue collecting. And this brings me to the second product, that is, Booster box.
The Pokémon Booster Box.
Booster boxes are only release for mainline Pokémon sets. So, Pokémon sets are split between specialty sets and mainline sets. Now, nearly all sets will have an Elite Training Box, only Mainline sets get booster boxes.
In booster boxes, you get 36 packs inside and they are actually great value for money when it comes to Pokémon lineup in terms of buying and opening up a lot of products. Though again, The price point to buy one of these is quite high or expensive.
These are something to consider as they are not the cheapest card sets to buy. However, The great thing about these cards sets is that you really get to experience a set when you buy the booster box. You get to experience the sealed pack first hand experience. For those who like to collect sealed boxes while collecting Pokémon cards. Moving on to the next one.
Booster Bundle
Booster Bundle contains 6 packs booster inside and what’s unique about them is that booster bundles are available for both Mainline sets and Specialty sets.
You get to see Paldean fates in Booster bundle which is a specialty set. Now what’s really unique about the Booster bundle even though they are considered like your mini Booster box, which is unique in itself because a lot of those sets don’t get booster boxes.
Note: Booster bundles are prone to scalpers
Reminds me of the time when Pokémon 151 was released, The Elite Trainer box was much easier to but than the booster bundle because the booster bundle is usually the cheapest pack per cost ration. So, A lot of people were scalping the booster bundle and desired among all.
This is something you’ll get to learn over the time, which products to buy(A clearer picture). Sometimes the Elite Trainer Box will be the better purchase for a specialty set over booster bundle depending on how much demand there is for the set.
The overall budget varies depending on person to person. So if you do have a bit of an entry point and you just wanna open a few packs and you know that you can get the booster bundles at retail price, they honestly super great products to consider.
Pokémon center exclusive products
A few countries have official Pokémon center stores and there’s a variety of Pokémon products and merchandise you can buy here. However, Pokémon center stores is the place where you can buy Pokémon Center Products.
The Pokémon center store sells exclusive Pokémon center Elite Trainer boxes. These Pokémon center exclusive ETBs contain a few extra packs inside. Sometimes, they’ll have different card sleeves and promo cards inside the set that has special Pokémon center stamp on the card.
These stamps are heavily desired within the community and they do sell for a huge premium and are very collectible.
So these are pretty much your A+ version of the Elite Trainer Box. Though, something to understand about Pokémon center ETBs is that they do sell out very quickly and there’s a lot of people who try to scalp these products as the promo card can fetch huge prices.
Bit of an advise from my side, if you are starting out, try your best to pre order these when they get released on the store.
Now because Pokémon center products are heavily prone to scalpers, I probably should touch some of the few areas of not-so-fun aspects of Pokémon cards and collecting. That you should be aware of Scalpers and Flippers:
Beware of Scalpers and Flippers
Scalpers and Flippers love to buy products and immediately sell them for a profit on the market for a higher price. Now my only word of advice would be to try to avoid paying over on any product that just released. I mean it is fare to pay a premium for an older set of cards as their value increases with time. However, this shouldn’t be the case with the newly launched cards. So, try not to get into such traps and wait until you get the best deal or try to pre-register yourself. Or may be wait for the upcoming newer sets and pre-register yourself for them.
Don’t overpay on Scalped Products
I’d recommend not to pay extra or over on the newer Pokémon products on scalper prices particularly for the newer products. If you do end up paying more for the products that are like a year or 2 years old, That somehow makes sense, As you missed out though, On newer sets, that’s not recommended.
It is completely okay to miss out on a couple sets because there’s always newer sets incoming and there’s always an opportunity coming in waves.
Buy Pokémon cards from reputable stores only.
There are unfortunately a few areas of scamming where people can resale packs. So, the best way to avoid any of these problems is just to buy Pokémon products from the trusted and verified Pokémon stores and sellers.
Grading your Pokémon Cards.
If you’re opening a lot of Pokémon packs, there’s a good chance that you may pull one of the expensive chase cards such as Pikachu special illustration rare, the Umbreon or Greninja special illustration rare. And you may want to consider grading it.
Grading your card is an excellent way to add value and protect your cards and I highly recommend. Though grading cards can get quite complicated and you’d like to stick with the reputable companies for this and these companies include; CGC, BGS and PSA.
To Conclude
With new sets, nostalgic reprints, and overall thriving global community, Starting Pokémon collection in the year 2025 have become more exciting than ever before. There’s place for every collector whether you are an investor, whether you’re in it for the art, or simply for the joy of the game, it doesn’t matter.
Simply begin with clearer goal, build knowledge over the time, and don’t forget to enjoy the overall process of hunting. And remember the fact that it all starts with small and eventually turns into a huge kingdom. So, take collection like that only, start small, start with the first pack and eventually expand and make a great collection, No rushing. happy collection and may your pulls be rare.