Any TCG Veterans with Suggestions for Noob (4 Viewers)

[BarrieJ3]

Yes, there's information online. But there's So. Much. Information.

Situation - kids want to jump a bit more into pokemon cards, they've decided they want to do a family binder building out a crazy master set on Pitch Black.

Question - What is the best path forward to making this happen, and specifically what tools can I use to make this easier on myself?

I know, just grab 3 ETB preorders from Gamestop, let each kid rip one, and leave the 3rd to start their sealed collection. Then just go shopping for raw singles to start filling out the master set.

Joined FlipFlip on Whop and set up custom alerts to all Pokémon restocks/bb/target/celebrations and pitch black/etc. and subscribed to their inventory monitors. I’m also looking at Auto Checkout opportunities through them as that seems the best hands off approach for a noob who doesn’t want to spend all the time on this.

Any suggestions as to what works best, any hands off approaches to obtain items closer to msrp (paying 3rd parties to obtain/run bots/etc.)? I may just use whatever top 3 public cook groups I can find and see if any are legit.

 

[grandmeme]

Following cause my younger cousin asked me this exact question last week, but I play MTG and buy singles lol which is a totally different realm compared to Pokemon.

As far as my strategy is, I typically preorder booster packs from my local and then buy singles, but probably not most cost effective or efficient method.

 

[suchj0sh]

I just sold off basically all of my Pokemon out of disgust with the hobby.

If it were me, I’d not indulge Pokemon at this point beyond buying singles. Sealed is totally out of control. You’re gonna need some bot help to have any shot at getting ETB’s or booster boxes at MSRP.

 

[detroitdad]

Yes, there's information online. But there's So. Much. Information.

Situation - kids want to jump a bit more into pokemon cards, they've decided they want to do a family binder building out a crazy master set on Pitch Black.

Question - What is the best path forward to making this happen, and specifically what tools can I use to make this easier on myself?

I know, just grab 3 ETB preorders from Gamestop, let each kid rip one, and leave the 3rd to start their sealed collection. Then just go shopping for raw singles to start filling out the master set.

Joined FlipFlip on Whop and set up custom alerts to all Pokémon restocks/bb/target/celebrations and pitch black/etc. and subscribed to their inventory monitors. I’m also looking at Auto Checkout opportunities through them as that seems the best hands off approach for a noob who doesn’t want to spend all the time on this.

Any suggestions as to what works best, any hands off approaches to obtain items closer to msrp (paying 3rd parties to obtain/run bots/etc.)? I may just use whatever top 3 public cook groups I can find and see if any are legit.

I have no idea. My son and his wife do the Pokemon thing. I screenshot it and sent it to him see if he has any advice.

 

[doublebooyah85]

I just sold off basically all of my Pokemon out of disgust with the hobby.

If it were me, I’d not indulge Pokemon at this point beyond buying singles. Sealed is totally out of control. You’re gonna need some bot help to have any shot at getting ETB’s or booster boxes at MSRP.

Yeah feel like your (@BarrieJ3) timing this at the worse time. Altho sounds like the kids want to get into it etc sooo goodluck!

 

[suchj0sh]

The latest sets also have some BRUTAL pull rates. Special energies in the rare slots for several sets is killing the joy of opening packs.

 

[RadicusScout]

Sealed is totally out of control.

The sealed Pokemon scene in a nutshell:

My daughter was briefly into collecting but it didn't take us long to see what we were up against.

 

[GamingWithChips]

It’s really sad that hobbies have turned into investments. It seems about 10% of the people collect cards because they like the artwork and the rest are only excited about the value. My friends track their “portfolios” and I just sit on the side lines like:

Hopefully you can make some nice binders with your kids and have some fun doing so!

 

[BarrieJ3]

I just sold off basically all of my Pokemon out of disgust with the hobby.

If it were me, I’d not indulge Pokemon at this point beyond buying singles. Sealed is totally out of control. You’re gonna need some bot help to have any shot at getting ETB’s or booster boxes at MSRP.

Yeah for me being a historical huge anti flipper/community guy, it’s def not my thing.

But of course “Pokémon” is not nearly as niche as chipping.

I’m 10000000% looking for the best/most legit/etc. of people or groups who run bots/auto purchases/etc.

I’d venture a wild guess the reason we some of the people that used to do that here is because of how profitable it’s become to do it with way more popular commodities. Just 10 msrp boxes of each Pokémon/lorcana/mtg/one piece release would be a 6 figure annual salary for….no work.

 

[BarrieJ3]

If anyone has an in to a legit (I get it’s all a bit sketchy) scalper with a large bot farm/auto checkouts lemme know!

I’d happily sell chips to fund some big pickups, and they’d be going to my kids for ripping or to help start trading for future sealed collection, as well as helping out some kids at the school/family friends. (Might run a once a week after school club for the kids at school next year)

 

[BarrieJ3]

Following cause my younger cousin asked me this exact question last week, but I play MTG and buy singles lol which is a totally different realm compared to Pokemon.

As far as my strategy is, I typically preorder booster packs from my local and then buy singles, but probably not most cost effective or efficient method.

This is the exact suggested path!

And honestly would be totally fine and still gets them the experience of a community, learning commodities/marketplace, bartering, etc.

Lol I’m just seeing if we can do all that AND happen to save mom and dad a couple grand in the long run.

 

[Zmasterben]

If anyone has an in to a legit (I get it’s all a bit sketchy) scalper with a large bot farm/auto checkouts lemme know!

I’d happily sell chips to fund some big pickups, and they’d be going to my kids for ripping or to help start trading for future sealed collection, as well as helping out some kids at the school/family friends. (Might run a once a week after school club for the kids at school next year)

Head into the suburbs. Starting sniffing around until you catch the smell of Cheetos, Mountain Dew, and unwashed butthole. Follow that scent to a house and knock on the door. If a middle aged woman who looks like she is fed up with her life answers, ask if her son lives in her basement. If she says yes, you've found a scalper. Make a deal!

 

[BarrieJ3]

Pretty sure the scalpers I’m looking for are making more money than me, can afford their own home, and are very technologically capable in 2026

This is their time to shine.

 

[DrStrange]

Is the goal to have fun? Build competitive enough decks to play seriously? Collect the art and not really play the game?

There is no reason to buy expensive singles if you just want to have some fun with the kids. We played this with the kids in the scout troop with a crate of community cards. Grab what you want for this afternoon's game - have fun - play hard - and then toss the cards back in the crate. NOT recommended for keeping your cards in good condition.

You can play poker just fine without buying the wonderful chips. Same thing with pokeman, you can play the game and have fun without the expense. Chasing the "good stuff" will get pricy. Fun for some but not required. -=- DrStrange

 

[BarrieJ3]

He likes the camaraderie at school, he likes the gambol of pack opening, he likes Pokémon in general, and he enjoys collecting/organizing his binders/pulling everything out/etc.

To have an excuse or something to focus on we’re going for a master collection which is 1 of everything (including holos, reverse holos, promos, etc.).

This way it gives us something to do as a family, gives us a reason to go to shows, gives us a reason to learn about the market side, gives him a reason to continue finding his voice and interact with adults practicing advocating for himself, etc.

Yes the hobby sucks, yes people suck, but it is what it is. I’m guessing we find tons of positive interactions along the way. We’re gonna start by heading to our local game store, and see if they’ll maybe chat with him a bit about understanding the basics in exchange for us buying a bundle of their overpriced sealed stuff. Start building inroads with the local community.

And we’ll still play, it’s a personal collection, but we’ll use proxies if there’s something he wants graded or such.

 

[DrStrange]

There is much to be learned from deck building on a budget. Not saying to abandon the collector side but doing the homework to get a really good cheap deck can be very educational.

I have seen kids pull together serviceable decks from commons and poorly thought of uncommon cards. The effort to do the logic and game theory builds good life skills. A kid can buy many victories with a chunky budget and a well-stocked card shop. Really, they just buy a premade deck and win regularly enough. Often not learning much at all.

And of course, be sure to have fun -=- DrStrange

 

[Zmasterben]

Honestly, we aren't trying to be assholes, just tell you how this hobby is. It is a mostly a cesspool of the worst human being you will ever meet. But that doesn't mean it is all negative. You will meet some cool people who respect the hobby and appreciate the kids that want to enjoy it but they will be overshadowed by the chuds.

I can't help you with sealed products. I have opened one box in the past 18 months because it is impossible to find anything in my area and I refuse to pay scalper prices and I ain't wasting my time with tracker apps so I can wait in lines with a bunch of losers to buy Pokemon cards.

I'm a 'budget' collector and prefer artwork and the fun of the hobby over value so I collect mostly cheaper cards. But you can get the majority of modern full art cards for under 5 bucks as long as you don't care about chasing the big ones.

TCG Player will be your best friend in finishing up sets or grabbing whatever you are chasing.

https://www.tcgplayer.com/

Raw:
Anything under $20: TCG player
Anything $20-50 TCG player or eBay
Anything $50+: eBay
Graded:
Always eBay
Never Whatnot. Never ever join Whatnot.

If your kids like content here is a couple of the best people in the community to follow:

https://www.youtube.com/@CoopsCollection
https://www.youtube.com/@BeardDadCardz

I'm building multiple binders for fun right now. As someone who has been playing Pokemon games for 30 years, I like to build collections based on the games over the TCG sets. Here is the Gen 8 Sword/Shield binder I recently completed. The whole thing cost me like $500-600 including shipping while taking advantage of combined shipping on TCGPlayer.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...g-vRQTtbQi/edit?gid=1614632104#gid=1614632104

 

[BarrieJ3]

There is much to be learned from deck building on a budget. Not saying to abandon the collector side but doing the homework to get a really good cheap deck can be very educational.

I have seen kids pull together serviceable decks from commons and poorly thought of uncommon cards. The effort to do the logic and game theory builds good life skills. A kid can buy many victories with a chunky budget and a well-stocked card shop. Really, they just buy a premade deck and win regularly enough. Often not learning much at all.

And of course, be sure to have fun -=- DrStrange

I do love the sentiment. And I agree!

We’re just not huge…Pokémon the card game fans The kids love games and we play semi regularly. And honestly deck building games are some of our/my absolute favs. Just not Pokémon.

Pictured: one of our go to’s, Acension. Man, I thought I was killing my wife. She’s been on a hot streak lately, slowly catching up a couple games

 

[BarrieJ3]

Honestly, we aren't trying to be assholes, just tell you how this hobby is. It is a mostly a cesspool of the worst human being you will ever meet. But that doesn't mean it is all negative. You will meet some cool people who respect the hobby and appreciate the kids that want to enjoy it but they will be overshadowed by the chuds.

I can't help you with sealed products. I have opened one box in the past 18 months because it is impossible to find anything in my area and I refuse to pay scalper prices and I ain't wasting my time with tracker apps so I can wait in lines with a bunch of losers to buy Pokemon cards.

I'm a 'budget' collector and prefer artwork and the fun of the hobby over value so I collect mostly cheaper cards. But you can get the majority of modern full art cards for under 5 bucks as long as you don't care about chasing the big ones.

TCG Player will be your best friend in finishing up sets or grabbing whatever you are chasing.

https://www.tcgplayer.com/

Raw:
Anything under $20: TCG player
Anything $20-50 TCG player or eBay
Anything $50+: eBay
Graded:
Always ebay
Never Whatnot. Never ever join Whatnot.

If your kids like content here is a couple of the best people in the community to follow:

https://www.youtube.com/@CoopsCollection
https://www.youtube.com/@BeardDadCardz

I'm building multiple binders for fun right now. As someone who has been playing Pokemon games for 30 years, I like to build collections based on the games over the TCG sets. Here is the Gen 8 Sword/Shield binder I recently completed. The whole thing cost me like $500-600 including shipping while taking advantage of combined shipping on TCGPlayer.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...g-vRQTtbQi/edit?gid=1614632104#gid=1614632104

Appreciate it! Yeah me may go that route. And honestly we’re super lucky my kid is one of those that loves to try new things, has fun literally no matter what, and genuinely enjoys helping people.

So I think he’ll really only pay attention to the positive, not care much about any $ perspective, and enjoy helping out some other kids, donating some stuff at shows, etc.

I mean, kinda lolz, yeah no I’m not standing in line and def not doing that with the kid(s), that’s not the part I want them to experience. But like even tonight was the Walmart reup online.

Forget waiting in line, I don’t even have time to pay attention and click a simple wait in line button on Walmart app.

(If I had to guess, I’d imagine this’ll be short lived anyways. He’ll probably start the binder, do our first show, shop at the local store, reorganize his binder 10 diff times, and then be like “I’m happy, all done” 3 months from now.)

Love beard dad, there’s some great personalities for sure.

 

[BarrieJ3]

Whelp. I tried doing some manual 3 am online drop, and we just hit our 2 targets at open.

The kid enjoyed running around for a minute, but yes agreed it’s just not worth it. We nabbed a tin and 2 boosters that they ripped immediately.

For it supposed to have been a big re-up, very few people there at open. The employees were extremely annoyed and ungracious, as you would expect with them dealing with this nonsense every week), and several of the flippers were very kind and informative (ours were the only kids present).

The resale market for all the basic stuff really isn’t that much more expensive than msrp, so just gonna follow people’s suggestions and let the kids shop tcg and trade irl to fill their binder.

 

[detroitdad]

I sent my son your post in the OP. He said he understood about a third of it lol.

Good luck. Enjoy the journey with your little ones!

 

[BarrieJ3]

I am very surprised at how much $ there is to be had. So easily.

About 2-3 days of studying and research, a not small amount of $ upfront, and a mature network of bots and proxies EASILY net $10k a month, with bulk profit coming from major releases.

You’d need diff sfw/setups for diff retailers sure, but all the info is readily online. And if you’re already building for and knowledgeable on pokemon, then lorcana, sports, one piece, etc. just add to it.

I’d be blown away if the pcfers who used to run crawlers and ish for chip finds to flip here who aren’t active much haven’t moved onto something like this which should so easily be providing $150k+ yearly profit.