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Found a box in the attic, got back into it, or just pulled something and have no idea what it is. Six questions in the order they actually come up. Nobody is going to make you feel stupid for asking any of them.
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Is it even real?
Do this before anything else, because every other question depends on the answer. Eight physical checks, how much each one actually proves, and the two that are worth doing first.
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What am I actually looking at?
Rarity symbols, what the little marks in the corner mean, and why two cards of the same Pokemon can be worth a dollar and a thousand dollars. Then the set itself: 29 English guides with full checklists, plus 13 imported ones.
RareDouble RareUltra RareIllustration RareSpecial Illustration RareHyper RareThe marks in the bottom corner, drawn, commonest first. Same six you will find on a Scarlet and Violet era card, and the same drawings the rarity guide uses. It holds four more. -
What is it worth?
Search 39,707 printings across 370 sets by name. 5,396 of them carry a current market price, which is nearly every card in the 29 sets we cover. Or browse by Pokemon if you are chasing one in particular.
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Should I get it graded?
Usually no, and the math says why. What the five companies charge, what the wait is, and the subtraction on real cards: raw price, graded price, fee, what is left.
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What should I open?
Nobody publishes real pull rates, so the honest answer is what actually came out of the packs we have opened, counted from our own rip log. Plus what is coming next and what it is going for on preorder.
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Where do I buy, and who do I buy from?
Local shops around Rochester, NY with what each is good for and where you can sit down and play, plus 65 card shows coming up here, out to Buffalo and Syracuse. Online, the answer is a different one: what each venue costs once shipping and buyer fees are counted, and what recourse you have when a card arrives wrong.
Shops and where to play Where to buy online Card show calendar
One question that is not on that list, because it comes before you own a card at all: what should you actually buy? What to get for a kid who has never opened a pack, what each box on the shelf actually is, what it should cost, and the three things not to buy first.
And one that is not about a card at all: how do you actually play? Two players, 60 cards each, and three ways to win. The short version, for somebody who has never seen a game. There are also two free official apps, and they are not the same thing: Pokemon TCG Live, which is where the code card in every pack goes, and Pokemon TCG Pocket, the quick one on your phone.
The short version
Five things worth knowing up front
- Most cards are worth very little, and that is fine. A set has a couple of hundred cards and a handful of them carry the value. The rest are the game.
- Condition decides almost everything. The same card can be worth ten dollars or a thousand depending on centering, corners and surface. Sleeve anything you care about, today.
- Nobody can tell you what is in a sealed pack. Anyone claiming a method for picking winning packs is selling something. We open a lot of packs and the luck page is what that actually looks like.
- Buy the single, not the box, if there is one specific card you want. It is almost always cheaper, and it is always certain.
- Open the packs. This is a hobby, not a portfolio. The best part is the two seconds before you see the last card.
Or just watch someone else do it
330 pack openings from Rochester, New York, mostly ending in garbage. That is the name.
- A single packMy First Silver Tempest Pack was TRASH 🗑️
- A booster bundleDid this Bundle have ANY hits?! 📉💀
- An Elite Trainer BoxMega Dragalge ex is STUNNING! 🐲✨
One of each of the three cheapest ways in, so you can see what the money actually buys before you spend any. Every other kind of sealed product has its own page.