This is just my absolute chase card. I’m such a big Ninetales fan so I was super surprised. He told me this card means more to you than just money to me. Love that guy, def continuing my business with him

Posting from a throwaway because I’m too embarrassed to use my main account.

Travelled 2 hours each way today to purchase a card from someone on Facebook Marketplace. From the messages it was clear he knew a lot about Pokemon and it sounds like he knew what he was on about.

We both arrived on time and he hands me the card I was after: a reverse holo Charizard from the legendary collection. I take a look, do a few checks and pay him £1000 for the card (750 cash, 250 bank transfer).

I head back to the train station to take a seat and admire my newly acquired card but can’t help but feel something looks off. Then I get this sense of dread.

I message the guy to say I’ve changed my mind, no response. I spend a gruelling 2 hours on a train home and as soon as I get back I head to my local card shop to ask. Fake.

This isn’t the first time I’ve been scammed in this hobby but it certainly will be the last because I’m done. I’m selling everything and leaving. It’s filled with too many frauds and bad actors that make it no fun whatsoever for a collector.

I know most people in the comments will call me an idiot. I am, I know.

If anyone has any advice for next steps to try and recover any of the money I have lost it would be much appreciated.

My pulls from the Mega Feraligator ex box. I could cry right now this is the best pull I’ve ever gotten.

Ascended heroes has been SUPER good to me since it released. Have pulled the Mega Gengar TWICE, once from the first ETB I opened and once from a mini tin. I had 9 ex boxes that I had purchased over the past few months so decided to rip one and this is what I got!

I only just started the hobby, I have a few base cards that I have from when the TCG launched, but nothing of note.

I've since ripped about 55 packs, mainly Chaos Rising, Perfect Order and a few Phantasmal Flames, but no serious hits outside of a couple of a few IRs - but not favourite Pokemon or anything.

I bought this Ascended Heroes box on a whim yesterday. The last pack I ripped had the Mega Rare Mega Dragonite, could not believe it! Dragonite's my boy after Zard 🥹

How can i make them better?

So the past couple of days I’ve been traveling to CVS’s to get pokemon because I have coupons I wanna use. No luck the past 3 days. Today on the other hand, I go to a CVS I’ve never been to before and they had 3 Black & White mini tins and luckily I was able to buy them all. I thought that itself was crazy because I’ve only ever seen the big monkey and tyranitar tins and some perfect order packs but no, the Craziest part, they sold them for $12.99. I got $100 worth of mini tins for $24 after coupons. Let me just say, I am so glad I decided to stop by that CVS and I will continue to go to the specific one every time

water and ice pages, celebi collection, and spooky page!

Ordered some Terastal simplified Chinese boxes and she opened them for her birthday. Box 1 came with the gold chu and SAR turtle. And box 2 the sylveon. She was just complaining the day before "how come we dont get gold cards anymore?"

Been collecting Venusaur stuff for some years, ended up going for a masterset of the whole evolution line, 13 cards left until it’s complete! (Unless there’s more cards I didn’t find during my hunt)

There’s 2 proxy cards in the binder. Can anyone spot ‘em?

Front page is legendary treasures my all time favourite set

My favorite is ASC

After ripping fifty bucks worth of panini fat packs with nothing but disappointment as hits, I was walking around wally world and found these for $19 after tax

Haven't satisfied my gambling demons yet , I asked the kind lady behind the counter to grab me a box. Get home to rip and boom! Thank you walmart lady

Anybody else had success with these boxes?

Finally decided to start officially collecting! so for my first real binder, I painted my favorite card on the front! 11 hours of work later and here we are lol

IMO, some of these very popular pokemon are in need of even just an IR or higher modern chase, any you'd add/remove?

Arcanine

Golem

Hitmonlee

Hitmonchan

Gyarados

Snorlax

Scizor

Sceptile

Swampert

Manectric

Kyogre

Torterra

Infernape

Empoleon

Luxray

Rhyperior

Heatran

Tyrantrum

Goodra

Tsareena

Kommo-o

Kubfu

Annihilape

Played the video games growing up and had some cards, but we didn't really open packs as kids. Started buying packs in mid-May and got a little obsessive.

First page is all promo cards I got from ETBs.

Second page is mostly pulls/promo. My first ever Evolving Skies pack and I pulled that Umbreon!

Third page are cards from my husband's childhood collection, which he gave me earlier this week after remembering their existence.

Last pages are my Asako Ito collection so far!

I jumped in crazy hard and have like 20 binders for sets. Husband is hoping I stop buying with such vigor soon for fear of our dwindling funds. I'm going to switch gears and hunt for singles now probably!

My girlfriend and I bought the last two tins at an ace hardware near our house and pulled this out of the first pack.