Gotta Catch ‘Em All! Even if you are not a Pokémon fanatic, you’ll know the catchphrase! Pokémon – first introduced as a video game in Japan in the late 1990’s – has become a phenomenon of unrivalled proportions. Now a multi-media franchise involving everything from games to movies to collector’s cards, it is the biggest selling franchise ever. Are you a Pokémon collector? Or are you considering starting a collection?
Collecting Pokémon cards need not be expensive although as we shall see there are some very highly priced cards available. What should you look for when starting a collection? We’ll give you a good starting point later on, but we need to look at why Pokémon is so expensive and to help you collect successfully we will also look at the PSA Rating.
Why is Collecting Pokémon Cards Popular?
Pokémon is unique. It exists in the Pokémon Universe where human Trainers catch and train Pokémon to enter battles against others. It is a complex yet fun and rewarding game that has taken on a life of its own. A hobby enjoyed by both young and old, Pokémon will draw you in and keep you there! The collector’s cards are attractively designed and drawn with elements of traditional Japanese art and design, and some can fetch surprisingly high prices.
The highest values on the market go to cards that are special editions, that have misprints and are not usually standard game-set cards. A very special card of which only a few were ever made fetched $375,000 at auction recently. These are not the cards that the everyday collector will be looking for. Now, before we tell you about a great place to start collecting, what’s this PSA rating all about?
What is the PSA Rating About?
In stamp collection a mint condition example is generally more valuable than a used one. Quality counts, and the same applies with Pokémon cards. The PSA rating – Professional Sports Authenticator – is used not just to verify and rate Pokémon cards for quality, but also for other sports collector’s cards. They rate cards on a scale of 1 to 10, where 10 is the very best quality, and there are many other verifications that are performed by this third-party authentication service.
If a card or a set comes to auction it will more than likely be accompanied by a PSA grading which will affect the price attained. So, you want to start a Pokémon collection and don’t know where? We’ve got a great tip for you.
How Should I Start Collecting Pokémon Cards?
Before you get into this hobby be aware that collecting Pokémon is addictive and can be expensive! Set a budget and stick to it and start your collection. But where do you start? Pokémon is based around a series of legends and one of the popular ones is ‘Mewtwo.’ Cards in the Mewtwo series were first issued in 1999, and the older the card the more you can expect to pay.
For example, the first edition basic Mewtwo card in PSA 10 condition will fetch around $20,000. However, lesser grades can be bought for anywhere from $80 to $200, making this a good starting point for a serious collection. Look through the Mewtwo range and you’ll find it is very popular with collectors as several cards were misprinted in small numbers. Find one of these, and you could be in big money!
There are two approaches to starting a collection: buy a number of low value cards you like the look of, or two or three less common cards that are higher valued. The choice is yours, so happy hunting!