A Beginner’s Guide to Buying Pokémon Cards
If someone close to you has asked for Pokémon cards as a gift, it may be super overwhelming to know what to get them. There are so many different products, series, and new releases constantly coming out, it’s a lot to process if you’re not familiar with it.
This guide will help answer one of our most commonly asked questions “What should I buy?”.
A short and sweet answer is as long as it has cards (and not just accessories) you can’t really go wrong. Especially with kids who are just starting out, they’re more worried about getting cards rather than what series they want them from. When in doubt, go for the newest release.
What’s pictured here?
The top row is Surging Sparks (Scarlet & Violet expansion) booster packs, the middle-left is a booster box, the big box in the middle is an elite trainer box, and the others are sets and bundles of Surging Sparks booster packs and promo cards.
(See below for descriptions)
If you are going by price or size of the gift, you can always mix and match or buy boxed sets. Single booster packs are a great stocking stuffer or if you just need something small to add on, each booster pack includes 10 cards. If you know that person has a specific series they like (we’ll get into this in a bit) you could buy a booster box which includes 36 booster packs (360 cards in total). If you’re looking for something that looks more like a gift, boxed sets or elite trainer boxes are a great option. Elite trainer boxes (ETBs) include booster packs, die, card sleeves, energy cards, and markers– this is a great option if the person likes to actually play the game (it gives them cards/accessories to do so). If they like to actually play the game, battle decks could be a great option as they include ready to play decks. If they are more keen on just collecting, boxed sets typically include promo cards and booster packs.
We mentioned how to differentiate between different types of products depending on the price and how big of a gift you’re looking for, but you may also want to shop based on series. There are series and then expansions under that series. For example, Scarlet & Violet is a series and then some of their expansions include Paldean Fates, Surging Sparks, Journey Together, etc. Here is a guide https://www.pokellector.com/sets for all the series and expansions. By asking what series/expansion they’ve been collecting you can narrow down exactly what it is that they’re looking for. For example, if I want to just get a stocking stuffer and my friend has been collecting Silver Tempest, I could get them a single Silver Tempest booster pack. If I wanted to get them a bigger gift, I could get them a Silver Tempest ETB.
These are some examples of the products mentioned above.
3 Questions to Ask:
Ask: Do they like to play or collect? If collect, focus on packs, sets, and ETBs. If play, packs, sets, ETBs, AND battle decks are an option.
Ask: How much do I want to spend? This will narrow down the type of product to buy. (I.e. If I want to get a stocking stuffer I would get booster packs.)
Ask: What series do they collect? This will tell you which specific product to buy. (I.e. If my friend collects Obsidian Flames, I’d get them an Obsidian Flames booster pack.)
Hopefully we have made shopping for Pokémon gifts A LOT simpler. In sum, you can base it on size of the gift or series (or combine them). If they aren’t picky and just like to collect (especially with kids), you can’t go wrong with what you pick. If they are collecting specific series, then that’s the way to go.
Good luck with the shopping!