Board 8 > TCG Collecting advice?

(+) Yeah! (+)

One of my latest Hololive Birthday merchandise sets came with a TCG card, looks nice I want more.

Turns out, they do sell cards in the UK, so I want to buy a booster box of each set, they're not particularly cheap, but whatever I get I'll probably be happy with.
From what I can see it's 12 packs of 8 cards and there's a bunch of starter decks available as well at pretty reasonable prices, at least I think I don't know much about the going rate for TCG prices.

Next part though, is for keeping cards in good condition.
My only experience on TCG collecting is from playing TCG Card Shop simulator, so I presume if I'm going to start collecting, I need to buy sleeves and binders?
Are there any particular brands that are known to be of good quality or to avoid?
Does one sleeve cards and then put them in the binder? I don't really know how any of that stuff works.
But once I got my cards, what's kinda the best way to go about maintaining a collection?

Not sure about this specific game but in general it's cheaper to buy single cards rather than buy sealed products. It's less fun, but it comes out to being cheaper and you get the stuff you want.

My only experience on TCG collecting is from playing TCG Card Shop simulator, so I presume if I'm going to start collecting, I need to buy sleeves and binders?

These are recommended yea. I typically keep my rare/valuable cards in binders and the rest in storage boxes. Sleeves are almost essential if you play with them.

Are there any particular brands that are known to be of good quality or to avoid?

UltraPro binders and sleeves are probably the most common ones. They're not bad and I use them for my cards. Other brands like Ultimate Guard, Dragonshield, Gamegenic, etc are all decent brands as well. You should probably also get some penny sleeves, they're just cheap sleeves that are good for misc things.

Does one sleeve cards and then put them in the binder? I don't really know how any of that stuff works.

I do this for valuable cards only. A penny sleeve and into the binder is enough.

But once I got my cards, what's kinda the best way to go about maintaining a collection?

In terms of keeping track? I use an app called Collectr to keep track of some of my collections, not sure if it'll include what you have.

are you going to be playing with them or they're just for collection purposes?

either way, sleeves are essential. used different brands throughout years and i eventually settled on the clear Dragon Shield ones for collection/storage in a binder. but i haven't bought sleeves in a few years.

just make sure you get the correct size. there's the "standard" size for Magic, Pokemon, etc. and then the smaller size for Yugioh, etc.

don't cheap out on a flimsy binder. there's probably reviews out for the good ones now since i haven't looked around in years.

keeping track, i use a personal excel spreadsheet though i'm sure there's other resources out there

oh yeah and buy singles, not packs/boxes unless you're really particular about certain stuff.

site depends on what tcg it is and tbh idk how different it would be for UK regarding shipping, etc.

Just using MTG as an example, singles are 100% the most cost efficient method. If you want the rare cards, you're better off dropping however much it is for the market price than trying to pull it from boosters. If you just want literlaly anything, most mtg commons are worth like 20 cents at most and lots of game stores just let you buy bulk commons like 7 for a buck. Obv this tcg you have is more niche, but if it follows the same principles of rarity, then just buying bulk commons is still gonna be cheaper than packs. Literally teh only reason to do packs is for the mystery of it.

Will say that if for some reason you want to buy sealed imo at least get a box and not individual packs.

I am fully aware that singles is better, but since I've gotten back in I very much enjoy the dopamine rush of cracking a pack.

It's like the one gambling thing that gets to me

voltch posted...

Are there any particular brands that are known to be of good quality or to avoid?

Ultra-Pro is hit-and-miss. It's "fine" for the price, but the good stuff is Dragon Shield and Ultimate Guard. You'll be paying a premium, but it's worth it, especially if you have any plans to play.

I use Dragon Shield. If you want a basic color like clear or black they are cheaper, but th premium colors come with a premium price.

voltch posted...

Turns out, they do sell cards in the UK, so I want to buy a booster box of each set, they're not particularly cheap, but whatever I get I'll probably be happy with.
From what I can see it's 12 packs of 8 cards and there's a bunch of starter decks available as well at pretty reasonable prices, at least I think I don't know much about the going rate for TCG prices.

My advice is to figure out your goals- or what about this process makes you happy- and how much space you're willing to sacrifice before buying anything. It's easy to buy too much and then be annoyed with trying to store all the extra cardboard. Whether you buy singles, a pre-built deck, packs, cases, or just find the same dopamine rush in a video game for free will depend on those goals.

Official constructed --> singles. Favorite pretty cards to look at --> singles. Casual constructed --> pre-built deck. bond with specific cards you pull --> one to three packs. repeatable dopamine rush --> video game for free. packs for draft/sealed play --> a case, or singles to make a cube. repeatable dopamine rush but i don't wanna do a video game, plus i hate money --> a case

I presume if I'm going to start collecting, I need to buy sleeves and binders?

If you're collecting rather than playing, I recommend binders and penny sleeves. Penny sleeves are the clear, thinner ones that fit more snugly. Put the card into the sleeve "upside down", then put the card + sleeve in the binder with the card facing "right side up". This does a good job of preventing dust from floating in.

If you collect cards worth a LOT and plan on selling them later (or just get big satisfaction out of keeping things super pristine) you could go farther by double sleeving or triple sleeving pre-binder, and/or top loading.

If you are gonna play with the cards, I'd recommend normal sleeves. If you're gonna play with them and plan on reselling them for moderate value later, I recommend double sleeving (card in penny upside-down, penny in normal). If you wanna play with $100+ cards and sell them later, I'd just use proxies and carry the originals in a binder as proof instead of shuffling them.

Are there any particular brands that are known to be of good quality or to avoid?

I can attest to dragon shield matte sleeves (black, specifically). They feel better than ultra pro and don't have the weird watermark covering a corner of the card. Although, tbh I bought them in batches pre-covid, don't know how quality has changed. I know it's tempting to buy different colors of sleeves for different decks or sorting purposes, but it's SO convenient to buy all the same color when you want to swap out a card or a sleeve gets nicked & becomes unusable. Ultimate Guard is great for accessories.

But once I got my cards, what's kinda the best way to go about maintaining a collection?

It's a hobby you do for fun, there's no best. I have a few binders for my expensive/nostalgic cards and cardboard storage boxes for my oodles of worthless cards of regret, deck boxes for my decks, and a playmat and playmat case for when I actually play

anyway, thanks for allowing me to procrastinate for twenty minutes

Thanks a lot for the advice guys.

I think as I don't know if I'll stick to this, at the very start I'll do a bit of a mix and match.
Buy a booster box from the two sets that released just to get that dopamine rush out of the way.
Then once I've had that bit of fun, go a bit more measured and go for singles.
Though as this game is so niche, I'm not even sure where to buy singles for English cards in the UK.

At this moment I just have 2 birthday cards that were exclusive to the sets I bought.

I wanted to buy some cards when I was on holiday in Japan, but seemed like every store out there was completely sold out. Hololive merch just has a habit of running out fast.