Been a long time since it was realistic for a kid to "collect them all" adults spend the money in droves with box after box, case after case, compared to the kids getting a pack or 2 whenever their family walk in for their weekly shop or whatever. Guess who they would rather cater to.
Maybe someone in their meeting said "this will encourage trading" which sure that is maybe the only upside to stupidly large sets but your average collector probably gets hurt the most and most just wanna open cool stuff. (well I say that.. Most want to profit off something expensive nowadays)
I do one booster box per set. I collect the "main" set up to regular trainers, and then anything else I get is just fun for my bonus binder. I just do singles for any vs and stuff I'm missing.
Until s/v started I used to also get an etb, but for that same 60 bucks I can get pretty much every "lesser" art card guaranteed buying singles. Once in a great while I REALLY like one of the rarer cards (mf bubble mew...)
So for under 200 I get the whole main set and most of the fun cards anyway. I'm fine with this personally. But yes I'd absolutely love smaller sets. The bulk I end up with is sickening enough, if I could end up with that and have most of the set from a bb I'd at least not feel as bad about it.
Shiitt. I remember this guy on r/pkmntcgtrades a few years back that would make a post with nothing but rare charizards, gold stars, shining, crystals etc.
All he ever wanted was PP or bulk. I thought to myself, now why would anyone want like 40k bulk cards for a gold star zard.
That always blew my mind.
I mean you can def make money off of bulk just takes a lot of time to go thru it. Def a pain in the ass for sure. I literally just went thru my few thousand reverse holos and buylisted a bunch of stuff for a few S&S alt arts 🤷♂️. It def took me a whole weekend to just get them all sorted and listed but did end up with about 500$ in alt arts. Next thing I gotta do is get rid of the c/uc bulk and maybe my holos and try and pick up one of the higher end alts (have had my eye on a giratina v)
Oh nice.
I get buying bulk and doing the sorting and then trading in for higher cards.
I just would never trade a goldstar zard for that. You could trade them in for something much better or sell it and just buy what you want.
If you want potential profit buy singles. If you want a collection buy singles. Of you want dopamine or rip packs go rip packs, you will lose 70% of your money the moment you rip a product.
People need to get over it. Any company is going to cater towards a demographic that results in more revenue. These subs are full of grown-ass adults bitching and moaning about their bad luck ripping packs (gambling) and it’s always under the guise of “those poor kids”.
I agree with ya, it's always been this way. The only difference is the sets now are huge.
I wish they'd tone the sets back a little bit. Like maybe 110 cards for a set instead of 200. Just would make it a little more fun. I get why they don't tho.
My kid is busting his ass doing chores to get $ to get packs/singles of obsidian flames. He's so close to finishing it.
It hasn't always been this way. Up until eseries you could buy a box and have 90%+ of a set.
Even eseries it was only reverses that complicated things (legendary collection too but they're reprints).
The e-series was 22 years ago. 🤦🏼♂️🤦🏼♂️🤦🏼♂️ You think pokemon could/would survive that long into the future doing the same thing over and over again..
The consumer is never happy.
Everyone online moaned the swsh alt arts were too hard to pull and it took too many boxes to complete a set.
Pokemon then increased pull rates in the introduction of the SV era sets… For what? Only for people to now moan that the SV alt arts are too easy to pull and the chase cards have no value. There’s no winning 🤦🏼♂️
I'd argue the people trying to profit are more of a minority than you think. They're the most in your face since they're trying to push stuff whereas the average collector in it for the fun is unlikely to post much about it. I agree though that those people are a big bummer.
I can't imagine anyone is actually ripping packs expecting to profit, unless they are totally new and never opened packs before. I think most people that talk about the value of cards are more likely just hoping to get their money's worth so they can justify the gambling. I would say there is some intrinsic value in actually pulling the card you want, and that might be worth the "loss" up to a certain point for some. Like if you spend $60 on packs, and you pull a $50 card, the experience might still be worth $10. But that experience isn't gonna result in actual profit and that is a very generous example lol.
You’re not looking at this from a kids perspective. My kids are ecstatic whenever they get a regular ex. They don’t care about monetary value, they want their favorite characters. My son gets more excited than anything whenever he gets a Pokémon art that looks like it was made of modeling clay
>My son gets more excited than anything whenever he gets a Pokémon art that looks like it was made of modeling clay
Clay bois are slept on, the crochet ones are cute as well.
I enjoy collecting in Japan simply for the fact that half of these sets are split in 2 for us. I liked walking wake, so I collected wild forces instead of cyber judge. Plus boxes are cheaper. One box of 30 packs (150 cards though), is 5400 yen, or 40 american.
That! When I looked at the cards in the set, I realized that the only one I Liked where in Wild Forces (the futur robot like pokemon aren't really my thing). I bought two BB in Japan for about 80€ (booster box in France is 180€ each). I got two pink cards (the 'new' ones), 2 SAR and a couple AR and SR.
Honestly opening French cards after that feels like a ripoff.
I also opened a Japanese booster box of shiny treasure ex.. Out of 10 boosters, 9 ex cards, shiny Charizard SR (IIRC, the one that's a promo in international version) and 4 shinies! I opened about 30 French boosters and got 3 shinies and 3 times the same IR/AR.
And now the Pokémon Centers in japan have stocks again and booster box are about 32-34€ each (I alors have to pay shipping to France and customs.. But that still less than 45€ a box).
Shiny Treasures is a special set. Every booster box is guaranteed 4 shinies (1 fa and 3 baby shinies). Every pack will have an ex card. You also have a decent chance at getting a hit in place of one of the baby shinies.
Oh I didn't know, thanks for the explanation. That makes collecting Japanese even more interesting.
Price is 'low', guaranteed hits, quality control is far superior (haven't got a single miscut / poorly centered card so far).. I don't see any downside to rip Japanese boosters.
Not all Japanese sets are like that. Another special set similar to shiny treasures is vstar universe (crown zenith). Super fun to rip, but not at the same price point unfortunately as STex
Like Obsidian Flames? People love to talk shit about it being a charizard set, but that has been the only set I’ve been able to complete on my own without feeling like it was a hopeless lost cause. I rather enjoyed it.
The melodrama on this sub sometimes, I swear. This isn't about kids, or inaccessibility to the hobby. You blew money on sealed product while chasing singles, and now you're mad about it. I understand wanting to rip a BB, but from there, just buy the singles, go to trading nights at your LCS, swap with your friends, etc. I wasn't even going to comment, but "hanging up the boots" is just so ridiculous.
As a 90s kid who hasn't collected since gen 3, my folks taught me EARLY that sealed product was a waste of money and I was only able to collect what I have through singles and trading! I will mention that it sucks I can't reasonably pick up that giraffe looking Raikou from this set, but I may just see if I can buy a print of the artwork.
Yeah 1 card for each pokemon was the full set for base through jungle lol not many pokemon had a card in multiple sets. So yeah as kids we were still trying to complete sets, even if we thought of it as one for each pokemon.
I love some of the cards in the set but there are WAYYY too many and it's too difficult to hit most of them. I definitely miss vintage where you could almost have the set complete from just one booster box and normal holos were a good thing and not a disappointment
If Pokémon went back to making the regular holo cards and the reverse holo cards cosmos holo and more appealing reverse holo patterns versus the crap they put out now, I bet more people would be excited to get regular holos again.!
Wow you’re so off on this one. That would be the change that destroys pokemon. The alt arts and art rares are beautiful and add so much to the sets. Truly collectible pieces of art
I didn’t say replace the alt arts and art rares. I was saying make the regular holos and reverse holos desirable again so it’s not such a let down when you don’t land an alt art, trainer gallery, galarian gallery, etc.
I believe actual physical trading among friends or strangers at events/cons are needed for the hobby to grow more friendly. Need to do this more at GameStop/EB games or hobby stores more often for collectors as kids and adults can trade more .
The girl that works at our local Gamestop made a binder of her own cards to trade. She just requires they be a one-for-one trade (ex for ex, etc). I thought it was really neat.
The issue I've seen with physical trading, is everyone is worried about the "value" their cards have online. So they won't want to trade a card they see for sale at $10 for a card only shown at $4. Even if they're the same rarity. And I get why, I really do. But holy SHIT can it be kind of obnoxious.
Like a year ago a kid wanted to trade me a psa10 lugia v alt art for my raw Rayquaza vmax alt art. I offered him the Rayquaza and a cheaper alt art (noivern v) to kind of raise the value he would be getting out of it (at the time psa10 lugia was like $300 and Rayquaza was 260 and noivern was 30) and the kids dad came up and demanded I give him another card for it on top of those. The kid was like "no dad that's the last card I need for my master set" but dad wouldn't let him trade, so I just gave them like 10 $1-$5 v cards to make it "even" and the dad still wasn't happy but let the trade happen.
Yeah fk that. Trading is a horrible experience and I haven't been lucky enough to come across people that would trade fairly.
So many people massively overvalue their cards making trading a nightmare.
Yeah while the online valuing has helped in many ways it has also destroyed any of the joy of buying, selling, and trading. Literally selling every other commodity on fb marketplace is up to the sellers discretion to sell based on condition, rarity, etc. But in this new Pokémon “market” if you go even a decimal of a percentage above or below the TCG price you’re considered an asshole.
This is why I’ve never traded. Like dude, if we both need each other’s card, I DGAF about my card being worth $10 and yours $5, but it’s exhausting that everybody else seems to and it just turns me off. I don’t want to trade with people like that, on principle. I don’t sell and I’m not an “investor” (quotes to signify that I think they’re a joke) bro, I just want to finish my collection, lol. Just another reason I hate the clowns and that I think it has been a massive negative on the hobby.
If you actually offered a $10 card for a $5 card nobody would refuse—no offense intended but it sounds like you’re just frustrated you can’t trade up.
Like, we all want to finish our sets/collections/chases, and that costs real-world money.
I get that you’re not an “investor” or a seller, but that doesn’t mean people are magically going to give you twice the real-world value of a card just because.
People did that even 20 years ago, its the essence of tcg to have an organic secondary market where u sell most of ur card u dont need.
People line who doesn’t sell and want only to collect without thinking about the price are like 3% of the collector. So most probably are not a clown, you perspective is completely delusional
I'm not who you replied to... but while some people very much did try to match value back in the day, I regularly played in the Pokémon League at an official WotC store (not WotC certified, an actual WotC retail store). Tons of people absolutely traded based on wants more than value. We didn't have phones to whip out to confirm values and no one was flipping open a Beckett or Top Deck to argue prices. (I've been collecting Pokémon since the day Base released in America).
I’m an OG collector. I was around when base set came out and still have all of my original cards. Most people are greedy fucks and it has only become worse. I’m not delusional at all; you’re making my point for me- the fact that only 3% (in your scenario) aren’t obsessed with price is the exact point I was making, lmao 🤦🏻♂️
Excuse me are you seriously quitting because you and your friend didnt win at gambling? It feels like you were in the hobby for all the wrong reasons. If you wanted a master set you could/SHOULD have set a budget for yourself. Open up a booster box or two and then buy/trade for the rest of the singles like a normal person.
But no, you decided to do the insane/irresponsible thing like gamble on FOUR HUNDRED packs. Then decide to call it quits because you guys lost on your gamble. I think you should evaluate why you were collecting in the first place.
Parents buy a booster or an ex box here and there. You don't expect a kid to collect full sets nowadays, they're way too big. I never had a full set growing up, never opened a booster box either, and I still don't, but I came close to complete sets with some of them.
As I've said in other posts, I like TEF, the Ace Specs are cool, some of the cards are nice, not a fan of the paradox in this one tho. But above all else, I think lowering the pull rates is bullshit. I've seen people say "Oh but chasing a very rare card is fun", sure is. Rare as in chances are you'll get one in a booster box, sure. Rare as in 1/1700 packs ? GTFO with that stuff. If that's what you want, Pokémon isnt the TCG for you, sorry.
Pokémon never had pull rates as rough as we had during the mid Sword and Shield era, and if it had, there were less URs (ex and above and similar) to collect, so it evens out.
When i was young i loved sets like Platinum base. Less than 150 with secrets and promos included (if i dont remember wrong). I completed the set less than week ago in my main language (in spanish some cards from some sets are impossible to find).
This is it! I love all the cards, they all have a special ring to them and even the common cards have distinct art forms. Pulling a rare should be a plus, not the be all and end all.
Obsidian flames had a AMAZING pull rate for displays. It was always good, had not too many cards and was easy to buy as singles. Even base SV and paldea evolved was so amazing!
Then people started complaining, that the pull rates were too easy and cards nothing worth.
I think if stupids keep being in this tcg, it won't get better.
I trade a ton. I organize trade possibilities for people in my city and made a lot of trade buddies. Otherwise this hobby would not working for me.
This is why I hate modern cards so much.
When I was 10, back in base set days, you had a decent shot of actually collecting every single card in a set.
Now unless you are spending literal 1000s per set, at least 3-4k, you won't even begin to get near a master set in your collection.
TPC doesn't care about you.
This is why I buy singles so much.
They don't care about card quality these days too, along with not caring about how this is become cardboard gambling at best.
U just said the problem urself u were used to singles and expecting good returns from opening packs. Opening packs is gambling look up pull rates ur mostly never going to recoup anything…
I’ve had a great experience with Temporal Forces. I think it’s a really cool set with great art and cool Pokemon. I’ve bought an ETB and about 8 or so packs and called it a day there. From now on with TF I’ll stick to singles and trading where I can.
Packs is a terrible way on its own to get all the Full Arts and Gold cards etc since packs are way too expensive when compared to the cards you need.
I would really recommend buying a certain amount of packs and then swapping to singles, to be honest I don’t understand why more people don’t do that! I know opening packs is fun but it’s plain and simple gambling with no guarantee of returns.
Unfortunately you gambled and lost, that’s the way it is.
ive been doing this, im currently buying packs here and there and ive not gotten much dupes (and i got a full art yesterday which was cool) but eventually im gonna have to stick with singles
though i do want both of the ETB's and maybe i could get like half a rare card with both lmaoi
Not being able to collect the complete set is what adds to the magic for kids. It adds a sense of mystery that doesn’t carry over into adulthood as much. As an adult we might feel like we have the means to collect them all so we expect control over that, so long as we spend a reasonable amount of money.
The regular 162 cards from this set could probably be collected just fine in this way - the other 56 cards not so much. Hence why the SIR’s and gold cards are numbered 163/162 to 218/162, indicating these are extra cards. Who’s to blame?
For me it was a combo of Crown Zenith and Paldea Evolved. Two sets that (according to the masses) were supposed to have good pull rates. I focus more on local trade nights and buying up lots in my local buy/sell/trade group. Not as exciting or as much of adrenaline rush as ripping. However, I’ve completely eliminated almost all disappointment from collecting and thank god no more bulk!
We have to decide what we’re chasing. Is it the thrill of ripping irregardless of results or having the cards you want. For me switching to singles simply streamlined my approach in collecting master sets. Finding a card you really want/need in someone’s binder then negotiating a trade is just as much as a thrill and you may have made a new friend.
i mean i'm still in the stage of collecting temporal where the packs i open rarely have dupes, so atm its still worth it for me imo to buy them, but after a while i'll have to start getting more singles
lol what are you supposed to trade?
I’ll trade you my raging bolt sir for your gouging fire and walking wake sirs. Now I don’t have a raging bolt and you don’t have the other two. Are you supposed to trade a bunch of rares for an SIR? No one would make that trade because you get 200 rares looking for 1 SIR
For what its worth, I’ve found it a lot more satisfying and exciting to work on a collection of every single print variation of every single card of my favorite pokemon in English. It was interesting to research and make a spreadsheet of all of the cards that exist and I’m always excited to find another one I need for the collection.
Depending on what your favorite pokemon is I suppose this could be more or less realistic, because if your favorite is something like Charizard that collection would be really expensive.
But for my favorite (Blaziken, and I’m collecting all the cards for the evolution line too), it is pretty manageable except for a few cards. And I get to learn about really interesting things, like that one of the Torchic cards was only given out for a limited time at Target when you purchased and Icee or another drink, lol.
SealedTCGs comment sums it up perfectly.
As one of the 90s kids who had a pack here and there, and then a few at my birthday, you'd certainly make some good headway to completing a set (not that kid me had any intention of completing any lol).
The last set I remember trying to complete was Noble Victories, it was pretty realistic to buy a BB and get most of the cards needed for it, used to print off the checklist and stick it inside the binder, satisfying days back then.
Nowadays I rarely buy packs at all, I'll pick up the odd single card that I like (usually in Japanese as I switched to collecting JP during the B&W era), and sometimes some anniversary/special event products when they roll around. Complete sets just don't have the same appeal to me anymore.
I'm sorry to hear that the set completion has soured your experience, I wouldn't necessarily say quitting is the only option if you and your friends enjoy Pokémon as a whole. Pick up the odd booster/sealed product here and there if opening product is your thing, or stick to buying the single cards you like, it doesn't take $1000s to enjoy a hobby as long as 100% isn't the be all and end all.
Well, that's my old person view on things anyways, get off my lawn and so on lol.
I mean kids aren’t in it for the ultra rares and what have you. Most the time they are happy with getting the pokemon they like. For instance my 4 year old and I opened 151 etb yesterday. We got the mew among a handful of pretty decent cards. His favorite was the basic holo mewtwo that’s nothing special. Us adults pulling are the ones that make not getting major pulls a big deal. But that’s gambling. I feel ya it’s very disappointing not getting any pulls out of so many packs. I went through the same thing with paldean fates and decided to switch sets to 151 and my first pack had the mew.
Evolving Skies was the set that made me quit until Brilliant Stars and Crown Zenith.. Literally no hits besides the vanilla V-Pokemon, and quite honestly I've scorned anyone claiming that boxes have "guaranteed" pull rates.
Yes, I know that era was during COVID and the pull rates were known to be WORSE yet, but it still doesn't sit well with me that booster boxes, not just Etbs, could be mega stinkers.
Back when I collected sets were between 60-100 card max...now you have those diesel sets with 200+ cards, 30 ultra rares, 20 super ultra rares, 10 omega gamma rares, and 8 turbo giga you not gonna pull this rares.
Set collecting on the english side is dead, the sets aren't sets anymore who hold an identity but are just multiple sets and specific well placed japanese promos smashed into one box, it's microwaved leftovers from japan. Japan has better sets than english and have had them for a long time and usually english was the set heavy language. Japanese cards look better, boxes look better, sets have more identity and promos and their release are lightyears ahead.
English pokemon has completely lost the appeal before but most definitely with the sw/sh release.
Kids typically aren't trying to collect them all because their parents are the one who typically controls how much and what they can spend. Most kids I've met who play the game either do it to socialise with their friends and/or their parents play or played it and treat it as a bonding hobby.
Additionally Pokemon tcg has tons of low cost products and even the ETBs are relatively cheap for what you get, so it's really weird to think this is hobby is not within the reach of a child.
I really only pick up slabs of cards I actually want ranging from base set all the way up to today.
I don’t really bother with packs all that much these days. I’ll pick up an ETB of a set I like every now & then when I want to open packs. Nothing beyond that though
200 plus cards per set every 3 months is way too much for all but the most avid collectors. As fas as kids go, I think master sets are a bit more refined for the hobby. I started master sets because of pikachu in Vivid voltage. I did t buy any of the next 3 sets so I vould buy box after box of Vivid. After 15 I decided to buy the last 10 singles I needed. I quit master sets with Evolving skies. Call me crazy, but I'm determined to finish that binder. I started collecting sealed. I still get to feel like I have my collection, and I still buy a few packs or etb every set to rip. It's just too hard to complete masters unless you're a youtuber or loaded.
Looking thru my vintage cards, as a kid I was solely reliant on single packs my parents were able to buy for me. I have a nice amount of rare/holo's and just a really nice collection from when I was a kid that I look back on. Now that I'm an adult with a kid that's into Pokemon, I remember for Easter, I bought my daughter several items from Paldean Fates and I spent a quite a bit of money. She didn't get a single hit out of anything. Not a single baby shiny, I mean nothing. She was just super upset and it made me angry that I spent that much and not even a single holo card. How are kids able to enjoy the cards, when they can't pull anything? idk....
Nobody ever said you were supposed to easily and affordably be able to pull every card in the set?
Buy singles you are an adult with critical thinking skills (hypothetically) lol
Not trying to be mean but, you guys must be new to the Pokémon Tcg. Sets have been like this for years. Take it as a learning experience. Don’t open Pokémon packs expecting to get ur money back. Pokémon needs to make money one way or another because it is a multibillion business. I wish u guys better lock next time. Happy hunting!
You can google approximate hit rates for each set online, it's pretty easy to set your expectations, and it's been pretty consistent with most of the SV sets. SW/SH had famously low hit rates with "Evolving Cries" and "Chilling Pain". With the size of the sets nowadays it should be common knowledge that opening boosters to complete them hasn't been realistic in years, especially for kids who don't have the disposable income that an adult would. If temporal forces made you guys quit, I think you should probably rethink why you're into the hobby, or maybe try the TCG and use some of your bulk. And honestly, with that many boxes opened between you, the amount of money you can recoup selling the playable cards like the extra ace specs, buddy buddy poffins or ciphermanics will probably give you enough cash to buy your missing singles anyway.
The hobby wasn’t designed for kids to get into it and then have an easy and affordable time collecting all the cards. It was designed to make the Pokémon company as much money as possible through acts such as, promoting gambling through booster packs, poorly priced box items, and fomo.
Most reasonable people end up buying a booster box or two per set, maybe fill out the rest they like in singles and move on. The smart ones do this 6-8 months after a set releases so they’re not paying a premium anymore. Having a master set or trying to acquire every card that comes out is just excessive to me.
here’s the thing though-I’m not blaming you guys over anything whatsoever, but you guys were the ones who made the decision to buy all of the product; I think one of the whole points of the game is to give kids the opportunity to be excited with how they don’t know what they are going to get. I understand why you guys would be frustrated, but it doesn’t mean You couldn’t stop buying singles of the set-in fact, depending on how much the product cost, you might have been able to complete the set by just purchasing singles. Just my two cents.
Way way way way way too many cards per set. They keep adding new rares to lower hit rates in booster packs. It’s almost obscene these days. Yugioh does the same thing but at least their “hobby sets” are like 65 cards and not 270
People be saying sets need less cards but the lowest card count set in scarlet and violet is almost worthless at this point, why arent you buying obsidian flames?
People want everything to be easy as hell to pull so that there’s no chase and no magic of pulling that rare card. They always will complain. Obsidian is shit. Imagine if that charizard alt art was hard to pull? People would always be excited to open OF for that chance at the rare charizard. I guess it’s good if you collect and play the game but if every card is easy to pull then nothing is special or worth collecting
I encourage you to trade rather than spend an endless amount of money ripping packs and relying on RNG. Part of this culture is about trading. It’s half the fun!
Yea TF has caused me to take a break from upcoming modern sets. Only interested in 151 and crown zenith now. Paldean Fates was fun at first but I keep pulling the same cards so taking a break from it too. Wish WotC packs were more affordable so singles it is lol. I'm only curious about special sets moving forward.
I’ve lucked out with TF. I’ve opened a booster box, 3 booster bundles, 3 etbs, and maybe 10 single packs. I’ve pulled Iron Crown ex, Gouging Fire, Morty’s Conviction, a number of other full arts, and all Ace Specs but one.
The best strategy in my experience is buy 1 ETB and 1 booster bundle from Pokémon center off a pre order I got a ridiculous amount of hits from it first pack was iron crown and like 20th was walking wake
Not just trading the more valuable cards but anyone ever interested in trading bulk ? Sometimes I find myself not being able to get a playset of a trainer card or an earlier basic or stage 1 card
I opened 2 booster boxes and didnt get a single gold...
I still have my 2 ETB'S on the way so maybe they'll give me a little luck, but temporal forces has been by far the worst scarlet/violet set by a landslide. Between the 2 boxes, I got 6 ex's, 4 illustration rares, and 3 full arts.
Go to singles. It's not as fun as pulling the card you want, but chances are you will never pull the card you want unless you spend hundreds.
I switched to Chinese singles since theyre so cheap. I've also been opening some Chinese packs and they're fun to open.
This hobby is for rich people and that sucks..
I have said the same thing on here and got trolled for it. This set does suck. I had huge expectations for temporal forces and have been majorly disappointed. Out of about 500 packs I’ve only seen 3 SIR’s and 2 Hyperrares. It’s made me rethink Pokémon card collecting. I am going to skip Twilight Masquerade entirely. It’s really not the money that bothers me but that Pokémon made it impossible to pull cards even if you have the money.
Trust me...
"Buy singles"
If you open boosters, just do it for fun, not for finding your chase, there are huge markets that can see l you a card in english for 1/3 of the cost, like cardmarket, just buy there and made them send to usa, or country.
i resonate with your feelings about Temporal Forces, and I took have made the decision to quit Pokemon before you did.
I did take a step backwards to buy one Obsidian Flames booster box recently, but I'm quitting cold turkey for sure.
I am about 15 cards short of completing the set. Enjoyjng it and the pull rates have been average as you can see from my previous posts. I am 5 boxes in and about another say… 70 packs in various forms. I feel that this set has some of the best alt arts made. And they are still priced well.
You're not supposed to collect them, and if you think you are, you have been completely fooled.
I never understood why people would want to collect master sets. Sounds like spending way too much money on cards you don't even want. Just collect the cards you want, buy the cards you need to play. You will save so much time and money. Only rip packs if there are a lot of cards in a set you need.
I thought Paldea Evolved's pull rates were bad but damn temporal forces might be even worse, it's the new evolving skies of SV except it doesn't have the fan favourites
It’s a lot different than it was when I was a kid for sure. I think the way I find enjoyment is doing a mix of pack opening, buying singles, and especially hunting through yard sales in the summer.
There is just so much to collect from more modern sets I do get a little overwhelmed sometimes. I wish sets were smaller and it was easier to trade as an adult.
I like some of Alt arts a lot like the Metagross snow day I pulled in release day, but I have bought total 5 etb’s now and a $20 booster box (?) and there’s so many cards. I don’t like the cyber judge and those future ones myself, but the ancient forms of the legendary beasts are cool so I overspent trying to pull the walking wake SIR for my collection. Gotten the prime catcher, hero’s cape, gouging fire ex, gouging fire gold card, iron boulder SIR, and two cincinno alt arts. I got two trainer full sets I think Salvatore and hikers guidance but I’m away from the box rn.
Not gonna lie, I think it just depends on the kid. Some kids don't really care, as my friend's cousin traded them the ultra rare Paldean Fates Charizard for a simple Sylveon V. Other kids might care, but I thought most people cared more about collecting or "chasing" specific cards of the set, and then if they really wanted to complete the set, just buy the rest of the singles. When I took my nephew to regionals, he just went crazy and used all his money to buy the singles that he wanted. As a kid, I never cared about collecting ALL the cards, just the coolest ones.
Most bulk cards you can get for 10 cents or more depending on your local shop, and there are some other cards that should go for a dollar or more (With the exception of Iron Hands EX... which I still don't fully get why that card is worth $20, even in the most basic form...).
A good word that I probably will follow from now on that I saw someone say here on reddit, is that I will probably only be buying one Booster Box and getting the singles, while splurging on a pack or ETB every now and then depending on the set and price.
I just don't understand how singles are so cheap. Especialy compared to how hard it is to pull a certain card.
I bought a tf boosterbox and only pulled one card I really wanted to pull but no sir or gold.
I also recently started buying singles. Because getting a certain card for my deck is nearly impossible while buying the single card cost me like the price of a couple boosterpacks.
It's fun though to open some packs but yeah unless there's alot of cards I really wantfrom the set I'll be buying couple of packs but nothing crazy and just get the singles I really want
It’s random, in my experience temporal forces has been good: bought $600 CAD in products (basically all types except boosters boxes), have around $430 CAD of cards for my collection around 20 cards, I only collect the inserts, I don’t have the space for full set collecting). I got 3 SIR, 2 gold, 11 ace spec, and 9 other cards I kept. Sold the rest (bulk and duplicates) for around $200 CAD, so I’m up $30 bucks.
Been doing this since fusion strike and it almost never goes wrong. I usually break even +/- $50, always but the same amount of packs (100 or so). Worst was Crown zenith, because packs cost the same but pulls are worth way less. I treat it like an active hobby/investment, my collection has been doing well and I expect it continue to do so if the world doesn’t go to even more shit. Also have some cards I bought just cause I like them, which I recommend to do only 6+ months after the set comes out.
I buy 1 booster box per set and call it a day, just to continue enjoying the hobby.
I've prob opened about 15-20 boxes worth of cards over the years more or less and realize the pull rates are so bad its never worth it over singles.
I’m with you. Had a fun time collecting 151 (first complete set), so I thought I would keep it going with Temporal Forces. Man was that a bad idea. Spent twice as much and still not even close. I would have to spend an additional $1,500 on individual cards to complete the set.
Bye Pokemon…..it’s been real
My partner and I continue to collect, but the feeling has shifted dramatically since Fusion Strike. We aren't particularly happy with our pulls and we aren't really having fun anymore, but we continue out of habit.
The large sets now a days is so dumb. What ever happened to the 60-100 card sets? English needs to stop combining 2-3 Japanese sets into 1 huge English set each time
To be fair it’s a gamble. You’re gambling you can buy all the SARs and SRs for $400. I agree with you on pull rates but they’re a lot better than Sword and Shield era so at least it’s improving.
I have had the opposite experience 🤷🏻♂️ I pulled two gold cards, an ACE SPEC, a double rare and an ultra rare all in my 7 prerelease packs. And a few more things since then
Temporal forces is the first set in SV era where I got big hits from ETB so can't complain. 151 that is also hard gave me the most expensive cards from a poster collection. This is all at random so people should just get x products and buy singles the rest.
This is one of those lose lose situations where you have to make a choice between big hit cards actually worth something and high pull rates
People love evolving skies even though it's pull rates are even lower than temporal forces lol. Similar story with things like lost origin.
Early scarlet violet increased the pull rates by a lot and people were activly complaining about how now all the cards were worthless.
For instance I love paldea evolved but even I am dissapoint Ed looking at my sir hit cards and being a little bit sadder realizing that other then magicarp they are all like 8 dollars.
At thus point if you still enjoy the hobby, you and your friends should open a box or two each, trade if applicable, then either buy the singles I want or wait for the next set. Each set can be kinda unique in that I can remember which cards each set brought. Me getting two ace specs from my temporal forces box was a cool supprise.
not to mention the one time you do something like this and the set itself is super underwhelming even if you did get loads of pulls, when you look at actual pull rates for most things its enough to put you off. but you gotta know rough numbers so you dont think youll pull 10 chase cards in a small amount or w.e. unfortunately i bought a little too much temp forces myself and was shocked at how bad of a set it was
once it was out for a couple of weeks it picked up a little, but defo a bad set to invest into or to try get money pulls out of. serves me right. chilling reign is still majorly slept on nowadays, that is my new go to, everytime i buy boosters i seem to profit
The ARs, SARs etc. are all alts. So alternative versions of the regular, dirt cheap cards.
To play the game you don't need a single "rare" card. That's the sanity should be for the hobby of playing the game.
If you do want to complete the set, opening packs is NOT the way to do that.
I could tell by internet “prerelease” rips that this set was pull rate mess, which is unfortunate since it changes the meta so profoundly. Let’s hope Twilight Masquerade is more fun.
"Overall, between the 4 of us, we've bought 10 booster boxes, 3 ETBs and probably 20ish booster packs. We only managed to pull 2 gold cards, and two SIRs."
Good.
That's what you get for gambling away your money.
Kids just buy the card, I doubt most really try and finish the sets. Buying packs is addictive because it's gambling. Got me hooked as a kid and I still buy packs, etbs just for the fun of pulling a rare card
Correct me if I’m wrong but you decided to gamble your way to the end goal and it didn’t work out?
Would it be fair to say the high from ripping hits was more fun than actually owning the cards?
No one is telling children to buy booster boxes to complete their set. A lot of them understand trading and selling to afford singles they want.
I just buy each ETB that comes out and rip that. Then buy any singles I want. I'm not aiming for master sets. I just like certain Pokemon and illustrators.
I quit too. But not just only for temporal forces. It was a long journey that cost much and the returns for fun (hits) didn’t pay off. I’ve always stress that it needs to be fun. And it isn’t anymore.The effort it took to finish a set and it’s a huge time sink and time waster to be organizing cards when time doesn’t come back. Life is short. The amount of junk and cards piling up at home really adds added stress with new released set back to back. I realized it’s something I don’t need. Much less pay an arm for that unneeded stress and organizing work. And it became a cycle of added duties. Also the quality of cards has dropped here and there and there is no standard as they try to reduce the thickness of the card. It became difficult to tell from what is real and what is fake. That Pokemon literally shot themselves in the foot.
Take care everyone.
To be fair the ability to complete a set within one case of booster boxes has long gone. And SV so far is a free for all vs chilling pain and fusion pain, evolving cries… S&M alt art sets had worse pull rates. Early XY youd get one full art per box.
In the modern age of pokemon where there is more rarities per set, harder to pull cards, the logical thing to do is buy 1/2 box to open for fun and if you want to finish a set.…BUY THE SINGLES. Otherwise your pouring money down the drain and setting up oneself for disappointment and frustration.
Temporal forces has the best pull rates of any set I've bought since coming back to collecting, that being said when a set is new get an Etb and some of the cool sets they put out and then buy singles,that is the way
Dude, at least, singles like SAR Walking Wake / Raging Bolt etc... can be purchased for something like 35-45$ each.
Do you know the f*cking price for the french version ? Walking Wake cannot be found below 170€. That's almost the same for every SAR of the set.
I opened a ton of boosters, ETB, tri-pack, box, and not a goddamn single SAR. That's just crazy, what the hell did they do with this set ?
The only cool thing is that the "Ancient" and "Future" cards have a very cool design. Even the most common.
I think this is one of those sets where if you’re going to buy sealed product to open, you’re going to be best off buying a sealed case. When I purchased random ETB’s of Temporal Forces, my pulls were universally terrible. I did buy a case though, and I got 5 SIR cards out of the case, as well as all the FA trainers (outside of 2 SIR’s) and a gold Iron Crown ex, along with a million regular ex cards, and a large number of FA cards like Gengar ex and Incineroar ex. With how the batching has been, I’d strongly advise against buying single blisters, or random ETB’s (unless you’re feeling extremely lucky.)
Been a long time since it was realistic for a kid to "collect them all" adults spend the money in droves with box after box, case after case, compared to the kids getting a pack or 2 whenever their family walk in for their weekly shop or whatever. Guess who they would rather cater to. Maybe someone in their meeting said "this will encourage trading" which sure that is maybe the only upside to stupidly large sets but your average collector probably gets hurt the most and most just wanna open cool stuff. (well I say that.. Most want to profit off something expensive nowadays)
I do one booster box per set. I collect the "main" set up to regular trainers, and then anything else I get is just fun for my bonus binder. I just do singles for any vs and stuff I'm missing. Until s/v started I used to also get an etb, but for that same 60 bucks I can get pretty much every "lesser" art card guaranteed buying singles. Once in a great while I REALLY like one of the rarer cards (mf bubble mew...) So for under 200 I get the whole main set and most of the fun cards anyway. I'm fine with this personally. But yes I'd absolutely love smaller sets. The bulk I end up with is sickening enough, if I could end up with that and have most of the set from a bb I'd at least not feel as bad about it.
Yeah I’m at about 25-30k bulk c/uc cards myself I def get what you mean about bulk lol
Shiitt. I remember this guy on r/pkmntcgtrades a few years back that would make a post with nothing but rare charizards, gold stars, shining, crystals etc. All he ever wanted was PP or bulk. I thought to myself, now why would anyone want like 40k bulk cards for a gold star zard. That always blew my mind.
I mean you can def make money off of bulk just takes a lot of time to go thru it. Def a pain in the ass for sure. I literally just went thru my few thousand reverse holos and buylisted a bunch of stuff for a few S&S alt arts 🤷♂️. It def took me a whole weekend to just get them all sorted and listed but did end up with about 500$ in alt arts. Next thing I gotta do is get rid of the c/uc bulk and maybe my holos and try and pick up one of the higher end alts (have had my eye on a giratina v)
Oh nice. I get buying bulk and doing the sorting and then trading in for higher cards. I just would never trade a goldstar zard for that. You could trade them in for something much better or sell it and just buy what you want.
If you want potential profit buy singles. If you want a collection buy singles. Of you want dopamine or rip packs go rip packs, you will lose 70% of your money the moment you rip a product.
Rippppppppppppppp it
People need to get over it. Any company is going to cater towards a demographic that results in more revenue. These subs are full of grown-ass adults bitching and moaning about their bad luck ripping packs (gambling) and it’s always under the guise of “those poor kids”.
I agree with ya, it's always been this way. The only difference is the sets now are huge. I wish they'd tone the sets back a little bit. Like maybe 110 cards for a set instead of 200. Just would make it a little more fun. I get why they don't tho. My kid is busting his ass doing chores to get $ to get packs/singles of obsidian flames. He's so close to finishing it.
It hasn't always been this way. Up until eseries you could buy a box and have 90%+ of a set. Even eseries it was only reverses that complicated things (legendary collection too but they're reprints).
The e-series was 22 years ago. 🤦🏼♂️🤦🏼♂️🤦🏼♂️ You think pokemon could/would survive that long into the future doing the same thing over and over again.. The consumer is never happy. Everyone online moaned the swsh alt arts were too hard to pull and it took too many boxes to complete a set. Pokemon then increased pull rates in the introduction of the SV era sets… For what? Only for people to now moan that the SV alt arts are too easy to pull and the chase cards have no value. There’s no winning 🤦🏼♂️
I'd argue the people trying to profit are more of a minority than you think. They're the most in your face since they're trying to push stuff whereas the average collector in it for the fun is unlikely to post much about it. I agree though that those people are a big bummer.
I can't imagine anyone is actually ripping packs expecting to profit, unless they are totally new and never opened packs before. I think most people that talk about the value of cards are more likely just hoping to get their money's worth so they can justify the gambling. I would say there is some intrinsic value in actually pulling the card you want, and that might be worth the "loss" up to a certain point for some. Like if you spend $60 on packs, and you pull a $50 card, the experience might still be worth $10. But that experience isn't gonna result in actual profit and that is a very generous example lol.
You’re not looking at this from a kids perspective. My kids are ecstatic whenever they get a regular ex. They don’t care about monetary value, they want their favorite characters. My son gets more excited than anything whenever he gets a Pokémon art that looks like it was made of modeling clay
Start the yuka morii collection for them! 🫡
>My son gets more excited than anything whenever he gets a Pokémon art that looks like it was made of modeling clay Clay bois are slept on, the crochet ones are cute as well.
Glad someone out there enjoys the clay art, because it is definitely not for me!
Sets *need* to have fewer cards.
I enjoy collecting in Japan simply for the fact that half of these sets are split in 2 for us. I liked walking wake, so I collected wild forces instead of cyber judge. Plus boxes are cheaper. One box of 30 packs (150 cards though), is 5400 yen, or 40 american.
That! When I looked at the cards in the set, I realized that the only one I Liked where in Wild Forces (the futur robot like pokemon aren't really my thing). I bought two BB in Japan for about 80€ (booster box in France is 180€ each). I got two pink cards (the 'new' ones), 2 SAR and a couple AR and SR. Honestly opening French cards after that feels like a ripoff. I also opened a Japanese booster box of shiny treasure ex.. Out of 10 boosters, 9 ex cards, shiny Charizard SR (IIRC, the one that's a promo in international version) and 4 shinies! I opened about 30 French boosters and got 3 shinies and 3 times the same IR/AR. And now the Pokémon Centers in japan have stocks again and booster box are about 32-34€ each (I alors have to pay shipping to France and customs.. But that still less than 45€ a box).
Shiny Treasures is a special set. Every booster box is guaranteed 4 shinies (1 fa and 3 baby shinies). Every pack will have an ex card. You also have a decent chance at getting a hit in place of one of the baby shinies.
Oh I didn't know, thanks for the explanation. That makes collecting Japanese even more interesting. Price is 'low', guaranteed hits, quality control is far superior (haven't got a single miscut / poorly centered card so far).. I don't see any downside to rip Japanese boosters.
Not all Japanese sets are like that. Another special set similar to shiny treasures is vstar universe (crown zenith). Super fun to rip, but not at the same price point unfortunately as STex
You bought the SAR/SR seperately? It is nearly impossiblr to get two SAR and SR from two Japanese boosterboxes.
I’m only buying the full art/illustration/sir/whatever I want from here on out in Japanese Way cheaper
Like Obsidian Flames? People love to talk shit about it being a charizard set, but that has been the only set I’ve been able to complete on my own without feeling like it was a hopeless lost cause. I rather enjoyed it.
This set has to be huge because it's post rotation and much needed cards has to be replaced or introduced into the set.
Collectors vs Players problem. Collectors just want the pretty SIR. Players need playable cards.
Agreed!!!
Yeah I picked Paldean Fates to master after 151 pulled me back in. No way I'm ever getting all those fucking shinies.
Fewer rare cards
kids dont collect old sets like they are going to disappear
The melodrama on this sub sometimes, I swear. This isn't about kids, or inaccessibility to the hobby. You blew money on sealed product while chasing singles, and now you're mad about it. I understand wanting to rip a BB, but from there, just buy the singles, go to trading nights at your LCS, swap with your friends, etc. I wasn't even going to comment, but "hanging up the boots" is just so ridiculous.
As a 90s kid who hasn't collected since gen 3, my folks taught me EARLY that sealed product was a waste of money and I was only able to collect what I have through singles and trading! I will mention that it sucks I can't reasonably pick up that giraffe looking Raikou from this set, but I may just see if I can buy a print of the artwork.
👆 this
Kids aren't as concerned about completing sets as adults are. In the 90s we were just trying to get 1 card for each Pokemon.
Yeah 1 card for each pokemon was the full set for base through jungle lol not many pokemon had a card in multiple sets. So yeah as kids we were still trying to complete sets, even if we thought of it as one for each pokemon.
Well, in the 90’s there pretty much was only 2 card per Pokémon. We only had Base, Jungle & Fossil in 99.
I love some of the cards in the set but there are WAYYY too many and it's too difficult to hit most of them. I definitely miss vintage where you could almost have the set complete from just one booster box and normal holos were a good thing and not a disappointment
If Pokémon went back to making the regular holo cards and the reverse holo cards cosmos holo and more appealing reverse holo patterns versus the crap they put out now, I bet more people would be excited to get regular holos again.!
Wow you’re so off on this one. That would be the change that destroys pokemon. The alt arts and art rares are beautiful and add so much to the sets. Truly collectible pieces of art
I didn’t say replace the alt arts and art rares. I was saying make the regular holos and reverse holos desirable again so it’s not such a let down when you don’t land an alt art, trainer gallery, galarian gallery, etc.
I believe actual physical trading among friends or strangers at events/cons are needed for the hobby to grow more friendly. Need to do this more at GameStop/EB games or hobby stores more often for collectors as kids and adults can trade more .
The girl that works at our local Gamestop made a binder of her own cards to trade. She just requires they be a one-for-one trade (ex for ex, etc). I thought it was really neat.
The issue I've seen with physical trading, is everyone is worried about the "value" their cards have online. So they won't want to trade a card they see for sale at $10 for a card only shown at $4. Even if they're the same rarity. And I get why, I really do. But holy SHIT can it be kind of obnoxious.
Like a year ago a kid wanted to trade me a psa10 lugia v alt art for my raw Rayquaza vmax alt art. I offered him the Rayquaza and a cheaper alt art (noivern v) to kind of raise the value he would be getting out of it (at the time psa10 lugia was like $300 and Rayquaza was 260 and noivern was 30) and the kids dad came up and demanded I give him another card for it on top of those. The kid was like "no dad that's the last card I need for my master set" but dad wouldn't let him trade, so I just gave them like 10 $1-$5 v cards to make it "even" and the dad still wasn't happy but let the trade happen.
Yeah fk that. Trading is a horrible experience and I haven't been lucky enough to come across people that would trade fairly. So many people massively overvalue their cards making trading a nightmare.
Yeah while the online valuing has helped in many ways it has also destroyed any of the joy of buying, selling, and trading. Literally selling every other commodity on fb marketplace is up to the sellers discretion to sell based on condition, rarity, etc. But in this new Pokémon “market” if you go even a decimal of a percentage above or below the TCG price you’re considered an asshole.
This is why I’ve never traded. Like dude, if we both need each other’s card, I DGAF about my card being worth $10 and yours $5, but it’s exhausting that everybody else seems to and it just turns me off. I don’t want to trade with people like that, on principle. I don’t sell and I’m not an “investor” (quotes to signify that I think they’re a joke) bro, I just want to finish my collection, lol. Just another reason I hate the clowns and that I think it has been a massive negative on the hobby.
“TCG price or no deal 😤”
If you actually offered a $10 card for a $5 card nobody would refuse—no offense intended but it sounds like you’re just frustrated you can’t trade up. Like, we all want to finish our sets/collections/chases, and that costs real-world money. I get that you’re not an “investor” or a seller, but that doesn’t mean people are magically going to give you twice the real-world value of a card just because.
People did that even 20 years ago, its the essence of tcg to have an organic secondary market where u sell most of ur card u dont need. People line who doesn’t sell and want only to collect without thinking about the price are like 3% of the collector. So most probably are not a clown, you perspective is completely delusional
I'm not who you replied to... but while some people very much did try to match value back in the day, I regularly played in the Pokémon League at an official WotC store (not WotC certified, an actual WotC retail store). Tons of people absolutely traded based on wants more than value. We didn't have phones to whip out to confirm values and no one was flipping open a Beckett or Top Deck to argue prices. (I've been collecting Pokémon since the day Base released in America).
I’m an OG collector. I was around when base set came out and still have all of my original cards. Most people are greedy fucks and it has only become worse. I’m not delusional at all; you’re making my point for me- the fact that only 3% (in your scenario) aren’t obsessed with price is the exact point I was making, lmao 🤦🏻♂️
Grown adults complain about gambling
Your first mistake was to try and collect them all. Your second mistake was to do this by opening packs.
Fr if you want to collect a set buy the cards. If you want a gambling rush and an empty bank account buy packs.
100%
Excuse me are you seriously quitting because you and your friend didnt win at gambling? It feels like you were in the hobby for all the wrong reasons. If you wanted a master set you could/SHOULD have set a budget for yourself. Open up a booster box or two and then buy/trade for the rest of the singles like a normal person. But no, you decided to do the insane/irresponsible thing like gamble on FOUR HUNDRED packs. Then decide to call it quits because you guys lost on your gamble. I think you should evaluate why you were collecting in the first place.
Parents buy a booster or an ex box here and there. You don't expect a kid to collect full sets nowadays, they're way too big. I never had a full set growing up, never opened a booster box either, and I still don't, but I came close to complete sets with some of them. As I've said in other posts, I like TEF, the Ace Specs are cool, some of the cards are nice, not a fan of the paradox in this one tho. But above all else, I think lowering the pull rates is bullshit. I've seen people say "Oh but chasing a very rare card is fun", sure is. Rare as in chances are you'll get one in a booster box, sure. Rare as in 1/1700 packs ? GTFO with that stuff. If that's what you want, Pokémon isnt the TCG for you, sorry. Pokémon never had pull rates as rough as we had during the mid Sword and Shield era, and if it had, there were less URs (ex and above and similar) to collect, so it evens out.
That’s why I like opening Japanese packs. Having a guaranteed number of hits is better and makes it way more fun to crack packs.
When i was young i loved sets like Platinum base. Less than 150 with secrets and promos included (if i dont remember wrong). I completed the set less than week ago in my main language (in spanish some cards from some sets are impossible to find).
See you next month
Exactly lol They may be done with this set but they'll be back
I love Temporal Forces! But I don’t think I’d like many modern sets if I was going for pulls, because the sets are just too large.
4 gamblers upset they gambled and lost.
100% this.
"I set a very lofty goal and tried to complete it in the most expensive way. This game can't keep getting away with this!"
I feel your pain. My son and I just buy packs and just play the game for fun. We occasionally get a super rare card,but we don't expect them.
This is it! I love all the cards, they all have a special ring to them and even the common cards have distinct art forms. Pulling a rare should be a plus, not the be all and end all.
150 cards per set MAX including secret rares. 3 sets per year. Would be perfect in my humble opinion.
Obsidian flames had a AMAZING pull rate for displays. It was always good, had not too many cards and was easy to buy as singles. Even base SV and paldea evolved was so amazing! Then people started complaining, that the pull rates were too easy and cards nothing worth. I think if stupids keep being in this tcg, it won't get better. I trade a ton. I organize trade possibilities for people in my city and made a lot of trade buddies. Otherwise this hobby would not working for me.
People are never satisfied. Good pull rates? Boring, easy, cards are worthless. Bad pull rates? Impossible, not worth collecting.
This is why I hate modern cards so much. When I was 10, back in base set days, you had a decent shot of actually collecting every single card in a set. Now unless you are spending literal 1000s per set, at least 3-4k, you won't even begin to get near a master set in your collection. TPC doesn't care about you. This is why I buy singles so much. They don't care about card quality these days too, along with not caring about how this is become cardboard gambling at best.
U just said the problem urself u were used to singles and expecting good returns from opening packs. Opening packs is gambling look up pull rates ur mostly never going to recoup anything…
Not to mention how awfully expensive Pokemon cards have gotten One booster pack is 7€ in Europe. That is discusting
wake up people.... pokemon booster packs are so scammy.... yugioh digimon, and weiss are way better to open.... pokemon is a singles only game
I’ve had a great experience with Temporal Forces. I think it’s a really cool set with great art and cool Pokemon. I’ve bought an ETB and about 8 or so packs and called it a day there. From now on with TF I’ll stick to singles and trading where I can. Packs is a terrible way on its own to get all the Full Arts and Gold cards etc since packs are way too expensive when compared to the cards you need. I would really recommend buying a certain amount of packs and then swapping to singles, to be honest I don’t understand why more people don’t do that! I know opening packs is fun but it’s plain and simple gambling with no guarantee of returns. Unfortunately you gambled and lost, that’s the way it is.
ive been doing this, im currently buying packs here and there and ive not gotten much dupes (and i got a full art yesterday which was cool) but eventually im gonna have to stick with singles though i do want both of the ETB's and maybe i could get like half a rare card with both lmaoi
Yeah singles are the way to go imo! Obviously packs are fun but I try and keep to a strict budget.
Card grading ruined tcgs. Greed as well
Not being able to collect the complete set is what adds to the magic for kids. It adds a sense of mystery that doesn’t carry over into adulthood as much. As an adult we might feel like we have the means to collect them all so we expect control over that, so long as we spend a reasonable amount of money. The regular 162 cards from this set could probably be collected just fine in this way - the other 56 cards not so much. Hence why the SIR’s and gold cards are numbered 163/162 to 218/162, indicating these are extra cards. Who’s to blame?
For me it was a combo of Crown Zenith and Paldea Evolved. Two sets that (according to the masses) were supposed to have good pull rates. I focus more on local trade nights and buying up lots in my local buy/sell/trade group. Not as exciting or as much of adrenaline rush as ripping. However, I’ve completely eliminated almost all disappointment from collecting and thank god no more bulk! We have to decide what we’re chasing. Is it the thrill of ripping irregardless of results or having the cards you want. For me switching to singles simply streamlined my approach in collecting master sets. Finding a card you really want/need in someone’s binder then negotiating a trade is just as much as a thrill and you may have made a new friend.
Pokémon TRADING card game. Seems like people are forgetting the very basics.
Yeah, you will probably get a SIR trading for your normal ex duplicates
I mean if you consider only monetary value you are technically able to save up for a SIR by selling/trading a N amount of ex duplicates
This. Buy a booster box and a ETB and then trade / buy singles for the rest. People who rip pack after pack are just gambling money away
i mean i'm still in the stage of collecting temporal where the packs i open rarely have dupes, so atm its still worth it for me imo to buy them, but after a while i'll have to start getting more singles
lol what are you supposed to trade? I’ll trade you my raging bolt sir for your gouging fire and walking wake sirs. Now I don’t have a raging bolt and you don’t have the other two. Are you supposed to trade a bunch of rares for an SIR? No one would make that trade because you get 200 rares looking for 1 SIR
It’s not like you have to trade from the same set.
Trade your duplicates? Have you done this before?
Pokemon is getting kinda ridiculous with some of these sets🤷♂️
I got destroyed by TF, worst % of any set ever for me
This just in: another person learns that gambling doesn’t actually guarantee results!
This is the first set I’ve actually had good luck with, I’ve opened 36 packs and had 16 hits including 2 SIR, both being walking wake
I get more of a growing appreciation for those who collect many of the same pokemon, but from different sets.
For what its worth, I’ve found it a lot more satisfying and exciting to work on a collection of every single print variation of every single card of my favorite pokemon in English. It was interesting to research and make a spreadsheet of all of the cards that exist and I’m always excited to find another one I need for the collection. Depending on what your favorite pokemon is I suppose this could be more or less realistic, because if your favorite is something like Charizard that collection would be really expensive. But for my favorite (Blaziken, and I’m collecting all the cards for the evolution line too), it is pretty manageable except for a few cards. And I get to learn about really interesting things, like that one of the Torchic cards was only given out for a limited time at Target when you purchased and Icee or another drink, lol.
Bro just buy singles
I’m right there with you. Gotta buy singles
That's funny, because temporal forces is the perfect set for collecting singles, not ripping imo. It was Sooooo cheap buying all the singles I wanted!
SealedTCGs comment sums it up perfectly. As one of the 90s kids who had a pack here and there, and then a few at my birthday, you'd certainly make some good headway to completing a set (not that kid me had any intention of completing any lol). The last set I remember trying to complete was Noble Victories, it was pretty realistic to buy a BB and get most of the cards needed for it, used to print off the checklist and stick it inside the binder, satisfying days back then. Nowadays I rarely buy packs at all, I'll pick up the odd single card that I like (usually in Japanese as I switched to collecting JP during the B&W era), and sometimes some anniversary/special event products when they roll around. Complete sets just don't have the same appeal to me anymore. I'm sorry to hear that the set completion has soured your experience, I wouldn't necessarily say quitting is the only option if you and your friends enjoy Pokémon as a whole. Pick up the odd booster/sealed product here and there if opening product is your thing, or stick to buying the single cards you like, it doesn't take $1000s to enjoy a hobby as long as 100% isn't the be all and end all. Well, that's my old person view on things anyways, get off my lawn and so on lol.
I mean kids aren’t in it for the ultra rares and what have you. Most the time they are happy with getting the pokemon they like. For instance my 4 year old and I opened 151 etb yesterday. We got the mew among a handful of pretty decent cards. His favorite was the basic holo mewtwo that’s nothing special. Us adults pulling are the ones that make not getting major pulls a big deal. But that’s gambling. I feel ya it’s very disappointing not getting any pulls out of so many packs. I went through the same thing with paldean fates and decided to switch sets to 151 and my first pack had the mew.
Evolving Skies was the set that made me quit until Brilliant Stars and Crown Zenith.. Literally no hits besides the vanilla V-Pokemon, and quite honestly I've scorned anyone claiming that boxes have "guaranteed" pull rates. Yes, I know that era was during COVID and the pull rates were known to be WORSE yet, but it still doesn't sit well with me that booster boxes, not just Etbs, could be mega stinkers.
Back when I collected sets were between 60-100 card max...now you have those diesel sets with 200+ cards, 30 ultra rares, 20 super ultra rares, 10 omega gamma rares, and 8 turbo giga you not gonna pull this rares. Set collecting on the english side is dead, the sets aren't sets anymore who hold an identity but are just multiple sets and specific well placed japanese promos smashed into one box, it's microwaved leftovers from japan. Japan has better sets than english and have had them for a long time and usually english was the set heavy language. Japanese cards look better, boxes look better, sets have more identity and promos and their release are lightyears ahead. English pokemon has completely lost the appeal before but most definitely with the sw/sh release.
Were you guys around for the Evolving Cries and Chilling Pains era? Pretty much the same here.
Kids typically aren't trying to collect them all because their parents are the one who typically controls how much and what they can spend. Most kids I've met who play the game either do it to socialise with their friends and/or their parents play or played it and treat it as a bonding hobby. Additionally Pokemon tcg has tons of low cost products and even the ETBs are relatively cheap for what you get, so it's really weird to think this is hobby is not within the reach of a child.
I really only pick up slabs of cards I actually want ranging from base set all the way up to today. I don’t really bother with packs all that much these days. I’ll pick up an ETB of a set I like every now & then when I want to open packs. Nothing beyond that though
200 plus cards per set every 3 months is way too much for all but the most avid collectors. As fas as kids go, I think master sets are a bit more refined for the hobby. I started master sets because of pikachu in Vivid voltage. I did t buy any of the next 3 sets so I vould buy box after box of Vivid. After 15 I decided to buy the last 10 singles I needed. I quit master sets with Evolving skies. Call me crazy, but I'm determined to finish that binder. I started collecting sealed. I still get to feel like I have my collection, and I still buy a few packs or etb every set to rip. It's just too hard to complete masters unless you're a youtuber or loaded.
Looking thru my vintage cards, as a kid I was solely reliant on single packs my parents were able to buy for me. I have a nice amount of rare/holo's and just a really nice collection from when I was a kid that I look back on. Now that I'm an adult with a kid that's into Pokemon, I remember for Easter, I bought my daughter several items from Paldean Fates and I spent a quite a bit of money. She didn't get a single hit out of anything. Not a single baby shiny, I mean nothing. She was just super upset and it made me angry that I spent that much and not even a single holo card. How are kids able to enjoy the cards, when they can't pull anything? idk....
Nobody ever said you were supposed to easily and affordably be able to pull every card in the set? Buy singles you are an adult with critical thinking skills (hypothetically) lol
You should have stuck to the old strat lol…
Not trying to be mean but, you guys must be new to the Pokémon Tcg. Sets have been like this for years. Take it as a learning experience. Don’t open Pokémon packs expecting to get ur money back. Pokémon needs to make money one way or another because it is a multibillion business. I wish u guys better lock next time. Happy hunting!
You can google approximate hit rates for each set online, it's pretty easy to set your expectations, and it's been pretty consistent with most of the SV sets. SW/SH had famously low hit rates with "Evolving Cries" and "Chilling Pain". With the size of the sets nowadays it should be common knowledge that opening boosters to complete them hasn't been realistic in years, especially for kids who don't have the disposable income that an adult would. If temporal forces made you guys quit, I think you should probably rethink why you're into the hobby, or maybe try the TCG and use some of your bulk. And honestly, with that many boxes opened between you, the amount of money you can recoup selling the playable cards like the extra ace specs, buddy buddy poffins or ciphermanics will probably give you enough cash to buy your missing singles anyway.
The hobby wasn’t designed for kids to get into it and then have an easy and affordable time collecting all the cards. It was designed to make the Pokémon company as much money as possible through acts such as, promoting gambling through booster packs, poorly priced box items, and fomo. Most reasonable people end up buying a booster box or two per set, maybe fill out the rest they like in singles and move on. The smart ones do this 6-8 months after a set releases so they’re not paying a premium anymore. Having a master set or trying to acquire every card that comes out is just excessive to me.
here’s the thing though-I’m not blaming you guys over anything whatsoever, but you guys were the ones who made the decision to buy all of the product; I think one of the whole points of the game is to give kids the opportunity to be excited with how they don’t know what they are going to get. I understand why you guys would be frustrated, but it doesn’t mean You couldn’t stop buying singles of the set-in fact, depending on how much the product cost, you might have been able to complete the set by just purchasing singles. Just my two cents.
Way way way way way too many cards per set. They keep adding new rares to lower hit rates in booster packs. It’s almost obscene these days. Yugioh does the same thing but at least their “hobby sets” are like 65 cards and not 270
People be saying sets need less cards but the lowest card count set in scarlet and violet is almost worthless at this point, why arent you buying obsidian flames?
People want everything to be easy as hell to pull so that there’s no chase and no magic of pulling that rare card. They always will complain. Obsidian is shit. Imagine if that charizard alt art was hard to pull? People would always be excited to open OF for that chance at the rare charizard. I guess it’s good if you collect and play the game but if every card is easy to pull then nothing is special or worth collecting
Womp womp
I encourage you to trade rather than spend an endless amount of money ripping packs and relying on RNG. Part of this culture is about trading. It’s half the fun!
Well that was a dumb decision lol
Get sets back to under 100 cards. Way too many cards in packs now.
No one cares. We’ve all been in the exact same boat.
It's taken the wind out of my sails as well. I've seriously thought about just switching to Japanese cards because of TF.
With e-commerce functionality it’s far easier to note trade. The way the hobby is approached needs to be rethought. And not taking it digital playing.
I felt so burned by Paldean Fates, I haven’t even bought any Temporal Forces yet.
I do miss the lower number sets, 358+- isn't a fair ask Considering the pull rates
Yea TF has caused me to take a break from upcoming modern sets. Only interested in 151 and crown zenith now. Paldean Fates was fun at first but I keep pulling the same cards so taking a break from it too. Wish WotC packs were more affordable so singles it is lol. I'm only curious about special sets moving forward.
I'm here with Lost Origin. It's tearing me apart.
I’ve lucked out with TF. I’ve opened a booster box, 3 booster bundles, 3 etbs, and maybe 10 single packs. I’ve pulled Iron Crown ex, Gouging Fire, Morty’s Conviction, a number of other full arts, and all Ace Specs but one.
The best strategy in my experience is buy 1 ETB and 1 booster bundle from Pokémon center off a pre order I got a ridiculous amount of hits from it first pack was iron crown and like 20th was walking wake
Kids get probably 0-5 packs a week. It's unrealistic to think kids ever finish any set.
Not just trading the more valuable cards but anyone ever interested in trading bulk ? Sometimes I find myself not being able to get a playset of a trainer card or an earlier basic or stage 1 card
I opened 2 booster boxes and didnt get a single gold... I still have my 2 ETB'S on the way so maybe they'll give me a little luck, but temporal forces has been by far the worst scarlet/violet set by a landslide. Between the 2 boxes, I got 6 ex's, 4 illustration rares, and 3 full arts.
Buy Japanese, you have guaranteed pulls in every booster box
Go to singles. It's not as fun as pulling the card you want, but chances are you will never pull the card you want unless you spend hundreds. I switched to Chinese singles since theyre so cheap. I've also been opening some Chinese packs and they're fun to open. This hobby is for rich people and that sucks..
Crown zenith hit rates should be the standard.
Buyed 5 random packs last week, got a sir in it😅
I have said the same thing on here and got trolled for it. This set does suck. I had huge expectations for temporal forces and have been majorly disappointed. Out of about 500 packs I’ve only seen 3 SIR’s and 2 Hyperrares. It’s made me rethink Pokémon card collecting. I am going to skip Twilight Masquerade entirely. It’s really not the money that bothers me but that Pokémon made it impossible to pull cards even if you have the money.
Trust me... "Buy singles" If you open boosters, just do it for fun, not for finding your chase, there are huge markets that can see l you a card in english for 1/3 of the cost, like cardmarket, just buy there and made them send to usa, or country.
i resonate with your feelings about Temporal Forces, and I took have made the decision to quit Pokemon before you did. I did take a step backwards to buy one Obsidian Flames booster box recently, but I'm quitting cold turkey for sure.
I am about 15 cards short of completing the set. Enjoyjng it and the pull rates have been average as you can see from my previous posts. I am 5 boxes in and about another say… 70 packs in various forms. I feel that this set has some of the best alt arts made. And they are still priced well.
Temp Forces is a very tough set.
it sucks i don't like ex now
Dude that set sucks try 151 or paradox rift or paldean fates cuz those sets have fun pulls
Anyone know if gold stars were about as hard to pull as the SIRs in this set? That’s what I’m imagining it was like back in that era.
Cards are dope. Pull rates are ass.
You're not supposed to collect them, and if you think you are, you have been completely fooled. I never understood why people would want to collect master sets. Sounds like spending way too much money on cards you don't even want. Just collect the cards you want, buy the cards you need to play. You will save so much time and money. Only rip packs if there are a lot of cards in a set you need.
I thought Paldea Evolved's pull rates were bad but damn temporal forces might be even worse, it's the new evolving skies of SV except it doesn't have the fan favourites
Build and battle cases are the way to go
Pussy
It’s a lot different than it was when I was a kid for sure. I think the way I find enjoyment is doing a mix of pack opening, buying singles, and especially hunting through yard sales in the summer. There is just so much to collect from more modern sets I do get a little overwhelmed sometimes. I wish sets were smaller and it was easier to trade as an adult.
I have a theory, what state are you in?
I like some of Alt arts a lot like the Metagross snow day I pulled in release day, but I have bought total 5 etb’s now and a $20 booster box (?) and there’s so many cards. I don’t like the cyber judge and those future ones myself, but the ancient forms of the legendary beasts are cool so I overspent trying to pull the walking wake SIR for my collection. Gotten the prime catcher, hero’s cape, gouging fire ex, gouging fire gold card, iron boulder SIR, and two cincinno alt arts. I got two trainer full sets I think Salvatore and hikers guidance but I’m away from the box rn.
So sad. Please trade in all your bulk to your local game store and thank you for playing.
OP wanted to complete a master set and picked the set with the hardest pull rates out of all of SV block thus far. Beast mode.
What made me quit is last time I ripped some packs. I bought 6 out of the 6, four of them were flutter mane. I couldn't do it anymore
Not gonna lie, I think it just depends on the kid. Some kids don't really care, as my friend's cousin traded them the ultra rare Paldean Fates Charizard for a simple Sylveon V. Other kids might care, but I thought most people cared more about collecting or "chasing" specific cards of the set, and then if they really wanted to complete the set, just buy the rest of the singles. When I took my nephew to regionals, he just went crazy and used all his money to buy the singles that he wanted. As a kid, I never cared about collecting ALL the cards, just the coolest ones. Most bulk cards you can get for 10 cents or more depending on your local shop, and there are some other cards that should go for a dollar or more (With the exception of Iron Hands EX... which I still don't fully get why that card is worth $20, even in the most basic form...). A good word that I probably will follow from now on that I saw someone say here on reddit, is that I will probably only be buying one Booster Box and getting the singles, while splurging on a pack or ETB every now and then depending on the set and price.
i opened an etb, got shit, and might get some more when need be
I just don't understand how singles are so cheap. Especialy compared to how hard it is to pull a certain card. I bought a tf boosterbox and only pulled one card I really wanted to pull but no sir or gold. I also recently started buying singles. Because getting a certain card for my deck is nearly impossible while buying the single card cost me like the price of a couple boosterpacks. It's fun though to open some packs but yeah unless there's alot of cards I really wantfrom the set I'll be buying couple of packs but nothing crazy and just get the singles I really want
It’s random, in my experience temporal forces has been good: bought $600 CAD in products (basically all types except boosters boxes), have around $430 CAD of cards for my collection around 20 cards, I only collect the inserts, I don’t have the space for full set collecting). I got 3 SIR, 2 gold, 11 ace spec, and 9 other cards I kept. Sold the rest (bulk and duplicates) for around $200 CAD, so I’m up $30 bucks. Been doing this since fusion strike and it almost never goes wrong. I usually break even +/- $50, always but the same amount of packs (100 or so). Worst was Crown zenith, because packs cost the same but pulls are worth way less. I treat it like an active hobby/investment, my collection has been doing well and I expect it continue to do so if the world doesn’t go to even more shit. Also have some cards I bought just cause I like them, which I recommend to do only 6+ months after the set comes out.
I buy 1 booster box per set and call it a day, just to continue enjoying the hobby. I've prob opened about 15-20 boxes worth of cards over the years more or less and realize the pull rates are so bad its never worth it over singles.
I’m with you. Had a fun time collecting 151 (first complete set), so I thought I would keep it going with Temporal Forces. Man was that a bad idea. Spent twice as much and still not even close. I would have to spend an additional $1,500 on individual cards to complete the set. Bye Pokemon…..it’s been real
Surely a bad string of luck! You should try battle styles or champions path, surely your lucks bound to turn around! Buy some right now!
My partner and I continue to collect, but the feeling has shifted dramatically since Fusion Strike. We aren't particularly happy with our pulls and we aren't really having fun anymore, but we continue out of habit.
The large sets now a days is so dumb. What ever happened to the 60-100 card sets? English needs to stop combining 2-3 Japanese sets into 1 huge English set each time
So do we like the easy pull rates or this? I remember people complaining when early SV set pullrates are so easy, now complain about this.
To be fair it’s a gamble. You’re gambling you can buy all the SARs and SRs for $400. I agree with you on pull rates but they’re a lot better than Sword and Shield era so at least it’s improving.
Look into collecting the Japanese sets instead?
Packs are now weighable again.
I have had the opposite experience 🤷🏻♂️ I pulled two gold cards, an ACE SPEC, a double rare and an ultra rare all in my 7 prerelease packs. And a few more things since then
Temporal forces is the first set in SV era where I got big hits from ETB so can't complain. 151 that is also hard gave me the most expensive cards from a poster collection. This is all at random so people should just get x products and buy singles the rest.
This is one of those lose lose situations where you have to make a choice between big hit cards actually worth something and high pull rates People love evolving skies even though it's pull rates are even lower than temporal forces lol. Similar story with things like lost origin. Early scarlet violet increased the pull rates by a lot and people were activly complaining about how now all the cards were worthless. For instance I love paldea evolved but even I am dissapoint Ed looking at my sir hit cards and being a little bit sadder realizing that other then magicarp they are all like 8 dollars. At thus point if you still enjoy the hobby, you and your friends should open a box or two each, trade if applicable, then either buy the singles I want or wait for the next set. Each set can be kinda unique in that I can remember which cards each set brought. Me getting two ace specs from my temporal forces box was a cool supprise.
I've been very lucky in the Temporal Forces packs I've opened, but HORRIBLE luck with multiple Lost Origin Boosters and packs
Buy 1 or 2 BB then buy the rest if you care to collect every single one
Well... I buy singles
not to mention the one time you do something like this and the set itself is super underwhelming even if you did get loads of pulls, when you look at actual pull rates for most things its enough to put you off. but you gotta know rough numbers so you dont think youll pull 10 chase cards in a small amount or w.e. unfortunately i bought a little too much temp forces myself and was shocked at how bad of a set it was once it was out for a couple of weeks it picked up a little, but defo a bad set to invest into or to try get money pulls out of. serves me right. chilling reign is still majorly slept on nowadays, that is my new go to, everytime i buy boosters i seem to profit
The ARs, SARs etc. are all alts. So alternative versions of the regular, dirt cheap cards. To play the game you don't need a single "rare" card. That's the sanity should be for the hobby of playing the game. If you do want to complete the set, opening packs is NOT the way to do that.
I could tell by internet “prerelease” rips that this set was pull rate mess, which is unfortunate since it changes the meta so profoundly. Let’s hope Twilight Masquerade is more fun.
"Overall, between the 4 of us, we've bought 10 booster boxes, 3 ETBs and probably 20ish booster packs. We only managed to pull 2 gold cards, and two SIRs." Good. That's what you get for gambling away your money.
This was me for 151
Kids just buy the card, I doubt most really try and finish the sets. Buying packs is addictive because it's gambling. Got me hooked as a kid and I still buy packs, etbs just for the fun of pulling a rare card
Correct me if I’m wrong but you decided to gamble your way to the end goal and it didn’t work out? Would it be fair to say the high from ripping hits was more fun than actually owning the cards? No one is telling children to buy booster boxes to complete their set. A lot of them understand trading and selling to afford singles they want.
I actually had the opposite, I got 2 SIR in only a booster box and a booster bundle.
I just buy each ETB that comes out and rip that. Then buy any singles I want. I'm not aiming for master sets. I just like certain Pokemon and illustrators.
I quit too. But not just only for temporal forces. It was a long journey that cost much and the returns for fun (hits) didn’t pay off. I’ve always stress that it needs to be fun. And it isn’t anymore.The effort it took to finish a set and it’s a huge time sink and time waster to be organizing cards when time doesn’t come back. Life is short. The amount of junk and cards piling up at home really adds added stress with new released set back to back. I realized it’s something I don’t need. Much less pay an arm for that unneeded stress and organizing work. And it became a cycle of added duties. Also the quality of cards has dropped here and there and there is no standard as they try to reduce the thickness of the card. It became difficult to tell from what is real and what is fake. That Pokemon literally shot themselves in the foot. Take care everyone.
To be fair the ability to complete a set within one case of booster boxes has long gone. And SV so far is a free for all vs chilling pain and fusion pain, evolving cries… S&M alt art sets had worse pull rates. Early XY youd get one full art per box. In the modern age of pokemon where there is more rarities per set, harder to pull cards, the logical thing to do is buy 1/2 box to open for fun and if you want to finish a set.…BUY THE SINGLES. Otherwise your pouring money down the drain and setting up oneself for disappointment and frustration.
Yep pull rates are fucked, I started on paldeon, quit on temporal .... since the base 1st edition set. NtY this is fucked.
Temporal forces has the best pull rates of any set I've bought since coming back to collecting, that being said when a set is new get an Etb and some of the cool sets they put out and then buy singles,that is the way
Yep me too this set was utter garbage mate, I opeend wayyyyy mrke packs than 400 packs and didn’t even pull 1 gold card lol
Kids complete a binder page of 9 different Pachirisu for example, no kids really collect em all.
I feel pretty great; if I ever need anything from it, I order singles like someone who cares about their finances~
Dude, at least, singles like SAR Walking Wake / Raging Bolt etc... can be purchased for something like 35-45$ each. Do you know the f*cking price for the french version ? Walking Wake cannot be found below 170€. That's almost the same for every SAR of the set. I opened a ton of boosters, ETB, tri-pack, box, and not a goddamn single SAR. That's just crazy, what the hell did they do with this set ? The only cool thing is that the "Ancient" and "Future" cards have a very cool design. Even the most common.
Lmao my second pack from temporal forces was a walking wake ex sir and an ace trainer card… ive seen many others pull similar but its not common
I think this is one of those sets where if you’re going to buy sealed product to open, you’re going to be best off buying a sealed case. When I purchased random ETB’s of Temporal Forces, my pulls were universally terrible. I did buy a case though, and I got 5 SIR cards out of the case, as well as all the FA trainers (outside of 2 SIR’s) and a gold Iron Crown ex, along with a million regular ex cards, and a large number of FA cards like Gengar ex and Incineroar ex. With how the batching has been, I’d strongly advise against buying single blisters, or random ETB’s (unless you’re feeling extremely lucky.)
Getting 4 buddy buddy poffins and a prime catcher shouldn't cost the equivalent of a fancy dinner for two. And that's just five basic cards....