Here is the truth. I have fallen right back into an old obsession, but the good news is that documenting this kind of chaos is exactly why this website exists.
You (or…I) cannot start a new hobby without building a massive conceptual project around it, and my latest victim is the Pokémon Trading Card Game.
I know that absolutely everyone and their mother is collecting these cards again right now. I have completely caved to the trend. It is just a really fun time to be involved with the franchise.
I played PokémonGO relentlessly when it first launched, dropped it for a long time, and then picked it back up recently while racking up miles on vacation. The app is ten years old now, the franchise itself is hitting thirty, and I practically grew up inside that universe.
I recently threw the original animated series on Netflix and realized I still know every single word of the songs. The first generation was my era, and I know those original 151 creatures inside and out.
Liquidating The Past To Fund The Future
Today there are well over a thousand different Pokémon. Even though I am actively playing PokémonGO again, I am still miles away from recognizing anything past the second generation. Pulling my old cards out of a drawer sparked a very specific itch to finally catch all 151 of the original lineup. I have already dumped an ungodly amount of hours into the switch games lately, but this specific project requires physical cardboard.
To make this happen, I needed a budget.
While digging through my old collection, I found my Magic: The Gathering Commander decks from 2017, specifically Feline Ferocity and Draconic Domination. I thought about it for a minute, but I know I am never going to actually play them again. Magic is a great game, but Pokémon simply holds the keys to my childhood nostalgia.
I figured out the logistics of selling on Cardmarket to fund this new obsession. It is definitely a manual grind, especially since private sellers cannot just copy and paste a bulk list of cards into the system. You have to enter them one by one. But the effort is worth it because the profits are directly financing my goal of building a living Pokédex. I am not restricting myself to a specific rarity, I just want the version of the card that looks the best to me and fits my budget.
Setting Boundaries With The German Constraint
Every second YouTuber has already done a retro collecting series, so I need to put my own creative spin on this. You might not know it, but my native language is German. Writing in English is a great way to reach a broader global audience, but I am keeping this specific Pokémon journey entirely in German.
There is a very deliberate reason for this. Setting strict boundaries actually makes the collecting process much easier. If I commit to only buying German cards, it completely eliminates the decision fatigue of choosing between different language prints on the secondary market. Plus, there is a distinct charm in randomly grabbing a booster pack at a local gas station or supermarket, which almost exclusively stock the German versions anyway. I might take my digital alter ego global eventually, but for now, I am honoring my childhood by keeping it localized.
DootCollect And The Psyduck Protocol
The creative engine behind this is my new Instagram account, DootCollect. The name comes from my old World of Warcraft days. I used to play an Affliction Warlock, and since the entire class revolves around applying damage-over-time (DoT) spells, calling myself “Dootcom” was a funny inside joke. I stuck with that naming convention for years, creating characters like Dootblock for my tank and Dootheal for my …healer. Applying that logic to this project made DootCollect the obvious choice.
I refuse to just post mindless pack-opening videos like a guy with too much disposable income. I want to actually treat this like a real adventure. I conceptually went to Professor Oak for a starter Pokémon, but since the franchise is booming, he was completely out of the classics.
Instead, he handed me a Psyduck. It is honestly the perfect partner for me, considering the poor guy is constantly plagued by headaches and migraines.
Psyduck and I are heading into the wild to catch or evolve all 151.
To make it interesting, I am using a modified version of the modern EXP Share mechanic. In the new games, catching a Pokémon gives experience to your entire party. I am applying that rule to my physical collection, meaning that every time I acquire a new card, my existing Pokémon gain experience and might eventually evolve. To take it a step further, my entire roster will also earn weekly experience points based strictly on my own physical activity and training routines in the real world.
The Mayhem Continues
I have no idea exactly how this is going to pan out. I am committing to this adventure until I have the entire first generation registered in my binder. I even plan on traveling to specific real-world locations where certain Pokémon might naturally spawn.
Psyduck and I are ready to blend a massive dose of nostalgia with a serious creative outlet. Head over to Instagram, look up DootCollect, and follow the journey to keep my motivation running high.
I will see you in the wild.
