Pokemon Booster\Blister Packs, Which is the best 'bang for the buck'?

[57oH]

Hello Everyone,

So my name is Pat, i'm 26 years old and I used to collect Pokemon way way back when base set was very new. I collected them for a few years and stopped buying packs and put my Trapper Keeper away when Fossil set was about 2-3 months old, if that helps at all with the timeline. Recently I was browsing YouTube and came across a Pokemon pack opening and it REALLY sparked up my interest in the TCG again. Unfortunately when I was looking for my blue Trapper Keeper from 1999 I could not find it for the life of me ( :( ). The only thing I could find at all was my set of 6-23k gold trading cards in the (blue) boxes...but no base set collection. So I decided the other night I was going to go out and buy a box of cards (Charizard EX w\the big EX card because he is my favorite Pokemon by far and always has been :) ) and start collecting them once again! There is ALOT more Pokemon than when I was originally collecting and the base set packs I was buying when I was a kid that went for about $3pc now go for $30+!...I should have been more wise and bought a couple booster boxes back then and hung onto them huh? Haha.

To get to the point though and not to bore you guys any longer, I would LOVE to know which packs are the best ones to buy just off the shelf from 'WalMart' or my local card shop? I am interested in collecting the rare cards and not so much in collecting ALL the Pokemon as I once was. I want to make up a binder of EX's, Full Art's, and nice Holo's. I am just so confused with how many different packs you can buy now-a-days that I don't want to just go out and buy pack's blindly and get the wrong ones. So, if anyone is willing to shed some light for an old Pokemon collector I would genuinely appreciate it. Thanks a bunch guys!

P.S.- I ordered a 'Mow Rotom' Holo from Amazon the other day and I am waiting for it to come in the mail but I was wondering on how rare that is also? I was only able to find ( at the time ) 1 or 2, if that on any site I looked for it. I am just wondering if it is as rare as I am thinking it is because it was not in stock at many places online that I checked. I didnt buy the card for my specualted rarity, I bought it because a flippin' Lawnmower Pokemon?! C'Mon...I had to have it! Haha. I am going to end up sendng some of my good cards to get graded once I collect enough to send away. Oh, for anyone interested in what I pulled from that Charizard EX box, besides the obvious Charizard card, I got a Skarmory EX Full Art - Raichu Holo - Slurpuff Rev.Holo - Herdier RevHolo - Pokemon Fan Club Rev.Holo - Ponyta Rev.Holo... I am also trying to trade all 6 of my 23k gold cards for a base set Charizard...I was never able to get my hands on one as a kid and I would really like one now, it will be sent away as one of the cards im sending to get graded as well if I do get one.

Thanks again guys for any answer to my question!!

 

[Tek]

The Red Genesect box is a fantastic buy for collectors or competitive players. I was also very happy with the Xerneas/Ylveltal Battle Arena deck, although it's geared much more towards competitive play than collecting. However, it does come with 12 foil energy, which I'm told are somewhat rare and sought after.

Certain packs and boxes have collectible pins or figures, if you're into that. The most recent ones are the Diancie EX box and the Primal Clash booster 4-pack.

As far as boosters go, I would check out the card listings for each set and see which one has the cards you like best. Also take note of cards per booster, of course.

Something to consider is that the newer cards are in high demand, since they're legal for standard tournament play. So for example, if you were to pull the new full-art Shaymin EX from the Roaring Skies expansion, you could pretty easily trade that for several older ultra-rares that have been rotated out of standard tournament format (and/or expanded format). The PokeGym Research Tower has a list of cards currently legal for tournament play.