36 Booster Pack Pokemon

[Jennifer Kovachick]

Ipurchased some booster packs of thr Paldea Evolved set today and I am scanning the QR codes to redeem but none of them are working. Usually, when I scan them it immediately comes up to collect but it just says "Code Invalid" after about 30 seconds. Can anyone help with this issue?

This is ridiculous. Literally the first time opening the game in months to redeem codes and it doesn't work. Rage inducing. Highest grossing franchise in the world and they can't even get their game to work correctly.

I'm having the same issue. I think the code redemption service is down. Doesn't even work via the website. Website says the following after trying for 2 minutes.: "The server was not able to validate your reCAPTCHA submission."

I assume many first-time Pokemon collectors/investors will be looking for answers to a lot of the same questions I was... so here's all the information I found condensed into 1 easy-to-consume piece of content.

noun

A box which usually contains 36 booster packs. They are designed to be put on display at brick-and-motor retailers so that people can buy individual booster packs from them. You can also buy them as a whole, sealed from the factory.

e.g. "I've been saving up to buy a whole booster box for myself."

acronym

"Trading Card Game"

There are a lot of products in the Pokemon franchise: video games, merchandise, cartoon series, among others... which mean sometimes it may be necessary to refer specifically to the trading card game, and sometimes you will see it abbreviated like this.

e.g. "We're talking about the Pokemon TCG, not the video game."

A card that is can be used in the official Pokemon Trading Card Game against very good players and actually be considered competitive. When it comes to playing the Pokemon TCG, most cards suck and will make you lose very quickly, a "playable" card is, as the name implies, actually worth playing with.

adjective

A card with a holographic effect on the main graphic of the card. Often times rare cards have standard and holo versions, or only reverse-holo and holo versions. Standard, reverse-holo and holo versions of the same card are exactly the same, with the only difference being whether or not and where the card has a holographic effect on it. Holo cards are usually harder to find and more sought-after.

adjective

A card with a holographic effect on everything except the main graphic of the card. Even common cards have regular and reverse-holo versions. The reverse-holo version is exactly the same as the regular one, except that it has the holographic effect on it. Just as with holo cards, reverse-holo card are usually harder to find and more sought after than standard cards (but not as sought after as holo cards).

But... based on historically data, just as with stocks and real estate, there is a "proof of concept" that Pokemon cards can be a good investment. That along with future outlooks and many other external factors strongly indicate to me that Pokemon cards will continue to be a good investment for at least the next 50 years.

Although you can't play with numbers as big as you can in stocks and real estate, the barrier to entry is tiny (even a 8-year-old kid can come up with the money to buy some under-valued Pokemon cards) and the potential for profit is huge? Cards have been known to double in value in the span of weeks.*

Only about 10% of the Pokemon franchise's revenue has come from its trading cards. The Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card game was released the same year as the Pokemon trading card game and has grossed roughly the same amount.

Since its origin in 1996, the Pokemon franchise has maintained a steady if not slowly growing popularity. It's had its "explosions" of attention with the releases of e.g. new video games (especially Pokemon GO in 2016), but has never severely declined in popularity.

This should give you a good idea of what any given card will sell for right now. Lesser-known cards may be hard to find data on, and in most (not all) cases, that means the card is not really worth anything substantial.

There is also an official online version of the game. As of writing this, it available for Windows, MacOS, and in the App Store and Play Store, but it cannot be played on smart phones (only on iPads and Android tablets).

A lot of the information on Pokemon cards has to do with The Pokemon Trading Card Game. The information includes: the types of attacks, abilities, defenses, hit points, ect. that the Pokemon have/can use during gameplay.

There are many different types of Pokemon cards, and their layouts/designs have changed throughout the years, plus their are also one-off and unique Pokemon cards that look completely different from regular cards, so there is no simple, definitive guide for the anatomy of a Pokemon card...

Just keep in mind that as you learn more about Pokemon cards, you will run into cards that look completely different from ones like this and that there is much more to a Pokemon card than just what is shown here.

If you want to learn more about the different type of cards and what everything on them means, I highly recommend you download and play the official Pokemon Trading Card Game Online, even if only for research purposes. Their tutorials very quickly teach you everything you need to know.

... that is, you could: but The Pokemon Company claims* to have solved the problem by placing 2 different types of code cards (cards that are basically useless for collectors and players, but can be redeemed in the online game) into booster packs. The different code cards weigh different amounts and are supposed to compensate for the weights of the other cards in the pack... and ideally: make every booster pack weigh the same amount.

The Pokemon Company claims* they solved the problem. But people on online forums, Reddit, etc. claim the system does not work very well, and the weight of booster packs can still tell you whether or not a good card is inside.

Plus, weighing is not some big secret. I literally just started learning about Pokemon cards and ran into the topic without knowing it existed many times. Therefore, anyone who has spent any amount of time researching Pokemon cards online should know that if you go to a store and see an open booster box, you should assume all the packs have been weighted and if you want to pull a good card, you should NOT buy any of those packs.

Plus, there's a solution that anyone can use: only buy sealed packages the contain at least 2 booster packs (but ideally much more)... it basically renders weighing worthless and guarantees you get a fair chance of pulling rare cards.

A graded card is a card that has been sent to a grading company, assigned a grade and sealed in a tamper-resistant plastic case. The grade reflects how good of a condition the card is in. Below is a picture of a perfect Charizard card graded a 10 by PSA.

Getting a card graded a 10 is notoriously hard to do. Just because you pull a card directly from a pristine booster pack, handle it gently, sleeve and protect it right away, pack it very well and with extreme care... doesn't mean it will be a grade 10.

This is not really a scam, but as mentioned in the section about weighing booster packs: buy individual booster packs at your own risk. You should assume they were weighed or measured in some way and that means there is a good chance there are no special cards in them.

If you buy what should be a brand new, unopened booster box but it isn't wrapped in clear plastic wrap, it should be a huge red flag. Somebody could have weighed all the packs, taken out the good ones and replaced them with other dud packs.

The safest way to get real cards, booster packs, booster boxes etc. from the latest sets is to buy directly from the official Pokemon store. If you don't live in the US, you will have to find a trusted reseller.

For individual cards and older booster packs and boxes, you will just have to gain a lot of experience and learn the nuances of real Pokemon products and then make educated purchases, ideally with a means of recourse if it turns out you were scammed (some kind of buyer protection program, etc).

So far I've spent about $400 on Pokemon cards, card sleeves, and card storage containers. I've purchased about 300 Pokemon cards, most of them are from the newest sets (in the Sword and Shield and Sun and Moon series). Most of them I pulled from booster packs.

The most expensive card I have in my possession is a 192/189 Eternatus VMAX secret rare, currently selling on ebay for around $30. It came out of a booster pack from a Darkness Ablaze Elite Trainer Box.

I'm looking forward to doing more research and buying some more specific, older cards that are graded 9 or 10 or getting them raw and grading them myself. I think that held for long enough, just about any Pokemon card will go up in value... but there is much more money in picking specific cards and reselling them on a high in the cycle of market price.

I'm Jacob! I'm the guy this website is named after. No wait... I'm just the guy who made this website. Anyway, I like sharing my wisdom and I'm documenting my life for historical accuracy (because I think I'm going to be rich and successful one day).

While playing in a large MTG Tournament in January 1999, representatives of Wizards of the Coast were demonstrating their new Pokemon Trading Card Game. I played the demo, and enjoyed it. The Base Set of Pokemon had just been released. My kids and I had been playing the Pokemon Red/Blue games on the old B&W GameBoys, so I picked up some booster packs to teach them a TCG. Booster packs sold for $3.29 each back then. And Booster Boxes of the Base Set retailed for about $118. The real Pokemon Craze started in the Spring/Summer of 1999, about 2-3 months later.

There were a lot of moms & dads playing in Pokemon Tournaments with their children in 1999/2000. Some parents would buy two boxes of Pokemon cards: One box of Pokemon cards to open with their kids; And another box stored away for a rainy day. Well, that rainy just might be here for them!

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