I've played pokemon for a vast majority of my life and hyperfixate on it almost way too much sometimes; though my partner says it's cute so it makes me feel less insecure. My first game was HeartGold which I got for my 7th birthday. I chose Cyndaquil as my starter and he's become a life long friend. I even got a lifesized one named Tye (same as my in game Typhlosion).
I have a few graded cards and only allow myself to keep as many as I can display in my Ikea Cabinet. Below are some of them:
TAG Pristine 991 Misty's Psyduck
Pulled March 20th 2025 | Graded April 14th 2025
This is my Misty's Psyduck I pulled from a Heatwave Arena box I preordered from Plaza Japan. I had pulled it from one of the first packs I opened and was shocked at how beautiful of a card it is. After opening the rest of the box I pregraded it to check if I could get an estimate grade and score. The centering I measured was 49.3/50.7, or a TAG Pristine. After sending it in, it came back as a 991 scored TAG Pristine. It is the first Misty's Psyduck graded by TAG and as of July 2025, the highest scored one as well. However all that is trumped by the fact that I had pulled it from a pack. I do love this card greatly and it's become a surprise addition to my collection that's very welcomed.
PSA 9 1st Edition Dark Espeon (Old Cert)
Bought May 1st 2025 | Obtained May 9th 2025
This Espeon was purchased off of a reputable seller and YouTuber. I had examined the card first as much as possible before buying it. This was actually the third one I had been looking at, however the previous two had been purchased before I bought them as I wanted to sit on it for a week before I purchased it. I didn't want to miss this one as it was the last one of its kind on eBay in it's grade. (When I say "Last of its kind", I mean that it is a very high quality PSA 9 with better than 52/48 centering and two small touches on the back side.) After a 5 or so days I bought it. It's my only old PSA Cert. I didn't expect there to be a difference but I found out that they used to have slightly different slabs which felt nice to hold. Someday when I'm ready I'll be sending it to TAG as I prefer their slabs.
TAG 888 Hisuan Zoroark VSTAR Alt Art
Bought Jan 12th 2025 | Obtained June 5th 2025
This may see like an oddity, not just because of its score but the card as well. Well, it was sold to me by a very friendly vendor at a local show who I later became friends with as a PSA 10. He offered it to me under market because I was a few dollars short of his asking price. I held onto this slab for about 6 or so months until I cracked it out of the slab and submitted it to TAG. I was a bit of a goof and forgot to check the back, where it had two scratches. Because of that it got an 8.5 or an 888 score. This card was special to me so I was upset when I saw the grade, but immediately became exstatic at how cool the score being 888 was. Regardless of the grade I would have kept this card due to it being in great condition and being such a wonderful card to stare at for a while. I'm not one to believe in Angel numbers but it is a very cool addition for a very cool card from a very cool person.
PSA 10 Shaymin Holo
Bought Jan 12th 2025
This is quite a funny card. I really love shaymin, especially the Sky-Form. I just so happen to find one of my favorite vendors with this slab for $35. They couldn't move it and no one was even looking at it. Of course I bought it. I now keep it at my desk at work and look at it daily. It had a gorgeous old-styled holofoil along with blue grass and a gorgeous dusk red sky.