The Peaks and Valleys of Collecting
How Pokemon and my 5-Year-Old Son Pulled Me Up
Peaks and valleys.
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That’s often how I describe my card collecting journey. There are times where I’m on top of the highest summit, collecting in all my glory. Other times where I delete my eBay notifications without a second thought.
I eventually climb out of whenever I’m in a valley. I love cards too much.
My latest assist came from my 5-year-old son. That little guy has watched Dan and I open packs of cards, has learned all of the baseball teams and logos, and has fun calling dibbs on certain players (Buster Posey is all his!).
But it wasn’t his cuteness in calling the Royals hometown Candy City that pulled me out, but it’s the way he has fallen in love with Pokémon cards. We watched a random episode on Netflix and the Detective Pikachu movie. He got to know the Pokémon characters. Then I bought him a pack … then another one … then a booster box.
He goes crazy for his favorite characters. His favorite Pokémon really depends on his mood, but he loves Pikachu and Eevee, and went nuts for Pumpkaboo and Litleo from the recent Evolving Skies release. We also have a running joke with a Diglet stuffie just popping up around the house – our version of Elf on the Shelf.
Now, he’s started watching (supervised) breaks on YouTube (Thanks Breaking Nate!).
We have a certified collector on our hands. He puts his Evolving Skies cards in a binder. Whenever we pull a Full Art or Alternate Art card, his first response is “We need to put this in a sleeve.” I’m embarrassed to say his next line is, “Can we look this up on eBay?” He doesn’t realize why I look the card up on eBay. I’m just ensuring the card isn’t highly valuable before I give it back to him to do what you’re supposed to with Pokémon cards – play with them.
I wasn’t necessarily in a valley when he started his Pokémon collecting journey, but his love and joy for it is infectious. It’s a wonderful reminder as to why I started collecting cards as a kid myself – to pull my favorite players and stash them away in binders. I still collect cards, obviously, but my means of collecting are a bit different. I can buy individual cards that I want – and overpay. I look for individual cards more than sealed boxes, but I still enjoy the gambling of sealed wax.
My son just wants to have fun. And no matter how you collect, that’s what it’s all about.
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Fantastic read Sooz! Unfortunately, my better half and I never had our own kiddos but I've been lucky enough to share collecting with my nephew for a few years. (He's 18 now and too cool for cards but hoping he comes back around eventually.) The "Candy City" had me cracking up! If that was the actual name I think I may have to reconsider being a Yankee fan for the chance to root for the Candy City Royals! ;)