I think the trading card collections may be on their way back...
Growing up I always loved collecting trading cards, a pack of cards was always a reward for doing well at school, at football, I even got them by the box for Christmas or birthday gifts to keep my collection growing. It all started with Pokemon & football cards growing up and it continued for many years. I even have all my old Shoot football books up in the loft, filled with some absolute legends of the English top flight, unfortunately I never kept hold of my Pokemon cards although I really wish I did as I had some brilliant cards. I did tend to stick to Pokemon or football cards however, I went through a Yu-Gi-Oh phase which started to take over for a while.
I soon grew out of the stage of asking for card packs as gifts and I was too grown up to get them as rewards so I stopped collecting any for a long time, there was no way I could keep up with it all and with other things taking over as a priority my money went elsewhere. Now though the hobby of collecting trading cards is on its way back with vengeance...
As a lot of you will know I am a huge women's football fan and I was lucky enough to get two boxes of Topps Chrome UWCL cards for my birthday. Well as soon as I opened the box I knew I was going to be in trouble as the cards are absolutely fantastic and I am loving being able to collect some of my all time favourite women's players. The love for these cards is unreal and since my birthday I have bought a box a month, granted at £25 a box they are pricey however, they are certainly worth it in my eyes and I don't see myself stopping the box a month tradition until the set is complete. There is no doubt though that as soon as that set is done more will be released so I am bound to be getting all women's football cards in the future.
Whilst I am planning on completing any women's football sets that are available in the future the opening of packs has got me looking at Pokemon cards once more and we all know what a slippery slope that can be. I am finding myself looking at different sets & TikToks and Instagram posts of Pokemon related things especially cards daily. I really do think it is time to relive my childhood and start to purchase those Pokemon cards once more...
The 151 set is out at the moment and that really would be a throwback to growing up & what got me into the franchise in the first place, there are also plenty of other sets currently out though that can get me back into building a collection up and hunting down some of my favourite Pokemon. The only thing that is holding me back at the moment is just how much the cards cost now, single packs can cost £4 and above, tins from £9.99 and those bigger sets I am looking at are over £40, it all just really starts to add up. It would definitely be nice to start picking them up once more though. I really do think an added reason for me wanting these again though is just how many I got from McDonald's when they recently had the cards in the Happy Meals.
The plan going forward as I try to budget money for jobs around the house, aka the boring things that come with being an adult, I will be budgeting monthly for a pack of UWCL cards and a Pokemon set each month which set I get though will depend on the month available and also what jumps out at me the most. I will also be throwing in some budget for binders and other accessories that come part and parcel of collecting trading cards once more. If I am going to start collecting them I might as well start doing it properly and take care of them seen as I am spending plenty of money on them, plus it will keep them out of the dog & nephews reach.
I guess one positive from getting into collecting the trading cards again will be that I can create content based around collecting them so as I start buying packs keep an eye on both Instagram and TikTok as I will be posting hauls, pack openings etc on there. This is actually something I am looking forward to as I had got a bit bored with social media recently so this gives me the perfect opportunity to try something new and get back to posting regularly again.
For now though it is time to sit down and recalculate the budget to allow for the cards and extras. I might end up regretting this as I see the money leaving my bank account but the trading card love is well and truly back and I can't wait to see what cards I end up with in my collection.
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