Whether through their visual appeal, rarity, or the fond memories attached to them, the cards carry a special meaning for Sison. What began as a popular trend from his childhood has become a familiar hobby that he hopes to continue and pass along to the next generation.

 

That Nostalgic Feeling

Sison’s return to Pokémon cards was a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic. He was serving in the U.S. Army and was stationed on Guam at the time. Looking to alleviate the tedium of home lockdowns, he decided to give card collecting another try.

The pastime stuck, and Sison’s been doing it ever since.

Part of what keeps Sison collecting is the feeling of returning to a simpler time. He remembers growing up in the Philippines and watching the Pokémon TV series, eagerly waiting for the next episode to air. If he missed an episode, he might not get another chance to watch it. Nowadays, streaming services make revisiting those memories easier, but collecting cards offers a tangible connection to the past.

“It’s just the nostalgia of it,” he shares. “It’s having a physical copy of that memory.”

 

A Collector’s Philosophy

Pokémon has been experiencing a recent resurgence in popularity, especially among Millennials like Sison who quite literally grew up with the franchise and now have the spending power to engage in an old hobby.

Although he considers market value and rarity when buying and keeping cards, Sison is often influenced by the artwork first.

“If I like the art, and I find a good price for it, I’ll get it,” Sison says.

That mindset also shapes his approach to what he does with his cards. Sison rarely sells them unless he wants to use the money to purchase a specific card he is more excited about. The distinction between collecting for fun and collecting purely for profit stems from his belief in investing in the things he actually likes.

“Even if the market crashed and all of a sudden nobody in the world wanted to buy the cards, I’d still keep them,” he professes.

 

Learning from the Highs and Lows

While Sison collects because he enjoys the cards themselves, he also has an appreciation for the technical side of the hobby.

He has learned about different card series, grading standards, and market prices through trial and error and some help from a fellow collector. Sison also uses an app on his phone to catalog his cards and monitor his collection’s estimated value, which he likens to the stock market.

Sison also gets cards professionally graded for their condition and authenticity. For instance, a Charizard card he recently sent in received a perfect 10 and is now worth several hundreds of dollars more than what he initially paid for it. Sison remains cautiously optimistic though, as he understands that grades and market values can change quickly, and collecting comes with risks.

One of his biggest lessons is learning to resist following short-lived trends. When friends acquired a particular Gengar card and he began constantly seeing it in online videos, he felt a strong sense of “FOMO,” or “Fear of Missing Out.” He ended up getting one himself but paid more than it was worth. The card’s market value later declined, but Sison does not regret owning it, as he still likes the artwork, and he has become better about not letting FOMO dictate his purchases.

 

Value Beyond Any Price Tag

Since moving back to Guam, Sison has come to appreciate the collecting community on island, which he describes as very close-knit.

“Everyone’s very helpful here,” he notes, in comparison to the collectors he’s met stateside. “And you can tell that the kids here do it for fun, not for the money.”

That spirit is something he hopes to model for his daughter and son, who already have their own Pokémon card collections. Sison’s collection is currently made up of around 25 graded cards and two large binders of ungraded cards, which he hopes to pass on to his kids in the future.

“I first saw Pokémon cards as something that I could easily collect and store, but then I saw them as an investment for my kids to have one day when they grow up,” Sison says.

But more than a kind of heirloom to leave behind, the cards have become a way for Sison to share a piece of his childhood and the excitement of collecting with his children.

“I think I was a very natural thing to share a hobby with them,” he says.

For Sison, he is reminded that his passion for Pokémon extends beyond how much they are worth. Ultimately, it comes from the artwork that catches his eye, the memories that are brought back, the thrill of owning rare pieces, and the bonds he builds with his loved ones.

And those are reasons enough to make a collection worth keeping.