Unless you'e been living under a rock for the past 12 moths or so, you'll have seen just how much of a revival Pokémon card collecting has seen.

We caught up with Manon, from @pokemon.collector.girl to find out more about her amazing collection of cards. Check out the interview below!

Hi Manon, thanks for chatting with us about your collection. We love all things Nostalgia here at World of Superheroes, looking at your Instagram you obviously love Pokémon new and old. Have you loved Pokémon since it first became popular in the 90’s?  

I was ten when the Pokémon TV series came out in the UK and soon became pretty obsessed like most of my friends, so naturally anything to do with the franchise – I wanted. I’d pester my parents for money to buy booster packs from our local newsagents every week. Collecting for me now is all about the nostalgia. 

It looks as though you have an impressive collection so far, is there one you’d love to get but haven’t found yet? 

There’s always something I add to my “wish list”. I’d love to get a Base Set booster box. But my holy grail item would be a Skyridge booster box. The box itself looks incredible, and as it’s the last Wizards of the Coast set, it would be amazing to have that to bookend the vintage era collection. They’re just so rare and incredibly expensive. 

The popularity of trading and even just the unboxing of cards on youtube has sky rocketed over the last decade. So you've been collecting cards for along time, what is your current total?  

I started at about 10 years old, when the craze kicked off but didn’t exactly look after those first cards very well. As I got older I appreciated the artwork even more and enjoyed filling in my binder to keep complete sets in good condition. To be completely honest I’ve lost count of the number of cards I have, possibly 10,000 and about 40 sealed items like booster boxes, sealed booster packs, tins and theme decks.  

That is impressive, I bet you're glad you looked after them now considering how much they're worth. We invest a lot and take pride in our Slabbed comics, do you only slab your favourite cards? To keep them safe or to trade?  

Up to now I’ve bought slabbed cards, mainly PSA. Grading is quite a big investment and can take quite a long time with the bigger companies. I’ve earmarked a few to send over to the US to grade at some point to keep my favourites safe, and potentially trade or sell some in the future. There are a few UK based graders coming out now which gives collectors over here more options. I’ve just recently dipped my toe in to grade a couple of cards from my collection with Treefrog Grading in the UK, it will be exciting to see what grades the cards I’ve pulled myself get!   

It sounds very similar to how we grade our comics, our grader can estimate but it's never official until its been graded by these official CGC companies that's why we have so many of our comics slabbed. We first saw you on your Instagram. Social media can be a curse and a blessing for others, has your Instagram followers encouraged you to expand your collection? 

My collecting has snowballed since I started my Instagram page @pokemon.collector.girl last December, just by being more involved in the Pokémon community. It’s allowed me to build great links with trusted sellers and like-minded collectors, so for me and my collection, it’s a blessing. Social media has its downsides, but I try not to focus too much on that.  

For traders it's a godsend for contacts and showing off your goods. Many online companies have flourished during the lockdowns. Despite the Pandemic have you carried on collecting and have you ever travelled to look for and find specific cards? 

I’ve taken my collection to another level during the pandemic. It was the catalyst to making some big booster box purchases like Base Set 2, Team Rocket, and Jungle. With such big purchases I like to see them in person before buying, just to be on the safe side. Luckily, I picked up the Team Rocket booster box from a seller who lived locally and went to Chester to pick the other two up, which isn’t too far from Leeds. Being in lockdown after lockdown was hard for everyone, so having my collection to focus on helped keep me sane, and happy. 

I think a lot of people dived into their work or started new hobbies to keep them going through the pandemic which have been a blessing for some. We had some Base Set packs available on the site earlier in the year which we sold to private buyers. Like I said we love our nostalgia and sci-fi. 

Thank you very much for chatting to us about your collection, good luck in the future and we hope you come to own the cards you're longing for!