In our Collector Feature series, we highlight collectors of all kinds and share the stories, passion and advice that have shaped their collections.
For more from Felicia and her collection, follow @ProfessorFelicia on Rare Candy!
Fast Facts
Name: Felicia Franklin
Age: 33
Location: Ephrata, Pennsylvania
Collects: Pokémon Professor cards, sealed boosters, cards with stories
Crown Jewels: sealed booster packs from every set, sealed theme decks, picture signed by Veronica Taylor and Jason Paige, childhood cards and games
Currently Seeking: Plasma Freeze Professor Juniper (full art), Lost Thunder Professor Elm’s Lecture
“It sounds kind of nerdy, but when I was little I wanted to be a Pokémon Gym Leader and Professor,” begins collector Felicia Franklin from Ephrata, PA. “I wanted to be like Professor Oak and have my own laboratory and do research with Pokémon.”
As a child growing up in Pittsburgh, Felicia recalls trips to her local game store, Phantom of the Attic, in the now-abandoned Parkway Center Mall at the height of the early Pokémon craze. “I remember as a kid going there and grabbing my Base Set packs, Jungle, Fossil, everything there. And I just fell in love with the hobby.”
For Felicia, the TCG and Game Boy games were a place of calm in a turbulent childhood. “The games were an escape for me and what I was going through at the time,” she recalls. “Back in the day, I loved reading the rule book. We would play on my friend's porch and trade and use stuff from the theme decks with no sleeves or anything.”
A Collection Filled with Stories
Despite those early memories, Felicia unfortunately has very few of her original cards. “I actually had someone steal my collection when I was a kid,” she explains. ”They took my binder, so I had to start from scratch. The only thing I had was my little deck box, and I still have that with some cards I had in it.” Those last remaining cards—alongside her original Game Boy games and other childhood Pokémon memorabilia—make up some of the most treasured items in her collection.
Now, as an adult, she’s turned her collection more towards sealed products—including at least one pack of every set released from Base Set to current day! But more than that, Felicia realized that the same impulse that fueled her childhood dream of becoming a Pokémon professor also fostered a love for cards and sets that bring the Pokémon to life with stories.
“One thing I love about the trading card game is the art around it,” Felicia shares. “For me, regular cards are cool, but if there's a picture that's telling a story about that Pokémon, I dive back into my childhood and connect with it because there's a story behind the art.”
And when a story spans multiple cards, so much the better. “In Generations, Charmander, Charmeleon and Charizard follow the story of a kid. Charmander takes his glasses and runs away, then hanging out with Charmeleon up in a tree. And finally he’s out in the snow with Charizard as a grown adult.” She also recalls Ralts, Kirilia and Gardevoir from Scarlet & Violet, showing how the Pokémon evolves with a young girl as she moves into her new home, grows up to become a mother and then settles in as a grandmother, herself. “I love sentimental stuff like that,” Felicia explains.
That sense of narrative also extends to sets and theme decks—especially when gym leaders are involved. “My two favorite Pokémon sets are Gym Heroes and Gym Challenge, connecting to all the different gym leaders’ stories,” she shares. While an Electabuzz card is cool, the idea of Lt. Surge's Electabuzz suddenly opens up an entire world based on that specific Pokémon, its relationship to the gym leader and their world.
Felicia has also built a complete set of sealed themed decks, though the Vermillion City gym leader has always held a special place for her. “I've always loved Lieutenant surge,” Felicia explains. “He's kind of a jerk but soft at heart. He’s an army guy, and I work in the police field, so it’s the closest thing to a police officer—besides officer Jenny.”
And, of course, Felicia collects Pokémon Professor cards—staying true to that childhood dream. While she loves all of the Professors for their different passions and personalities, the original still stands the test of time. “I’m Gen One all the way, so I have to go with Professor Oak,” she shares. ”He helps everyone else out with their research and he created the Pokédex. Without that, you just wouldn't have all the info on all the Pokémon.”
Mastery Achieved
When it comes to stories, Felicia has a few of her own that particularly stand out, including a memorable trip to a Leonhart event in Dallas where she got to meet up with longtime friends who she knew from online communities. “I just feel like you bond so much over Pokémon. It’s such a common bond that we don’t even care about race, ethnicity, who’s gay, who’s straight. The community is just so accepting of different people.” But Felicia also got to meet Veronica Taylor, the English voice of Ash Ketchum from the anime series. ”I watched the series growing up, and I got her to sign a picture for me. And I told her, ‘Oh my god, it's been one of my bucket list items to meet you. You gave me inspiration—and I always wanted to be a Pokémon master,’” Felicia recounts. “And she whispered in my ear in Ash's voice: ‘Felicia, I think you are already a Pokémon master. You did it!’ And I was like, oh my god, okay. Let's let the waterworks flow.”
Hitmonchan, I Choose You!
For Felicia, at the end of the match only one Pokémon takes the gold: Hitmonchan, the punching Pokémon.
She recounts long nights foregoing sleep to play Pokémon by the light of a clip-on lamp next to her bed. “I remember when you go to the fighting dojo in Saffron City, you fight all the guys and then you can pick Hitmonchan or Hitmonlee. I always gravitated towards Hitmonchan because he has all his different punches: ice, thunder, fire.”
“Then I saw the tournament in the series,” she recalls of episode 29, The Punchy Pokémon. “Ever since then, I just fell in love with Hitmonchan.”
Ironically, though, Felicia herself identifies more closely with her favorite’s rival sparring partner. “I do Taekwondo, so I'm more of a Hitmonlee than a Hitmonchan because Taekwondo is more about kicking.”
Advice to Collectors
Like others, Felicia grounds her collecting wisdom in love: “Collect what you love and what means something to you. Money doesn’t buy happiness—and you can buy something that’s worth all this money, but if you're not going to get any joy out of it and you’re just collecting it because it’s cool and it’s what's out there, it's not going to mean anything to you.” And in keeping with her love of stories, Felicia also offers a key piece of advice: ”Make memories with your collection,” she counsels, recounting a favorite trip to Japan with her wife where she opened a Fossil pack for her birthday. “Make memories that’ll last you a lifetime and that you can share.”
