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 Jake and his collection, follow @MaxKing on Rare Candy!
Fact Facts
Name: Jake Forrest, but you may know him as Max King
Age: 33
Location: Stoke-on-Trent, England
Collects: Early nostalgic Pokémon TCG sets like Fossil and Gym Challenge, Legendary Collection reverse-holographic cards, other occasional Pokémon collectibles
Crown Jewels: Base Set Charizard and Blastoise; Legendary Collection reverse-holo Alakazam and Jolteon; Expedition Gengar, Dragonite and reverse-holo Mewtwo; Team Rocket Holo Dark Charizard, Wizards Black Star Promos Mewtwo; Japanese gold-star Holon Phantom Gyarados [PSA 7]; Japanese Challenge from the Darkness Sabrina’s Alakazam [PSA 10]; sealed first-edition Fossil booster pack; Game Boy Advance SP with Pokémon Yellow; sealed Blastoise bouncy ball.
Currently Seeking: Legendary Collection reverse-holo Charizard
The Journey Begins
For Jake, a self-proclaimed 90s baby, his first experience of Pokémon was like many others who experienced Poké-mania in its full original swing. “Here in the UK, one day the series was out on television. And then we went into school and saw other children with new Pokémon and had no idea what it was,“ he shares. “But before you knew it, every kid had a Pokémon card.”
The obsession quickly took hold, even though cards could sometimes be hard to come by. “I never grew up with the most money around me, so I could never have what all the other kids had. I got my cards in any way possible — quite literally any way possible,” he explains, keeping the details vague. But he adds, “As a kid, I was very Team Rocket, myself. I wasn’t the best of boys, if you know what I mean. So the Team Rocket set really stood with me. Now I’m Ash, but back then I would’ve been more Giovanni.”
And then, as the years went by and he started high school, things began to shift. “Having shiny pieces of cardboard wasn’t a cool thing when you’re 14 or 15. So by then I’d put them all away,” Jake recalls. However, he never fully let the flame die out. “I always loved playing the games and still secretly always played them,” he admits. And in fact, he still does. To this day, he shares, “If I'm not on Pokémon Go, I'm playing the Game Boy. If I'm not on the Game Boy, then I'm playing Pokémon Stadium.”
And while parts of the hobby faded into the background as Jake got older and went out into the world, things came back full-force about two years ago when Jake moved and re-discovered all of the Pokémon things that he’d stored away. “I pulled it all out and had a good look at what I had,” he shares. “Then I saw that these card shows were a big thing now. So I thought ‘Why not? I’ll just gather some of the best stuff and head off to one and see what happens.’”
For the Love of the Trade
Jake tagged along with a friend heading up to a Manchester card show thinking about what he’d be able to accomplish. And quickly, he discovered that his old childhood pastime of card trading was alive and thriving.
“I had a crown jewel, which was the Legendary Collection reverse-holo Charizard,” Jake shares. “I used that to begin trading. That was the card that got me into the door.” And while he’d done his research, he wasn’t sure what he’d be able to get. “When I first pulled the Charizard in 2002, there was a thing going around where people would print off a card and stick it onto another card. I showed it to a friend and he said ‘Give me the card. I’ll show you,’ and he tries to peel the card. We were just kids, so I didn’t know what it would be worth at the time,” he reflects, “but I was still ready to punch him in the face.”
But right out the gate, he went for the gold: “I traded that Charizard for a Moonbreon on a straight trade.” He held onto that Ace-graded Moonbreon for a while, contemplating if he should try to have it re-graded by PSA. But then just a few weeks ago, he stumbled upon two of his chase cards: a gold-star Holon Phantom Gyarados and Sabrina’s Alakazam from Challenge from the Darkness. “I figured I’d try to make the trade there,” he shares, “and I was successful, so it was happy days.”
And for Jake, that excitement is also a reminder of all the different ways to build and shape a collection, even if you don’t have cash to burn. “Trading is the main thing that I do at the moment,“ he explains. “I live alone and I pay all the bills and the rent. I don’t have much left to spend on Pokémon.”
Inside Jake’s Collection
In terms of the cards that shape Jake’s collection, he naturally gravitates towards “anything from the 90s” that taps into his childhood nostalgia. And to that end, he’s picked up a few key Base Set gems but he’s also been working on collecting the reverse-holo cards from the Legendary Collection, which reprinted the original Base Set, Jungle and Fossil expansions with some added twists that he enjoys. “The pattern of the holographic is like an explosion,” Jake shares of his love for the set’s unique reverse holos. “It was something new and something that’d never been done before — and I think they really stand out in comparison.”
So far, he’s managed to pick up the Alakazam and Jolteon cards from that series, and he’s chasing that reverse-holo Charizard card that started it all. (Though so far, his luck has been pretty hit-or-miss: “I did find one at the last card show I went to at the start of the month,” he explains, “but it was terrible condition, absolutely terrible condition.”)
Outside of the TCG, he also ranks among his crown jewels his Gameboy Advance SP (“I've spent so much time playing on that Game Boy I think it’s got to be considered as a gem”) and an old sealed Blastoise bouncy-ball.
Charizard and Mewtwo, I Choose You!
When it comes down to choosing his favorite Pokémon, Jake’s torn between two of the most iconic characters from the original 151: the flame Pokémon, Charizard, and Mewtwo, the genetic Pokémon.
“I think any 90s kid would pick one of the original three starters. And obviously mine would have been Charmander to evolve into Charizard,” Jake explains. And his loyalty there runs deep. “I never put the Game Boy down,” he says, laughing. “For the past 20 years, I've been playing with quite literally same old games: Red, Yellow, and Emerald.”
And though his ‘zard love runs deep, something shifted for Jake with the arrival of Pokémon: The First Movie. “After watching that movie and seeing the Mewtwo scenes with the whole Team Rocket vibe, Mewtwo became a favorite. I could never choose between the two — don’t ask me to!”
But interestingly, Jake also credits the film and Pokémon in general with another key impact: his love of animals. “If you love Pokémon, Pokémon are basically animals in the Pokémon world,” he explains. “If you see it that way, you start to love all animals as well.“
Galar Calling
As a collector based in the United Kingdom, Jake has some insights on what it means to be based in the land that inspired Galar.
Among his friend group, he shares, he’s really the only one who collects Pokémon cards, but he’s found a strong and passionate community at the card shows where “it’s always absolutely ram-packed with people”—and on Pokémon Go.
In fact, with the recent introduction of Galarian Pokémon to Pokémon Go, Jake’s taking full advantage of his home-turf advantage. “I caught Stonjourner the other day,” he shares nonchalantly, before explaining, “I went up to Stonehenge to find the Pokémon and catch it.”
Advice for Collectors
Looking back, Jake notes the impact that Pokémon’s had on him. “It’s mainly childhood memories. It's nostalgic,” he shares. “I've never stopped playing it. I've never stopped watching it. I've watched every episode of every series and every movie that's been out. So to be honest, it means the world to me.”
But for all that, his advice for new collectors is practical: “Store your cards properly. If you've got a child and that child is collecting, then store them properly for the child. Because obviously, in 20 years, when you pull out the cards that you just threw around in your bedroom, you end up kicking yourself because of it. And if there’s any doubt about how to store cards, Jake clarifies, “Straight sleeve and toploader, as it should be.”
