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 PokiLegends and her collection, follow @PokiLegends on Rare Candy!
Fast Facts
Location: Montreal, Québec (Canada)
Collects: Waifu cards that depict strong, confident women; Eeveelution staff cards; tag team cards
Crown Jewels: Ultra Prism Lillie full-art [PSA 9], Plasma Blast Iris [PSA 8], Phantom Forces Gengar ex [PSA 9], Champion's Path Charizard [PSA 10], Eeveelution staff cards for Vaporeon, Glaceon and Leafeon
Currently Seeking: Team Rocket Returns Rocket's Snorlax ex, Rocket's Articuno ex & Rocket's Mewtwo ex; Skyridge Charizard; McDonald's 2002 Pokémon Promo E-Series holo set (in PSA 10 with swirls!)
“I travel like a madman,” Montreal-based collector and creator PokiLegends begins, diving into her extensive travel schedule. ”A lot of it is for work — but in the summers, I like to travel to the conventions. And now I've started doing media coverage for them. It's a lot of fun!”
With 2024 Pokémon Worlds happening this weekend in Honolulu, Hawai’i, we caught up with the globetrotter before her coverage begins!
The Journey Begins
PokiLegend's own journey with Pokémon started with the appearance of a rare English-language VHS that it made its way to her in the French-speaking part of Canada where she grew up. “I remember my best friend came over — her name was Liz — and she was like, ‘I have something that's going to change your world,” PokiLegends recalls, excitedly. “It was the first episode of Pokémon, and I freaked out. It was the best thing ever.”
While the seed was planted, it actually took a while before PokiLegends was able to dive in all the way. “At least in my part of Canada, Pokémon was super rare,” she explains. ”We had Magic and Neopets, but I wanted Pokémon and it was hard to find.” Years later, she and her brother got a green Game Boy Color and a copy of Pokémon Gold, but before they could have a chance to play it, their mom fell in love with the game first and finished it overnight!
“So my first game really started with the Nintendo 3DS,” she continues. ”I got Pearl, my brother got Diamond and my mom did not play it.”
Going Deeper and Getting Competitive
While many Pokémon enthusiasts experienced a drop-off during their teenage years, the reverse held true for PokiLegends: “I went hard the whole time. Actually, I went harder as an adult than I even went as a teenager.”
She began to really invest time and money into the hobby in 2015, a year before the Pokémon Go revival. “My friends wanted to check out a store — and I got sucked in. They didn’t, but I went deep,” she explains. ”I started to do tournaments competitively and went to all the Pokémon leagues, I went to Otaku cons, I met the voice actor for Ash. I was fan-girling hard.”
To PokiLegends, it’s important that people know she began not as a collector, but as a dedicated competitive player for over a year and a half. “Back then, deck construction was very different from what it is today,” she explains. “There were a lot of repetitive cards and you would play duplicates in the deck. Now, the best decks seem to be playing one of each card. It's a lot more complicated, at least for me, than it was in 2015. When the GX era started and they introduced tag teams and stuff like that, I stopped. The meta changed, and I needed to take a break.”
From that point, her relationship to the cards became more about collection, especially after diving in to learn about vintage sets and promos during the COVID-19 pandemic. But that competitive spirit still finds a digital outlet for PokiLegends. “The last deck I built was a Charizard deck to play online,” she shares. “I've just been competing with my followers, my friends and people online. People like to deck test with me.”
Finding Community at the Card Store
Across Instagram, X and TikTok, PokiLegends comes across as warm, enthusiastic and outgoing. But it wasn't always so easy for her to find her people. “I was always the geek who would spend most of my time in the library,” she shares. Throughout her Masters and PhD studies, cards were a way for her to connect with the people in her environment. “I would travel to a new place and the first thing I would do is find my card store,” she shares, reflecting on how she would take a 45-minute bus ride to get to a card store in Scotland during her doctoral studies.
”For me Pokémon was a way to connect wherever I was going. I was always traveling and meeting new people, and the TCG was a way of making friends. And it’s worked!” she explains. “You want to feel like you belong to something, you want to share the joy of playing the game. But just going to the card store and talking to people, everyone was always welcoming. It made me feel like I’m home.”
Inside PokiLegends’s Collection
“I'm a waifu collector, which means I collect girl cards,” PokiLegends explains. “For me, it’s about looking up to them. They're role models, in a way, for young women getting into the TCG — and I think it’s really empowering.”
She calls out strong, pivotal characters from Pokémon storylines like Lillie from Sun & Moon, Sinnoh champion Cynthia from Diamond & Pearl, dragon trainer Iris from Black & White — and of course, one of the most important women from all of Pokémon: “Growing up, I really looked up to Misty — and I think it’s the same thing now. I look at these characters and I see a lot of confidence and a lot of charisma and a lot joy.”
As a collector, PokiLegends also pays careful attention to quality and grading. “For me, a lot of the fun is trying to find a card in the best condition that I can and grading it. I get a bit of a thrill when something comes back a PSA 10 or a PSA 9 in the same way that people do when they open packs and find a card they were looking for.”
Among PokiLegends's graded crown jewels, there are a few cards that hold a special place in her heart. “I love the Phantom Forces Gengar from X and Y, the full-art with force perspective. X and Y also really hits for me because it’s when I started to play,” she shares. “I love my Lillies, I love my Iris — and my Charizard from Champions Path.”
As for her chase cards, there are two sets that feature high on the PokiLegends list. “I fell in love with Team Rocket Returns,” she shares, remembering back to her research on past sets in 2020. “The Snorlax, the Mewtwo and the Articuno are three of my grails.”
And the other cards on her list are much rarer to find — especially in the specific conditions PokiLegends wants. “I'm also after the 2002 Japanese promo McDonald's cards. From Larvitar eating a burger to Charmander and Squirtle, I need them all — and ideally in PSA 10 with swirls!”
Charizard, I Choose You!
When it comes to PokiLegends's favorite Pokémon, she puts her chips on one of the most iconic of the entire series, even if it’s brought her flack in the past. “Whoever I talk to always asks, ‘Really? Charizard's your favorite? Isn't that super generic?’ Everyone’s hating on Charizard all of a sudden and honestly, I don’t think it’s overrated,” she explains, adding, “If anything, Charizard is still underrated!”
Though while that's the case, she admits that, like many, it’s hard to choose just one favorite. “To be honest, my favorite Pokémon has always changed. In 2015 my favorite Pokémon was Pumpkaboo — and then it was Goomy,” she explains. “I still love them. I have the plushies, and I'm very picky with my plushies.”
Advice for Collectors
For folks new to the hobby, PokiLegends has advice for collectors — and for competitors. “Don't rush the hobby if you're collecting,” she shares. “Watch the market, sense what's going on and use your best judgement.”
However, she explains, “If you're playing, that's a whole other situation: buy because you need cards as the deck keeps changing.”
