Since you’ve likely started to change your decks to be stronger when playing, you may want to name or label your decks so you know exactly what each box contains. For example, you might put a piece of tape on a box and write on the tape, “Psychic Pokémon Deck. "
These trading card binders are often filled with plastic inserts which have pockets for your cards. You can buy inserts like this from your local board game/hobby store. You might also make use of tabs to help you easily navigate your binder. Binder tabs can be bought at most office supply stores. You can make your own simple tab by fastening a piece of tape to the front and back of your plastic insert, allowing some extra tape to stick out from your binder. Then write the heading on your tab, for example, you might write, “Type: Grass. "
If you purchase your card catalog secondhand, you should inspect it carefully. Many of these are old, and you might have to spend some time or money restoring it to hold your cards safely and securely.
If you have purchased cards from Pokémon International, or possess cards from this series, the set information will be located in lower right hand corner at the bottom of your card. These symbols can be small and easy to miss; look carefully!
You may need to use an online card directory to determine each cards position in a set. Many online set directories will first require you to choose the set category (like Base, Aquapolis, and Jungle) before linking you to the card number directory. The base set of the first cards released in English do not have a symbol. You may want to gather these cards together and arrange them according to HP (hit points) or alphabetic order.
Although promotional cards have no set number, you can still organize these according to card number or release date. You’ll have to look up this information online, as there are many promo cards, each with a different number and release date. [7] X Research source You should also keep an eye out for “black star promos. " These are extra special cards that are produced specifically for promotional events.
If you are using a binder, make sure the card slots are big enough for your Pokémon cards. Some card binders are intended for smaller cards, and trying to fit your Pokémon cards in these might cause your cards to bend or otherwise deform. When organizing your cards by set, trust the set symbols and number, even if the Pokémon on the card appears to be the same. Charizard from the Dragon Frontiers set and Charizard from the Power Keepers set have different numbers, pictures, and abilities. [8] X Research source [9] X Research source
While many Pokémon evolve, some do not. All single evolution Pokémon can be grouped together. [11] X Research source
Even if you divide your evolutions into like-type categories, it can still be difficult to easily find evolutions within the type grouping. To further organize your like-type sets, you might want to alphabetize all evolutions within like-type sets. [12] X Research source
For example, if you are using box-sleeves, you might keep all your fire evolutions together and label the box “Fire Types. " If you’ve chosen to use a binder, you can create section dividers to keep types separate with tabs. [13] X Research source
In the Pokémon TCG, you can sometimes find the national number in the information below the picture of the Pokémon card or in the bottom left hand corner of the card. Some cards will not have the national Pokédex number written. [15] X Research source
You should be aware that putting several cards in the same plastic pocket in your binder could cause damage to the card. If the condition of the card is important to you, you should never have more than one card per plastic card pocket in your binder. You may want to leave space in your container for cards that you know you are missing. This will make it easier to add any new cards that you get.
Organizing by type is one of the more popular ways to organize cards for active players of the Pokémon TCG. This is because you can easily search your collection for useful type combinations.
Symbols in the bottom right corner of the card will indicate its rarity. A circle represents common cards, diamond uncommon, and star rare. [23] X Research source
Even if you’re using box-sleeves, you may want to keep your rare cards on hand so you can show these off to friends and other collectors. To keep your rare cards visible, you could put your rare cards in a binder that has plastic inserts with pockets for your cards. To further protect rare cards, you might want to encase each in a special plastic card sleeve intended to keep rare cards pristine. These protectors will be 2. 5 in. by 3. 5 in. (64mm by 89mm) in size, and can be bought at your local hobby store.
