Guides
Guides
Collector essays for Pokémon cards and Pokémon GO — grading, storage, trading rules, and related hobby questions. Product how-tos live under /help. Rankings are crowdsourced comparisons, not dollar scrapes. Abstract proxies only.
Cards
- Pokémon card grading basics: raw vs graded, and what the grades mean — Raw vs graded Pokémon cards, what graders inspect, how to read a label, and when grading is not worth it — no price claims.
- Penny sleeves, toploaders, and binder pages: a storage guide — How to store Pokémon cards so they stay protected — penny sleeves, perfect fits, toploaders, binders, and boxes — without humidity percentages or invented binder myths.
- How modern Pokémon TCG sets and chase rarities work — What a Pokémon TCG expansion is, how rarity symbols and regulation marks work, why chase cards exist without quoting odds, and how to look up a set list.
- Spotting counterfeit Pokémon cards — An inspection walkthrough for telling real Pokémon TCG cards from fakes — light tests, print and finish checks, grader notes on altered cards, and when to walk away.
- Playable cards vs binder chase: rotation and Standard format — How Pokémon TCG Standard rotation works in 2026, what it does and does not do to a binder, and how playable list copies differ from binder chase.
GO
- Pokémon GO trading explained: friendship, special trades, Stardust — How Pokémon GO trading works — in-person requirements, special trades, what cannot be traded, Forever Friends remote trades, and a pre-trade checklist. No invented Stardust costs.
- Keep or trade? Map it to Train / Trade / Transfer — Stuck on shiny and lucky storage threads? Map keep-or-trade questions to Collectrio GO verbs and Dex / Raids / Trade bait lenses.
- Raids lens: Train priority without IV spreadsheets — Use Collectrio’s Raids lens for relative Train / Trade / Transfer invest priority among attackers — a complement to IV and DPS sheets, not a replacement.
Trading
- How to build a fair trade for Pokémon cards — How to trade Pokémon cards in person without getting burned — agree condition language first, check authenticity, separate desirability from price talk, handle uneven bulk sides, and keep event etiquette clean.
- Shipping Pokémon cards safely — How to mail Pokémon cards so they arrive undamaged — packing layers, envelope vs box choices, tracking and insurance without postage prices, and how to document receipt.
Methodology
- Why Collectrio is not a price list — Collectrio owns crowdsourced Sleeve / Swap / Store and Train / Trade / Transfer comparisons — not marketplace dollars.
- Collectrio crowd ranks vs dollar price guides — when to use each — Price guides answer what sold for dollars. Collectrio crowd ranks answer how collectors order keep-or-move priority. Use both without converting one into the other.
Calculator
- Lucky, shiny, and Needs XL: when GO modifiers change a package — How Plain, Lucky, and Needs XL adjust give/get comparison strength on Collectrio GO — plus when a shiny stays in the package versus Transfer.
Also
Help · How rankings work · Methodology · About · Terms · Cards calculator · GO calculator