PokeCollection

13/01/2026

Yeah, so... About this Pokémon LEGO... 👀 What are your thoughts?

I mean, it was exciting, but then I didn't feel so enthused. This doesn't scream LEGO to me, even if it is. Maybe I'm out of touch, but I was keen on seeing more buildings, statement pie es and whatnot (and I get that there'll be more waves) but I couldn't care less about these.

And the pricing? Yikes. I know LEGO and licensing can be expenny but that's a big no from me.

Cool Kanto Badge Set though!

LEGO Pikachu, Eevee, Charizard, Blastoise, and Venusaur launch Feb 27 - but these are premium sets aimed at adults, so prepare your wallets.

13/01/2026

Pretty stoked today.

On the eve of my one year anniversary at JobCollection, I kicked off the new year receiving a major recognition, off the back of me wrapping up last year with a Heroes recognition.

My Head of Marketing officially credited me as what's internally known as an 'Outstanding Achiever' which is JobCollection's highest accolade.

I had only presented my 2026 strategy earlier in the day, and this came out of nowhere soon after. For them to do this when they don't give this kind of recognition out readily (and even requires peer review due to monetary and bonus compensation) is a bloody awesome feeling.

I hit my 1 year tomorrow and feel more valued than I've probably felt my entire career. Says a lot really. And whilst any job is not the be all end all, it certainly makes the work and effort all the more worthwhile.

Beats everything I've done before by far, and in many ways feels oh so satisfying every day.

Anyway, back to rebinding... and I'ma get back into filming this week too!

07/01/2026

Ohai there, Mega Starmie!
[Insert sound of French Starmie cry] 😏

07/01/2026

I've completed an entire row of binders up until Sun & Moon Base Set! I've rebound 18 sets or so over the past week, from BW: Dragons Exalted to present, not including the mini/holiday sets that I've done up to 151 in my grey binders.

Still a way to go until I catch up with the last set I have in a binder (Silver Tempest). It was around this time I decided to rebind everything, so from Crown Zenith/Scarlet & Violet onwards, I kept cards in their ETBs until I was ready to get to them to avoid having to double handle.

At this rate I may catch up to PERFECT ORDER if I'm lucky. 🤣

I say that now... but it's my last day off before I return to work so it may be down hill from here... 😅

07/01/2026

KiddoCollection scurried over earlier and wanted to see what I was up to! ☺️

07/01/2026

Going through older TCG expansions and rebinding them has reminded me just how much I managed to get through in terms of completion up until the end of the XY era. I totally forgot until I trawled through the sets again, and whilst there were a few secret rares/ultra rares, they were modest and a nice amount.

I've now moved onto the Sun & Moon era and immediately noticed a shift - and it comes down to the sheer, excessive size of the expansions brought on by the excessive amounts of secret rares (rainbow, golds, full arts, etc.)

There was once a time where expansion completion seemed attainable, but since Sun & Moon, the expansions have just become so large and ridiculous - and it's only gotten worse!

It's a shame really. I'll always whinge about it because it's hard enough to keep up as it is, but even if it wasn't about me - the sheer size is near impossible, and now with alternative versions of reverse holos as well (poke ball, master ball).

Weirdly I found myself at peace with the older sets. Now? Suddenly I'm feeling a little meh haha.

07/01/2026

Onto rebinding the last set of the XY era: Evolutions!

Somehow managed to blitz through over 10 sets in just a few days, and last year I did 0! 😅🤦🏽‍♂️

07/01/2026

That weird moment you're switching between TCG expansions when rebinding (so the whole unsleeving, re-sleeving and all) and you notice the aroma of the cards changing from Breakpoint to Fates Collide 🤔

Breakpoint had the typical Pokemon card smell of that era, but Fates Collide just smelled like regular cardboard.

*sniff*

Anyway, I reckon we need a Eu de TCG Parfum - who's with me? 🤣

I'll see myself out...

07/01/2026

I've taken a bit of a break over the past few weeks. The usual work shutdown period, where it was spent with family and just taking it easy, and this week it's an extended period of time for myself to catch up with admin, sort things out and gear up for another big year.

I decided to take a break from the content as well, as I only wish to record when I feel I'm into it, so I managed to find myself getting back into my rebinding project - I managed to bind a further 9 expansions in the past few days and now I'm really in the zone!

I'll be filming some more content soon, kicking off with a pretty awesome giveaway to start off the PokeCollection year with a bang, thanks to my friends at Mighty Ape Hobbies.

And with this year, I suppose I better get a move on setting up my new desktop computer and monitor! That's the other thing - I want to get this in a good place, so I can restart building on what I lost and bringing back videos a little more polish than the bare minimum haha.

Thanks for watching and commenting all the way through the holidays. I'm really looking forward to the year of PokeCollection content ahead.

What are you most keen to see me do this year? As per usual, there'll be loads of TCG, food and sips - and an eventual return to live streams - but anything in particular?

06/01/2026

Pretty major news coming out of New Zealand today, regarding the proposal to close all EB Games New Zealand (owned by GameStop) stores across the country.

This is a real shame for the local industry, given the waning presence of physical media as it is, but it also doesn't come as a surprise considering their pricing model in comparison to competitors.

What sucks in major part is not only the nostalgia of a specialised gaming and pop culture store, much like music stores of the past, but also the loss of so many jobs across the country. Whilst they're entering a proposal, this really is just a legal box-ticking exercise and rarely in consultation processes do companies - should feedback be received from their employees - make much of a difference, if at all. There's hope, but not a great deal of it.

It'll be interesting to see what happens to the TCG and gaming landscape here. In all honesty, I just see allocations being distributed over to the likes of Mighty Ape, JB Hi-Fi, The Warehouse and independents, but it'll be a shame to lose out on exclusively-stamped promos and the like. In fact, people are already trying to buy those up to make a quick buck or leave aside to accumulate value (sigh).

What are your thoughts on this?

Thinking of all EB Games NZ staff across the country today.

Under the proposal, all 38 New Zealand stores and the distribution centre would shut.

05/01/2026

Ohai 👋

Hw r u?