Kyla Nocilla

Hello, my name is Kyla Nocilla, or if you are also a nerd mentally stuck in 2016, you may know me by my Pokémon GO trainer name “kylerjoseph” as I have an average daily screen time of 2 hours for this game alone. Meaning I am constantly online playing both with and against fellow Pokémon-enthusiast Dawgs. However, my interest in the franchise does not stop at online games and forums, I am also an avid collector of the Pokémon trading cards.

I have been collecting Pokémon cards on and off since elementary school, with the most recent wave of addiction starting early this past winter as the result of seasonal depression apathy and the boredom of quarantining coming together and forcing me back into old hobbies and interests. At the time of writing, I have accumulated nearly 6500 cards of all different eras, sets, rarity and languages. To put this in perspective, at the rough price of $5 per pack and a pack being 10 cards, I have spent nearly $2,600 on my collection, not including the multitude of plushies and figurines I own.

Now, I would be embarrassed or feel guilty about my questionable spending habits, BUT I have definitely made my money back as I own several mint condition cards that are steadily growing in value. These cards being a 1997 PSA 9 Japanese Dark Charizard ($350), a 1997 PSA 9 Japanese Dark Dragonite ($200) and a 1999 PSA 9 French base set Alakazam that is only 1 of 106 ever produced, which, as a result, goes for about $900 currently. And of course, I have dozens of cards that retail anywhere from $20-$50 that I pulled from basic packs you can get at any local Walmart or Target, but it's not nearly as impressive in my humble opinion.

I know my hobbies aren’t for everyone and a lot of people think it’s childish and/or a waste of time and money, but I don’t care. My collection and the act of collecting makes me incredibly happy and i'm not hurting anyone or anything, besides my bank account.