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Who are you ? And what do you do for a living ?Hello ! My name is Dominic Dearlove, I was born in 1996. I'm currently working as a technical writer and live in France. In my free time, I'm a Pokemon collector / nerd. I've been collecting lots of different Pokemon stuff seriously since February 2015.
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What's your collecting timeline, what did you start with, where are you now ?2015 : I started off with WotC era TCG sets. Later that year I started collecting all Nidoking, nidorino and male nidoran cards in every language / edition + all items. 2016-2020: Collecting and finishing more and more TCG sets. My Nidoking collection is very full. I discovered a lot of nice vintage Japanese items that I like, but I had to sell to financially be capable to afford the rest of the stuff for my collection. Also started collecting vintage bootleg TCG cards because they are funky. 2020-2024: I was finding less and less things to add to my Nidoking collection and TCG sets. Also I started earning money since I had finished my studies, that's I went crazyyyyyy into vintage pokemon items including stickers, postcards, rare pokemon center sets (Pokemon cooking club, Search for the red gyarados), magazines, stamps, coins, pokemon channel nice cards....
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When did you start collecting sticker sets ? and why ?I started collecting sticker sets in 2019, and opened up to all sticker sets I could get my hands on in 2020. When I started, I was already collecting all Nidoking, Nidorino and Nidoran stickers and selling all the other ones I didn't need to fund my collection as a student. I often regretted selling some stickers and other stuff that I found cool, but couldn't afford to keep. As I got my diploma and started working, my pokemon budget got way bigger, so in 2020 I was able to buy anything I wanted. What made me go so deep into collect misc. stuff included stickers is that I was fed up with collecting regular TCG sets. I felt trapped into TCG for a long time. As the prices for TCG from 2016 until now spiked, I felt like I was rushing and recklessly spending to try not to miss out on cards I was missing. Starting Early 2021 I decided to dedicate myself to misc. Pokemon stuff and set my TCG collection to the side, so I could collect stuff that I was really attracted to.
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Why did you start cataloguing the stickers from each set ?The complete set lists hardly even exist unfortunately (and those don't contain the promos etc.). You can find official lists on the back of the Japanese sticker albums (in japanese), they have never been translated and a lot of the sets don't even have official albums. So basically during my collecting, I created an Excel database with all the sets I started collecting over time and discovered 1 by 1 the missing stickers I found. I'm still discovering some stickers even today.
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What inspired you to create this website ?I've been collecting stickers and random sets of non-tcg pokemon stuff for a few years for my Nidoking collection and seriously during 2020. There's hardly any information on the internet about the basic stickers sets that exist, let alone information about some sets at all ! I've arrived at a point in my sticker collecting where I can actually build this website, so why not give back to the community ?
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How do you find all these stickers ?I find all my stickers online on random japanese websites. I import them using middleman or personal shoppers services online.
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How do you complete sticker sets ? in there a specific method ?I would say it's a bit different than collecting TCG sets, as the offer is really random. Here's my motto : Start big and finish small (don't go taking this out of context now...) Basically find huge lots of one specific set and start from there. If you plan on collecting multiple sets it will be easier, as huge sticker lots most of the time contains many different sets ! Unfortunately it will to a point where you'll stop finding new stickers that you're missing in the set/s. It's normal, once you get 90% of the set, the last 10% comes at random times with some luck and perseverance. (You might have to buy a pretty expensive lot just for ONE sticker if you're really determined).
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How do you store your Sticker collection ?I store my stickers in regular hard cover binders and I use this specific brand of Sticker pages : Hobby Base - 20 Pocket refill pages - Item Code : CAC-BDn82 (You can find those on Amazon.jp and many other websites worldwide. Price average : 5-6 bucks per 12 pages.) Update 2024 : Unfortunately that brand of 20 pocket pages has been discontinued. I wish to find another good japanese brand. However you can find some pretty good 20 pocket binder pages from a brand called BCW. I like to use binders that can be customized easily with pocket on the front. That way I can store random sticker sheets or empty booster packs.
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What scanner do you use ?I use a Epson Perfection V330 Photo. It does the job ! I'd also recommand any other Flatbed Epson Perfection scanners (V550 and V660 are great for PSA slabs by the way).
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Am I still looking for some stickers or have I completed all sticker sets ?Unfortunately there's probably over 7000 stickers to collect (excluding the pan sticker sets) I'm still missing quite a lot. Also some weird variants, first print runs and single stickers are hard to find sometimes. In the vintage sets I've completed most sets up until 2001 with a few exceptions in the topsuns sets and 2 stickers missing in the World hobby Fair part 3 set. For the Advanced generation sets i've completed all parts, except for the DX set where I'm missing only a dozen. In the DP era I'm missing about forty stickers to finish the DX set and the +1200 sticker set (Ensky part1 to part13) If you have any stickers for trade or for sale feel free to send me a message and some pictures !
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How complete is the website ? How broad is the sticker set scope ?This website will hopefully cover all the main sticker sets from Topsun, Amada, Ensky + some extras (Meiji, Sapporo, Promos) when i'll get the time. Unfortunately it is not in my plans to add the white "Pan Stickers" on to the website for now. I don't collect those stickers and don't plan to (there's like thousands of them). The website will also not be covering non-japanese sticker sets.
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What plans do you have for the future of this website ?First i'll be adding more set lists up to 2010, and adding scanned sets at the same time (if I have the time) Once I gather more pictures / scans of booster pack : box artworks I'll be adding those to the pages ! When all the main sticker sets are done, maybe the website will expand to other vintage pokemon merch sets !!
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Will pokemon stickerpedia become a pay-to-access website ?I'm not planning on making the visitors pay to access the information (because we all know the information could be available anywhere else) and my goal is to share my knowledge and not to make money. I also do not want to have a website that looks like Time Square with hundreds of pop-ups and ads, because aesthetically I want my website to be gorgeous like a work of art. However the website does cost me a lot annually to maintain (databases, custom domain), I added recently a donate button onto the website if you wish to contribute to the website costs. Any support is greatly appreciated 😀
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Why collect stickers ? Why should you consider collecting stickers ?Whatever you collect already, collecting stickers is a good and affordable to make you breath before inbetween you different collections. If you don't collect anything else yet, collecting stickers is a great place to start venturing into the Pokemon Realm ! It's far from all the TCG hype and craziness, there's still many good deals to be found and still loads of information to discover ! Disclaimer : Once you plunge into the pokemon sticker world, you rarely stop... (please send help...)
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Why the name "Pokemonstickerpedia" ?"Basically it means "Pokemon Sticker Encyclopedia". I want this website to become the reference in terms of Pokemon Sticker collecting.
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How to find a random single sticker ? Is there a method ?To find a random sticker or a rare one for example : you'll need a mix of three things : luck, time and perseverance. It's like collecting anything else, it's all about being in the right place at the right time. There's plenty of methods to search for stickers (or anything else) : - Start by doing a precise research on the website of your choosing, like "Pokemon sticker 1997 Topsun Bulbasaur". (Use DeepL or Google Translate to translate into Japanese) - If you don't find it, take of some words from your original research, ex: "Pokemon sticker topsun Bulbasaur' - Keep taking words of the research, until you find it. In the end maybe you can only find it using "Pokemon sticker". There's a lot of results for that research, but let me tell you by experience, my best deals and findings have been made with very open researches. I basically spend hours looking at all the pages and looking at the pictures of listings that catch my eye. Alternative research methods : - Try google images, a regular research in both english and japanese. - If you have a picture of the sticker you're looking for, try reverse image research (Google images does that and other websites), you never know ! Keep in mind that on secondhand websites, the seller barely ever knows about what they are selling, so you can be pretty sure that using the set name or year will yield little results. The Pokemon name by itself and the keywords "Pokemon sticker" will be your best bet !
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Is there any incomplete or sets that are still unknown ?Yes, there are probably many more sets and stickers to discover ! There's some sets where I can't even tell which variant came out first for example.
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How to recognize which set a sticker belongs to ?In my opinion, the easiest way to recognize the set, is to look at the following elements on the sticker : - Year : most of the time written on the back, but not always. Here you can see it's written "Topsun" on the top in japanese. In late 1997 they rebranded to "Toppu", so any product with "topsun" written on it, is from before 1998. - Manufacturer : most of the time written on the back, but not always - The sticker number design is what differs the most on each sticker set, so that can help. - The size : Some stickers are bigger or smaller than other sets. For more information refer to this article "How to recognize a sticker set"
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How could you buy stickers back in the day ? How where they distributed ?Sticker were sold and distributed in many different ways (non-exhautive list) : - Regular booster packs : like tcg but smaller packs obviously. - Lottery packs : The whole "pack" was hung in shops and contains a certain number of paper booster packs containing 2 random stickers (2 non-holos or 1 non-holo and 1 holo) and if you were lucky a "lucky ticket". With the lucky ticket, you won the holographic sticker (random) which is on the front of the hung-up pack in the shop. - Food products : a lot of stickers come from food product brands (meiji, sapporo ichiban, topsun) - As promos with albums / binders or other misc sticker related products. - As promo sheets : you had to detach them all to by yourself. - As promos in Magazines (Corocoro)
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How to recognize different sticker editions ?There isn't many sticker sets with "1st" and "2nd" editions. The first notable sets are some of the topsun seal gum sets (or any other Topsun product). They were distributed in 1997, at the end of the year they rebranded to "Toppu", so they changed the branding on the stickers that were printed after 1997. There is one other Topsun set from 2001 with at least two variants per sticker. However, today, I still have no means to tell which variant was printed first; There's also a different print run for the amada 1996 sticker set which is pretty much unknown, i'm still working on this one. The main difference is a slight change in the holo pattern and the back of the first edition ones is way more "yellow colored" than the second edition.
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Can you grade stickers ? Is it easy to find mint condition stickers ?Yes you can, I think PSA grades a few old amada sets and Beckett might grade anything. However, in my opinon they look way better together in a binder. Its hard to find mint stickers for one specific reason : - In regular booster packs, the sticker are presented as a "strip", you need to detach all of them manually. There's a risk of tearing the corners /sides off. The holos are attached to the strip, so at least you can place your bets on those. Most of the scarce sets are really near impossible to find minty or sealed (especially all Topsun Sets, it would a be shame to open those packs).
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How to price stickers ? How do I find their value ?Stickers is the same as for 99% of all Non-tcg stuff. The price varies a lot depending on the seller's visibility on the market, following and influence. The prices can also vary depending on the seller's location. I've seen a huge differences for common stickers sold $40, that I've been selling for 50 cents. I can't sell mine for that kind of prices because foreign people don't really want to buy from France. To summarize : there's no fixed prices. It's all about who, where and when. What you see on ebay or Mercari (USA) don't indicate the reality of the value or rarity of stickers. Please don't be fooled.
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Where to start ? Which set should I collect first ?Follow your heart. Collect the set that attracts you the most. If you wish to start with the easiest / cheapest sets to collect : Amada 1997, Amada attack 1998 and amada 1996 are the easiest sets to collect. Dont get fooled, they are not rare and will never be, there's TONS of those stickers ready to be bought for cheap in Japan. Not far behind are the DX sets from 1998, 1999 and 2000 which are fun to collect as most of the sets are holo stickers ! If you wish to avoid the hardest sets : Anything Topsun can be a pain to collect. All promo sets and the World Hobby Fair set. Meiji's can be hard to find too ! Sometimes you can only find them one by one;
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What are the traps to avoid while collecting stickers ?Don't let prices out of Japan fool you (even Charizard) : Amada 1996, 1997, 1998 are not rare at all (apart from 3 stickers). Persevere and in time you will complete those sets easily. Dont wait too long : If you're debating whether you wish to buy a specific sticker lot or listing, don't wait too long, sometimes listings get bought out really fast. Auctions : Sticker lots with lots of bids aren't automatically the best lots out there. Sometimes the best deals lie in the smaller lots with no bidders.
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Is there anyway I can help you build the website ?I'll gladly listen to any ideas and if anyone has a complete set and a nice scanner, you can always send me some scans. Scan requirements : - cropped into the size / shape of the stickers - Front and back of the stickers (if the back of the stickers is the same for all stickers, in that case only one sticker of the back is sufficient) - 600 dpi Not accepting scans for single stickers, I prefer the full sets being scanned by the same scanner. All help will be mentioned on the pages and on a special thanks page ! Contact me on instagram or use the contact page to send me a message.
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Can I donate to the website somewhere ?I won't set up a donation system at the moment, but you can always send me anything on Paypal, ask me my paypal address ❤️ And you can always buy stickers from me, that will contribute to paying for the website and you will get some cool stickers 😁
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