Hobbies And Interests
Collecting Craze
At its peak, collectors paid high markups for Pokemon cards. Back in 1999, a pack of cards that normally sold for $3 could be marked up to as high as $12. A first edition base-set Charizard card in mint condition could fetch as much as $375 on eBay because it was difficult to obtain. Since the Pokemon debut in 1996, a new set of cards and figures has been released at least once a year, and sometimes twice.
Legendary Collection
The Legendary collection of figures come from the Pokemon regions Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh and Yunova. These regions are fictional provinces, and are analogous to the Japanese islands, for example, Kanto is based on Kanto and eastern Tokai, Hoenn is modeled after Kyushu and the Sevii Islands are comparable to the Izu and Bonin Islands. Each province has its own indigenous Pokemon and back story, and some are comparable to real fauna found on the islands.
Kanto Region
In Pokemon lore, the Kanto region was the first area to have Pokemon, and figures from Kanto belong to the Legendary collection. One notable group of figures is the bird trio -- electric, ice and fire. The electrical bird is Zapdos, the ice is Articuno and the fire bird is Moltres. One of the most popular figures is Dragonite, a dragon-like figure.
Johto Region
Popular figures from the Johto region include Totodile, Cyndaquil, Chikorita, Suicune, Entei and Raicu. Raicu, Suicune and Entei are wolflike Pokemon hounds, and are found in the DS games Heart Gold and Soul Silver.
Hoenn Region
The Hoenn region, in Pokemon lore, is home to Mudkip, Rayquaza, Kyogre and Groudon. Rayquaza is the leader of the team, which includes Groudon and Kyogre. Figures for this series are harder to find, and will be more expensive for the collector. Mudkip is a popular water type figure and its price varies -- prices on Amazon range from $10 to $50 for a mini plush figure. Mudkip is also a water type Pokemon.