If you’re a Pokémon card collector, chances are you’ve got a box or two of bulk cards stashed away somewhere nearby as you’re reading this. No matter how often you build decks or sell cards online, finding a use for your unwanted cardboard critters can be rather tricky.
As with any hobby-based problem, the best place to find solutions is to scour online communities and forums. Collector Soundwve earned the praise of the Pokémon TCG community online by sharing their clever way to repurpose bulk cards.
In a Jan. 1 Reddit post, the Pokémon collector unveiled a snap of a restaurant receipt with a Surging Sparks Palkia on top of it. They work in a sushi restaurant and started giving away spare cards to their customers while on shift, enjoying the reaction to the surprise gift from their tables.
Soundwve continued, saying they even tried to “match the vibe of the cards” to their customers to make it even more of a fun experience for them. Pokémon players in the subreddit were enchanted by the creative use of bulk cards, with many chiming in with their own experiences as servers or bartenders.
“This is awesome man, would be so stoked to receive any random Pokémon card like this,” one user wrote, elaborating how they’d been to a café which used to put spare Energy cards alongside people’s receipts at the end of their visit.
Another excited server added: “I used to do that when I worked … as a server too! So cool! My wife used to make packs of bulk for me when I was at work. She would use the ETB sleeves and put 8-9 cards in them for me to give out to kids. They loved it!”
Others were inspired by the idea and commented how they’d be looking for ways to include bulk cards in their own day-to-day routine at work. One barista replied to the post saying, “This is such a good idea, if I can find a way to incorporate this into Starbucks.”
A handful of viewers wondered how much value the original poster was willing to put into their bulk-repurposing tactic. One joked, “Are your customers literally shaking?” with another adding on, “Get ready for the “I tipped 150% so the waiter gave me a 1st Edition Charizard” posts.”
Finding a way to repurpose your unwanted cards outside of simply grading and reselling them online or trashing them can be a stretch, but it’s well worth the effort—as this collector has proven.
Other ways to repurpose your bulk cards include donating them to local libraries, children’s hospitals, or giving them out as an alternative to candy on Halloween. Next time you pull an unwanted critter from a booster pack, make sure to give one of these ideas a thought before letting it collect dust.
