Collect Every Character

Some collectors focus on a single character: every Bulbasaur, every Charizard, every Pikachu ever printed. TopVault makes this easy because the database covers cards across generations, editions, and variants. You can search for a character, grab every result, and build a goal around it.

This walkthrough uses Bulbasaur as the example, but it works for any character or subject across any collection type.

Step 1: Search for the character

1. Open the Search tab.
2. Make sure Pokémon Cards is selected as your collection type.
3. Type the character name in the search bar, for example "Bulbasaur."
4. Wait for results to load. They appear grouped by series.

Scroll through the results to get a sense of the scope. A popular character can have dozens of cards across many sets and years.

Step 2: Multi-select all results

1. Tap Start multi-select in the toolbar.
2. Select the items you want. To grab everything, work through each series group and tap each item.
3. As you select items, the count updates in the selection bar.

If the character has a large number of results, consider whether you want to include products (boxed sets and packs that feature the character on the packaging). If you only want individual cards, you can filter by Type of collectible → Cards before selecting.

Step 3: Add to a goal

1. With your items selected, tap Goals in the selection bar.
2. If you already have a goal for this character, choose it. Otherwise, create a new one:
   • Name it something like "Every Bulbasaur."
   • Toggle "Completion mode?" on if you want to track completion percentage.
   • Confirm creation.
3. All selected items are added as references to the goal.

Step 4: Review and refine

Open the goal and review the items. You may want to clean up the list:

• Remove products if you only want cards. Products like booster boxes may have appeared in results because they feature the character.
• Remove items from other characters if any appeared in the search results (for example, "Bulbasaur & Venusaur GX" might also pull in unwanted entries, or you might want to keep those).
• Check for Japanese variants and decide whether to include them in your scope.

Remove any references that do not fit your definition of the collection.

Step 5: Associate items you own

If you already own some of these cards:

1. Open the goal detail view.
2. Associate your owned collectibles with the matching references.
3. Your completion percentage (if in completion mode) updates to reflect progress.

Step 6: Track progress

Your goal now serves as a living checklist:

• Completion percentage shows how close you are to owning every version.
• Estimated cost to complete tells you what the remaining cards are worth at current prices.
• Distinct items collected vs total gives you the exact count.

As you acquire new cards at shows, online, or through trades, add them to your collection and associate them with this goal. Each new association brings you closer to the finish line.

Step 7: Discover new releases

When TopVault adds new sets to the database, search for the character again periodically. New cards, like a new Bulbasaur in a new expansion, can be added to the goal to keep it current.

Tips

• Start with your favorite character. The process is the same whether you are collecting 30 cards or 300.
• Use completion mode to get the progress dashboard. Flat mode works too, but completion mode gives you the percentage and cost-to-complete metrics.
• Consider variants carefully. A character might have standard, Holographic, Reverse Holo, and promo versions. Decide upfront whether you want every variant or just one version of each card.
• This works beyond Pokémon. The same approach applies to any collection type. Collect every card of a specific athlete in Sports Cards, every version of a Magic: The Gathering card, or every Dragon Ball character card.