December at Curio Card Care: Community, Cards & Christmas Cheer 🎄
Wow — December has been a busy month for us!
This month we launched both a Pokémon Play Evening and a Trade Night, and honestly… we couldn’t have hoped for a better response.
Building Something Local đź’š
For those who don’t know us, we live in Hythe, a small town perfectly sandwiched between the New Forest — a stunning national park with free-roaming horses, cows, pigs and donkeys — and the city of Southampton, separated by the water (hence “the Waterside”).
As beautiful as it is here, one thing was very clear:
👉 there was nothing Pokémon-related this side of the water.
So… we decided to change that.
How It Started 🎴
My wife and I both learned how to play Pokémon properly this year, after attending our first ever launch night at one of our favourite game stores, Taylored Games in Devon (huge shout-out to Rachel & Adam 💚).
With no local play scene to plug into, we thought:
“Why not start something small, informal, and see how it goes?”
Thanks to our great relationship with Vibrant Forest Brewery, we now have access to their upstairs space every first Wednesday of the month, from 6:30pm — and as an added bonus, it’s also £4 pint night 🍻.
If you fancy a relaxed, welcoming space to play, learn, or just hang out, we’d love to see you there.
Trade Night: What a Turnout! 🤯
And then came Trade Night…
WOW.
We almost filled the upstairs completely! A few vendors had reached out beforehand asking if they could pop along, which was brilliant — it meant sealed packs were available on the night (I may have picked up a few cheeky packs of Mega Dream 👀).
Everyone brought something different to trade or sell, and the mix of familiar faces from our shows alongside brand-new collectors was honestly amazing to see.
The plan is to run Trade Night on the last Wednesday of every month, although January will be a little different due to our larger event on 31/01/26 — we’ll keep everyone posted.
Community Shout-Outs 🙌
We were incredibly lucky to be supported by some brilliant people for our trade night (and in general):
Dan from ShoPoke Collectibles (go visit him in Sholing if you can)
Bren (aka Kanto.Kings)
His lovely wife Anna (MortemInk)
PokeMike
A massive thank you to all of you. You are genuinely some of the most welcoming, kind-hearted people in this hobby, and it’s an absolute pleasure to spend time with you.
Stay Connected 📲
If you’d like to see videos from the night, or keep up to date with future events, make sure you follow New Forest Collectors Club on Facebook, Instagram or TikTok.
January Submissions Now Open ❄️
PS:
January Curio Card Care slots are now open and limited, so if you’re looking to get booked in, make sure you grab yours soon.
Merry Christmas 🎄
Keep on chasin’,
Curio Rich ✨
