Been thinking of watching the old Digimon anime. Is this a good idea? Am I about to go into debt for a new TCG?

I enjoyed Digimon as a teenager. I never got any cards. However I did make a liiiittle fan art.

Art thou a Renamon connoisseur?
- I made a rendering of a lighthouse on the Dark Ocean in 3D Studio Max. Or I guess it would be better called a darkhouse. Unfortunately that image is lost to time.

If money is tight I recommend against getting into an expensive hobby lol

You can watch the show without getting into the tcg.

Forget the TCG and just dive into Digimon World on the PSX. It's a Tamagotchi roguelite, if you will. Digimon World 2 is "pokemon mystery dungeon" with excessive traps, gotchas and unexplained systems.

Digimon World 3 is a traditional turn based RPG, and I think 4 on the Gamecube is a roguelike beat em up. What a wild series.
Edit: duped my post somehow

Why Digimon and not Pokémon?

@grasshopper_mouse

I already know pokemon. I'm making an active effort to not be into pokemon anymore.

As a kid i wasnt allowed to watch tv or play videogames, so I've been trying to catch up on the childhoods everyone else had.

Trying to get out of MTG, not interested in the Pokemon TCG or the One Piece TCG because their mechanics aren't interesting to me, and there is no amount of money you could pay me to deal with the average Yu-Gi-Oh player. The Digimon TCG seems cool, though.
- On point 3, some of the local card players I know are ditching MTG for Vampire Eternal Struggle or Flesh and Blood
- @Shkshkshk @grasshopper_mouse As far as my own media childhood goes:
  
  Play some of Square/Squaresoft's various JRPGs from before the Square Enix merger.
  
  Watch some awesome cartoons that got tragically cancelled before they could finish. (ABC's "SatAM" Sonic the Hedgehog, Pirates of Dark Water... technically Thundercats 2011 is too late for my childhood, but it's the same idea).
  
  That'll give you a good summary.
- So you haven't watched it ? Then just do it, it's good. Plus the soundtrack is a banger.
  
  I will also say the subsequent series also trying something new everytime. Tamer has darker tone (iirc)
I loved both as a kid but Digimon was a much better story. Pokemon was super cheesy and felt like it was just made to sell video games and trading cards.

Digimon Tamers is the best series. Forget the TCG. Just watch the show.

The old Digimon anime was great and it was more well received than the newer ones. Never played the Trading Card Game but thoroughly enjoyed the anime. Patamon was always my fave!!

Don't get in debt for fun. If you like playing, go for TTRPG, with one 50€ book and some imaginatipn you can play a multi year long campaign with 5 persons

@Ziggurat
Oh let me tell you about the D&D campaign I'm in. The first six months were nuts: We got hired to pick one of the emperor's 60-something kids to be appointed as the heir. By the time we left, there were four kids left alive.

Last session was a bit nuts. We got an angel fired from his job because he was bullying a snail, then had to resolve a custody battle between a coven of witches. We are level 4.

I think the new tcg is one of the best I've ever played. If you're a card game fan it's worth getting into just from that perspective. As a fan of the anime, there is a whole lot to love. The first movie (us cut) is still one of my all time favorite movies.