Hey everyone, not sure if anyone has noticed yet, but there are 2 different holo patterns on the holo energies from 151.
So the first style is the Cosmos Holofoil style that we previously saw in Gen 8. This includes perfect circles throughout the card, and well as possible “line” swirls.
The following Water and Fighting energies are examples of this:
The other pattern is the Gen 9 Galaxy Holofoil style. This includes more pixelated sparkles throughout the card as well as the classic swirls that were in the older generations of cards between Gen 1 and Gen 4. The following Grass and Psychic energies are examples of this:
I can confirm: I opened a Binder Collection and an Elite Trainer Box from two different sources and opened a Holo Basic Grass Energy in both; one of them with the gorgeous classic pixelated Holo, the other with the flat modern imitation.
I doubt they intended to create two different versions from a collecting point of view, but the Holo sheets are different enough that I can’t imagine mixing them up accidentally. Maybe just trying to get rid of excess of one of them?
Regardless, the classic version of the Holo pattern is so vastly superior; swirls and stars and sparkles and my god those gorgeously defined pixelated orbs! Begone, modern smooth flat circles!
I did not know that the smooth swirl was a variant. That’s cool! I don’t personally care, but I do like seeing the recent WotC land foil pattern appear on energy cards. Were I a glutton for pain, I might make a full page spread of each. love the full foil inclusions.
After spotting a Neo-Cosmos Holo Abra on Reddit, I went back to check on my own Abra and Kadabra from the Alakazam ex Collection, as I distinctly (and correctly) recalled them featuring the Retro-Cosmos Holofoil;
Furthermore, all images I can find online of these Alakazam ex Collection promotional cards show a Neo-Cosmos Abra alongside a Retro-Cosmos Kadabra. Here’s a clear example image from an eBay listing;
This leads me to suspect that the use of the Retro-Cosmos Holofoil might have been intended as a subtle celebration of Kadabra’s return to the TCG … but does not explain my Retro-Cosmos Holo Abra or the use of both Holofoils for 151’s Holo Basic Energy.
Regardless of my speculation, it’s another interesting wrinkle in this saga. I wonder if Retro-Cosmos Holo versions exist of previous Scarlet & Violet promotional cards.
Great find! Dang the rabbit hole gets a little deeper. I haven’t seen any retro galaxy foil on any promos so far for Gen 9, this would be the first time. But definitely makes you wonder if they do exist! They definitely could
Every other listing, post, or video I’ve seen so far has a Neo-Cosmos Abra paired with a Retro-Cosmos Kadabra. No evidence thus far of any Neo-Cosmos Kadabra.
There needs to be various types of reacts here and a marker for rep. I never thought about picking up the collection until I saw you guy’s share these variations out (reminder to see English 151 proper), as my reaction was a “woah”, so yeah. Cheers!
Do we have any data (unless I failed to read it above) what the ratio of retro vs neo-foil is for the Energy? I’ve cracked roughly 50 packs and have yet to pull a neo-foil Energy card.
Congrats! Did you pull these yourself or did you purchase them individually? I’m unsure if there’s been any solidification on the rhyme or reason behind the variants in the foil yet.
I pulled a few of each type for myself, then traded and bought the rest. We seemed to pull the Smooth HD Cosmos style from early wave ETBs, and the retro galaxy style from everything else
