No
I donât think alt arts and gold stars should be compared. They are different sides of the universe in my head.
Gold Stars:
- Almost always popular Pokemon
- Actual rarity due to small EX-era print runs
- Cohesive set
- Chase card
- Polarizing art from one artist
Alt Arts:
- Popular and unpopular Pokemon
- Scarcity due to high demand (on some cards) despite high print runs
- No set cohesion as they are characterized differently across three generations with different names
- Chase card
- Incredible art from many artists
Are they âmodern gold stars?â Only in the sense that they are chase cards. But thatâs really where the similarities end in my opinion. Theyâre unlike previous chase cards.
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Dyl makes a great outline and point.
For me, I like both, I collect more alt arts because its way cheaper
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We are in different era and situation now. People who insist that for Alt Arts to be modern equivalent to Gold Stars, it must be low print run and be minted during a time when Pokemon TCG was in low demand is just being illogical.
Itâs like telling me for pasta to be authentic, we must use the original cooking method, copper pots and ingredients from hundreds years ago which is not possible.
And not necessary for the card to be old/vintage to evoke nostalgia, even modern Alt Arts with their awesome artworks already can do that.
A recent free poll shows many people feel that Alt Arts are like Gold Stars. Not saying Alt Arts are replacing Gold Stars though.
alt arts are more popular than gold stars ever will be, but they arent the same
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All of them are but people love cherry picking to suit their narrative.
Its like debating with people who act like GG/TG are somehow magically different from âalt artsâ cause they have a subset name.
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I could go out now and sell all my PSA 9 and 10 ex cards for gold stars OR buy gold stars right from the start. But I chose ex cards right from the start because they click better with me with their artworks and silvery foil border.
So itâs not a case of missing the boat, at least not for me. And I never said nor thought of replacing or substituting Alt Arts for gold stars.
Iâm saying Alt Arts could be likely as a modern equivalent of gold stars. Modern equivalent is the key term here. Not replacing.
me irl
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Nothing wrong being careful with the words used because people tend to misinterpret what theyâre reading.
When its make debating inconsistent with itâs labelling and creates a mindset that âalt artsâ are the only expensive ones is that really a good thing. Its like people magically toss out the actual definition of what an alternate artwork is, you see this happen with SV just because they gave the âalt artâ a category a name now.
All those people on Reddit would buy gold stars if they had the shot. They know, we know, everyone knows. Itâs just about what you can easily get in with minimal effort to get some sort of profit. Alt arts are the only modern set cards that you can even make 5$ on
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Modern Alt Arts are much more difficult to pull than vintage Gold Stars too.
The boat is still there but not for long. Evolving Skies is going to be rotated out soon.
I mightâve answered yes before, but itâs a clear no from me now.
First, as others have said, Reddit/social media where this âalt artâ term comes from is inconsistent using it to only apply to high valued alternate full art GX/V/VMAX cards but even a full art card is an alt art.
I think the reason I voted yes previously was due to the pull rates being harder than GS, but that was also kind of faulty logic since Iâve now learnt more about pull rates and pretty much every full art, alt full art, rainbow, alt rainbow and gold card - to use colloquial terms - have more difficult pull rates than GS but the vast majority of them are still worthless.
Even the SWSH âalt artsâ have mostly eroded in price in the last few months to their lowest yet which signals to me that the depth in the hobby is actually really shallow. If those cards arenât even worth much, then nothing is in the English SWSH era. And now that SV pull rates are much higher than SWSH, itâs further downhill from here.
Obviously scarcity isnât a guarantee for value but still the hobby has kind of shown that it cannot sustain even 80k copies of set cards. At around 180k or so for full arts, many are hovering the drain at $1-2. Of course Iâd rather have cheap modern cards than expensive ones, but just pointing out how much greater the hobby needs to be than even the last couple years of peak popularity.
The silver lining is that this should hopefully accelerate the decline in hype. That latest released cards still start off so high (compared to pre-boom) suggests to me that the stonkers are still here but it seems completely unsustainable. Broader market conditions also suggest that downward pressure should continue.
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Everyone has something that tickles their fancy. If you prefer ex cards over gold stars then thatâs what matters most, irrespective of what popular opinion would say. My comment was aimed at the people on reddit making these polls. It would be nice if more people viewed alts as a modern equivalent based on pull rates alone, but I donât get that sense every time these comparisons come up.
When one compares oranges to apples because of the perceived value/stature of apples, then theyâre not making a comparison of equivalence, theyâre praying with all their might that their oranges transmutate into apples one day.
Common for cards to dip. Even gold stars and ex cards.
Erm, Alt Arts and Gold stars are all TCG, cardboard. I really donât mind a cardboard-to-cardboard comparison.
Alt arts, gold stars, ex, crystals are merely game terms for these playing cards.
Funny how quickly this discussion becomes about value and prices. The ârarity/collectibilityâ facade drops really fast.
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Still waiting for Shining or Gold Star Alt Arts. At that point, then the answer would definitely be yes! 
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As others said, obviously gold stars wont be repeated but the way pfm phrased âin terms of collectability/rarityâ makes me lean towards voting yes. For this era, alt arts are the most coveted cards from sets in a similar vein to gold stars imo.
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Some people see rarity/collectibility as dollar signs, prices, etc. Itâs inevitable I guess.
I also consider pull rates, the artwork, design of the card.
Serious? People did that back then (when it was $50)?! 
I would never ever do that, I love my non-holo cards. 