Most of us in the hobby despise the words “custom cards” because it is usually copying an existing card to fool inexperienced buyers, but one trend that I am starting to see that I find really intriguing is people painting on existing nostalgic cards to extend art and bring out the beauty of the illustrations. Do you like or dislike this? I personally see it as a cool and creative way to express your appreciation for the art.
Article on Artist
Let me know what your thoughts are!
Dislike…
I like it a lot and I have a handful. The concept is a bit tired now, so I wouldn’t consider it the innovative concept it was several years ago, but I’m always down to enjoy cool art people create with Pokemon cards.
Another fun idea I’ve seen is taking 10-20 copies of the same card and stacking them together. Parts of the artwork are carved out in each copy and they are all stacked together to create a 3D effect when viewed from the front.
People having fun with their cards is great. Alters are huge in Magic, also, so I know enjoying this genre of collecting is widespread and enjoyed by thousands of people. Lunumbra, one of the first to do the full artwork paintings, has just shy of 150,000 likes on her Facebook page alone.
Nah im good.
I wouldn’t purchase or collect them, but some are very nice to look at! some of the current Pokemon company illustrators/artists should take note 
Arita commented on an extended version of one of his artworks on Facebook and literally said he loved it. So at least one has!
Well, I think most already know my opinion. But I personally like it:
There are lots of great artists out there, with loads of creativity and care for their art. It’s cool to see the same artwork in so many different variations.
Lunumbra is probably one of the first who did and the most well-known one. She currently has almost 150,000 followers on IG and little over 150,000 on Facebook. She also inspired loads of the other artists that created some of the Pikachus above. And almost all articles you’ll find about extended/altered artwork of Pokémon TCG cards will be about Lunumbra.
The very first one in the first image above is also from Lunumbra. It’s one of my favorites of the bunch, although there are a select few others I like even more.
Greetz,
Quuador
Wow, I like those a lot! Under the condition though that no TCG elements are visible anymore, okay maybe a few are allowed but it has to be very very clear that it in no way can be a TCG legal card. In my opinion it takes away the appeal and starts moving towards the ever existing custom cards when it looks more like a TCG card.
I think they look stupid, though even if they looked nice I wouldn’t like it.
Some alters are nice to look at, I mostly like the look of full art extensions that don’t change the style of the card but just extend it. I personally don’t want to own them though as they’re very personal and limit buyers for resale.
eg. I think this alter is pretty nice
I think they are amazing, Lunumbra that has been mentioned in this thread before is incredible on this. There is another less known person on Instagram who does this as well and I love their style, they don’t post too often but look at this for example: https://instagram.com/p/Bj7-QeAnd03
Congrats on #1000:)
Yay thanks! 
New badge acquired
I personally don’t rate them or really understand why you would want to pay for/collect them. I mean doing it yourself would be kinda cool although they not for me, each to their own though i guess.
I like alters or original works done by the actual artist of the card. If it’s some random off Facebook then I’ll pass.
I look at it almost like a card reimagined, Mark Poole does a lot of interesting alters on the MTG side.
Unless an artist has the technical skill to paint minuscule details alters almost never look good.
Klug Alters is the only artist who can produce serviceable alters. If you saw the alters from the OP in the flesh they’d look crappy imo.
I couldn’t imagine paying for anything less than this level of quality:
You need professionals, not hobbyists to pull it off. These are all painted by the same artist.
This is his extension:
And this is official artwork:
It’s a medium few people can work with.
If people get excited about the hobby then great, I don’t want to rain on their parade and I’m never going to publicly shame someone for doing something they enjoy. It’s just a little cringey when people publicly say they’re accepting commissions or when they try to sell altered cards if they don’t have the skill level to produce a quality product.
I wouldn’t buy them myself, but I have to agree that some of them looks nice
I personally like them, even though I don’t own any myself. Its kind of like street art/graffiti - I can understand why some people don’t like it - but its actually art unlike “custom” cards.
Also altered cards are not legal for pokemon TCG play, everyone knows that ahead of time - so when people do buy/make this its just for the art
Daaaaaamn this is godlike
