Vintage overall I think, a couple of set cards stand out for me in modern but not much really. The best thing about modern in my opinion is the japanese exclusive promos, they blow me away, I am just about buying every single exclusive modern japanese card not long after it’s release.
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I’m not sure myself that why I kept it this vague but I’d say vintage goes until the first GX cards came out.
So 2017?
WOTC is the best no doubt, I pop for anything that era. I also got a lot of love for the EX era because those were some of my last sets I bought cards for back in that day before I became too cool, also the EX card design was fantastic. Vintage is just where it’s at for me.
Modern has some great art and cool ideas though, plus it’s readily available and affordable for most.
See, to me, I wouldn’t consider EX vintage. In my head, vintage ends at e series/skyridge.
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WOTC, because I can finally afford all the shit I want lol.
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Except Steam Siege.
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WOTC Vintage for sure. It’s the better investment, which is something I love about collecting. I also means I have a set field for my card collecting and helps me to keep my collecting from getting out of hand lol
Plus it’s easier to move the older more expensive product, usually.
Vintage WOTC all the way. I still like the newer sets - not a huge fan of BW/XY and early Sun & Moon - but I absolutely love Tag Team/Ultra Shiny GX/Dream League etc. That said…I’m extremely careful when purchasing newer cards. It’s just hard to justify spending $30-$50 on a PSA 9 Rainbow Rare when I can buy PSA 9 WOTC holo for the same price. And as others have said, having so many rares per set sorta kills the magic. The pulls just don’t feel as special.
Crazy. I looked it up and apparently GX was at the end of 2016. I was thinking more around Gen 4. Man, I didn’t think they were still this new 
Steam Siege gave us the best memes and because of that it absolutely deserves a spot in history
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What’s considered to be “vintage” is subjective, but in our hobby we do have that transition from WOTC/Gen 1&2 to Nintendo/The Pokemon Company/Gen 3 & Beyond that feels like a natural breaking point for what is considered “vintage.” But at the same time, it’s been 16+ years since the release of EX Ruby & Sapphire. These cards have existed for 16 of the 20 years since Pokemon cards began to be printed in English, so I’m not arguing with anyone who thinks the EX Era as vintage.
Having said that, in my head this is how I think of the eras of Pokemon card collecting:
- 1996-1998: Japanese Exclusive Era, before the craze came to the rest of the world.
- January 1999: 1st Edition Base Set Era. Original English language release, before anyone knew if Pokemon / the Pokemon TCG would be successful overseas.
- The rest of 1999: Boom Era. Pokemon becomes a national phenomenon; release of Base Set, Jungle, and Fossil in English (the gen 1 rookie cards).
- 2000: Cool Down Era. Pokemon TCG experiences a decline in popularity after the initial explosion; end of Gen 1.
- December 2000-2002: Neo Era. First time a new generation of Pokemon is introduced.
- 2002-2003: e-Card Era. The final run of WOTC cards.
- 2003-Present: Modern Era. Nintendo takes control of Pokemon TCG license from WOTC.
Obviously, someone could break things down much further within the “Modern Era” just as I’ve broken things down within the “WOTC Era.” The obvious points of transition are with the introduction of each new Generation of Pokemon. The “EX Era” in particular is well-defined from 2003-2007.
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It’s such a non-answer to the question, but I prefer both. 
I think every vintage collector has to agree there are some great modern cards and every modern collector has some vintage cards on their wish list. I just happen to be in the middle of both.
Depends what do you mean with vintage, but honestly, I prefer both. Both eras have cards that I like. Overall ex-era is my favorite (Ruby Sapphire - Power Keepers)
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