I would say Pika and Zard are fairly equal in popularity
Should change the thread to do you think Pikachu could be dethroned.
I feel like it would take a multi-decade strategy of them completely ignoring Charizard and pumping the shit out of something like Rayquaza or Lugia for newcomers in order to have a shot at dethroning.
Pikachu is clear…
But the only way Charizard declines is a full on controversy. Like we find out Charizard was chartering wealthy trainers and gym leaders to a private island…
Or worse…
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I think pikachu and charizard fill different roles so they can’t be fully compared. Pikachu is the original mascot and charizard is the original cool guy where pikachu is getting masses of promo cards, set cards and quantity while charizard is getting ultra rares, high end cards and quality. But they both are getting so much attention and quantity, and will definitely continue to do in future too, so either of those can’t be dethroned for sure
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That actually reminds me of when a guy asked me why I collect Pokémon cards. He collected sports cards. I said look you’ll never see charizard tear his acl or do some terrible things. Will always be an iconic childhood figure in my eyes
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This is exactly what i was telling my wife earlier this week! If i collected a real life sports person and they did something incredibly stupid i probably would feel devastated and wouldn’t know how to continue collecting, but with pokemon that really isn’t a realistic thing to happen. Kinda sucks that my trust in people is so low that i’m afraid to form idols but it is what it is 
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Giratina is the big boy on the block lately with some sick arts and top commanding prices.
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I didn’t go with Pikachu because he was pushed from the start by making him Ash’s starter. Pikachu is on a whole other level as the mascot of Pokemon as a whole.
This turned into being told Pikachu is more popular, which is a given. So I think that question would’ve done better for me for sure, lol!
And I agree with everything you said. Maybe it’s a matter of TPC playing it safe and just continuing to push the big names they already know sell versus trying to push more names into the mix. Which seeing more pokemon being pushed would be really nice.
In terms of just the TCG, charizard was the first ever chase card. Newer cool cards and pokemon can always come out, but only one thing can be first. Honus Wagner and Mickey Mantle will probably never be dethroned as sports card goats, first print books will always be the most desireable, superman #1 and spiderman #1 will always be the best comic books, and the artists like DaVinci will always be the main attractions of museums. Once something is settled as the best in any collectibles market, it tends to stay there. I can’t imagine any set card surpassing first ed base zard.
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Tbf, theres not really any charizard trophy cards. I think a charizard vs pikachu card of similar ‘rarity’ like if there was a prize card of each at the same event, the charizard would be more expensive. Pokemon chooses to make a jillion pikachu promos because its the main mascot but I still think charizard is the fan favorite over pikachu.
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Then who is the ultimate middle Pokémon? Who is mid king?
Mid king
Midoking
Nidoking!!!
Got it.
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charizard was never on the thrown. pikachu is the king of pokemon
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Name one Pikachu set card that is more expensive or desirable than a Charizard card of similar rarity/design.
Pikachu is the mascot of Pokémon, but it doesn’t bring the hype and demand among the masses like Charizard. The question here read to me as, will Charizard ever lose the hype, demand and unique cultural influence it has had to any other Pokémon in the future? I think there’s a nonzero chance it could, but it’s very unlikely.
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I’m sure there’s more but Trophy pikachu cards would compete I believe.
However yes! Pikachu being the mascot is a given, this was about charizard. I think you’re one of the only people that understood this. He’s THE product pusher and I agree, highly unlikely to be a pokemon that lives up to his hype.
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You have a good point, @enigma. Expensive and desirable Pikachus are almost always Japanese promos, not necessarily set cards.
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Pikachu is the biggest Pokémon mascot. It’s only really the TCG where Charizard is top dog
The reason I specifically said set cards was because trophy cards (and to a lesser extent, promos - especially Japanese-only) behave significantly different than set cards. The average collector/consumer deals mainly with set cards and occasionally pick up a promo here and there, while almost never touching trophies. And that’s how TPCI intended it: trophies wouldn’t be trophies if everyone had one. And wouldn’t Japanese promos be localized if TPCi thought there was a significant market for them? I think they are actually starting to do that, but the company makes its money through exposing as many people as possible to set cards, hence my reasoning. Charizard 100% pushes sets better than Pikachu ever will. Even Rayquaza, Lugia, Giratina, heck TRAINERS push sets better.
Plus, most of the trophies being compared here aren’t Pikachu cards, they only feature Pikachu. And they feature Pikachu because he’s the face of Pokémon! But there’s a big difference here and I think your question requires that distinction to be made.
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I think it’s possible but we won’t see it in our lifetimes and it all depends on marketing. I believe if the Pokémon Company wanted to force a new popular Pokémon onto consumers and fans they could. They could easy make a new Pokémon the face of the shows, games, products…it would just take time.