These came to mind!
They aren’t set cards, which I get what you mean vs trophy cards. I just like how the Delivery Pikachu was a fun promo release and the charizard was one of the most hyped cards ever and is worth less than Pikachu.
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I actually did think about those while writing my post! The biggest difference between the two is the print size. One was likely printed before demand skyrocketed, and thus released at a time where it had no other option but to command some premium. The other saw massive print runs that got as close to demand as possible as a purposeful way to avoid the former situation (and it also helped move loads more product out the door too). For the most part though I think most people interested in one of these cards is also interested in the other (and Bidoof) because of their uniqueness.
Now that I think more about it, I can’t seem to think of many Charizard promo cards. Charizard is mostly featured in sets, whereas Pikachu gets a lot of set cards, sure, but is really given attention through promos. I think there’a something to be learned from the difference in how TPCi uses these two Pokémon for marketing.
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its really hard to compare pikachu and charizard because charizard comes with speculators. anytime there is a charizard, its hard to say if the hype is more collectors or more people seeing an investment opportunity. i know this is anecdotal, but i’ve heard way more people say they mostly just collect pikachus than people who say they mostly just collect charizards.
ultimately i think it boils down to the whole “the nail that sticks out gets hammered” sort of thing where there are a lot of loud voices chanting charizard, but i still don’t think that number outweighs the number of people who would be more excited for pikachu (if it was of the same rarity which it rarely is. it is hard to compare a common pikachu to a holo charizard for example)
I mean if you only watched the anime, Pikachu would be the obvious king by a landslide. Sure Ash gets a Charizard, but not for long until he leaves him to get trained in the Charicific Valley (spelling?). Barely plays a role, especially in major battles. So I would say Pikachu is king always will be, but Charizard is like the local hero everyone adores haha
now that i’ve played devil’s advocate a bit, i will say, i doubt any pokemon will generate as much hype for a set as charizard. it has a knack for being synonymous with “cool” and does a great job of getting the attention of people who generally don’t follow the hobby too closely, but still have an interest in it
Base set Charizard got us all stonkin since we were in elementary. I think if that base set phenomenon didn’t happen the way it did, the tcg market would be a very different space
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Good that @enigma was able to put my thoughts into words better than i did, it felt like this thread was a bit sidetracked almost from the beginning
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