I think it’s pretty widely accepted that the 3 e-series sets had significantly lower distribution than the couple preceding years’ sets, at least in English. Also that Skyridge is rarer than Aquapolis, and Aquapolis is rarer than Expedition. I’m curious if there’s any estimation as to the relative rarity between the 3, as well as compared to other WotC sets? I’ve just started to pick up a few cards from these sets, and it almost seems like in terms of rarity it’s Skyridge>>Aquapolis>>>>>>>>>Expedition… and Expedition might not be far off from the later Neo sets? Would love to hear from folks who are more knowledgeable about these sets than I am.
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Reverse order for Wotc rarity is what I’m seeing. Which is one of the reasons why I have all the Skyridge and Aquapolis holos. Most of the crystals. Most of Expedition and all the first edition neo destiny holos all in PSA 9. Now I’m bouncing around the other neo sets. Might eventually recollect the gym sets etc after. But ya I’m sticking with reverse order myself personally. Much better artwork as the sets went on as well. With the best artwork coming from Skyridge!
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This sounds about right. And couldn’t agree more on the artwork quality of e-series, it’s top tier without a doubt!
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I remember reading a couple threads on this, some good information in em! www.elitefourum.com/t/pokemon-print-run-question/27538/1
www.elitefourum.com/t/which-english-set-has-the-lowest-print-run/30417/1
Not sure if these are the ones I’m thinking of
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That’s because it is that way, ime.
I like to think of it like this: Expedition did somewhat poorly, Aquapolis is the set that tanked, then Skyridge was short printed as a result.
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That order depends on what part of the world you are/was as collector.
For Europe it’s different with Aquapolis being the most distributed set, then Expedition and Skyridge.
Expedition was not available outside North America because the gameboy ereader wasn’t released yet.
It tooks weeks (up to almost the release of Aquapolis) to work out a way to legally being allowed to distribute in Europe (not sure about the rest of the countries but for Europe I’m sure) That sticker you find on the boosterboxes was the sollution.
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@rainbowgym super valuable information, as always! Never knew that and I’m European myself.
Well, I was in only in Elementary school when e-series dropped so that might explain a lot.
In my experience, Aquapolis has always been the scarcest set of the 3 (watching the market 10+ years). Syridge has almost always been available, yet I remember years going by without seeing a legit Aquapolis box. Skyridge has certainly been the most hyped E series set and that may affect the community’s perception of it. Either way, they are all quite a bit rarer than the earlier WOTC expansions. Anyway, that’s my perspective on them.
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Those were interesting to read through, thanks for sharing them!
Thanks everyone for the insights, kind of neat that 20 years later there’s still some mystery around this era since it wasn’t popular or well covered at the time.
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