This is both a blessing and a curse I feel. I will say I think it has become a little bit more special to me in recent years now that pack ripping isn’t as much of an option anymore.
These are incredible:
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Yup, LM easily has the best reverses from the entire era. It’s crazy how it’s the only set where they just straight-up used the cosmos holo. FRLG/TRR/HL/etc reverses look great, too, but the energy pattern can detract a bit from the art, IMO.
Honorable mention to Emerald/UF reverses, though. The Poke Ball pattern works really well with certain cards.
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Unseen forces is my second pick for best reverses for sure.
I also feel like the 2003 set reverses are kinda their own thing. Absolutely NUTS in pack fresh or PSA 10 condition. Way, way brighter than the relatively dull reverse in WOTC e series. But they are very lack luster if scratched up.
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Absolutely agree re: the e-Reader era reverses. When mint, they’re so shiny that they almost look wet. Really pretty. But when scratched up, they just look terrible. It’s a very fine line!
EDIT: found some pics from when I went on an EX pack-opening spree back in 2020 haha. Here are a few that really showcase what I mean re: the almost wet appearance of mint reverses:
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I’ve only ever owned the reverse of that tentacruel. It would look wrong with the cosmos to me.
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I have so many fond memories opening R&S/SS/Dragon/TMTA when they were released. They were some of my most favourite cards growing up and I kept them with me all these years and recently graded them during the PSA bulk special. Very few 10s, decent amount of 9s and a lot of 8s almost 20 years later haha 
Some of those reverses are pretty standout, almost mirror like. So good 
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Challenge accepted, now EX Deoxys has at least one vote.
I’d say it’s one of the best gen 3 sets with EX Dragon Frontiers: gold stars are obviously amazing, good ex cards, regular set has ton of Pokemon which showcase Hoenn region perfectly imo. and reverse holos have uniqueness which we haven’t seen in recent tcg generations. 
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One thing that helped the ex era was having those evo boxes on the bottom. weighting the bottom of the frame feel smore natural. I’ve always hated them cropping the top. Now, I personally liked the larger frame (top to bottom) on HGSS, but that’s just my favorite overall. I do like and appreciate what you’re saying about ex. I do have to say, the images you chose are cropped a little funny, with less border than normal. Still, the EX era mostly used the card real-estate more effectively.
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I am very uncomfortable
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Absolutely some goodness to be found in CG, mostly non-holos imo as I’m not big on most of the holos or ultra rares:
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Reviving Topic, new user here. I voted Team Aqua vs Team Magma. It was the high of my original collecting spree, and I wanted the Sceptile EX soooo badly that I spent most of my first job money pulling packs. Had no idea about booster boxes or anything, hehe. Years later I grew fond of menacing Pokemon and this set has them all over the place, with a nice tight theme to go with all the above.
Looking back, when you consider that it includes the Rookie cards of Groudon and Kyogre, the ultra rares being the Gen 3 starter evos and legendary dog trio from Gen 2 (and Cradily ) AND 2 hidden rares by Arita, plus 20 years of nostolgia, it’s just hard to beat!
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To add onto that; the artwork used for a lot of the Magma & Aqua “Owner” Pokemon are in-game models from Colosseum making the set even more unique in my eyes. It might not be some people’s taste but I appreciate the weirder parts of this set specifically
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ahh thank you! That makes a lot of sense for why collectors who prefer conventional art vs. computer art may not prefer this set, sort of like in movies the classic hand-drawn animation vs. CGI debate. Guilty confession: I have no problem with most 5ban/computer art and definitely love this set, even more now since I know they are from the game!
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Though the artworks look like computer graphics, the overall design of the cards have a special appeal to me.
My fave sets are, prices aside, I like Holon Phantoms, Unseen Forces and Team Rocket Returns based on their themes and the artworks of cards in those sets.
Holon Phantoms. Starting with amazing booster packs and decks designs (I beileve it was done by Fukuda), ending with amazing cards and pokemon selection of this set. Oh, yeah, the logo of Holon Phantoms is fire!
Delta Species. Cards are just great. Though I’m not a huge fan of Kyogre and Groudon gold stars.
Legend Maker. Great booster packs design, amazing Gold Stars.
This is why I complete entire sets. I LOVE getting a stack of vintage commons and uncommons that I need for sets and admiring the art. Theres a whole other appreciation for these cards and their art put together in a single cohesive set, especially for stronger sets such as skyridge, aquapolis, TMvTA etc. The pokemon tcg immerses me in the pokemon world as much as the original games do.
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