When it comes to non-holo versions of WOTC holo cards, such as all the Jungle and Fossil Rares, does anyone else feel like they’re a complete waste of time?
I’m trying to finish off collecting Base Set, Jungle, and Fossil completely, but I feel no desire to collect the non-holo Rares when I already have the superior holo versions of each card.
Anyone feel this way? Or does the set not feel complete to you unless you truly have every card in the set?
They have value for me because I like to have every card in a set, but I also feel like the non-holo rares (can) bring out the background better or at least different than the holo versions.
I used to feel the same way, and still somewhat do. Seems kinda silly to get a non-Holo Kabutops when you already have the holo variant. But the set is out of 64 cards, so not having all 64 cards would drive me crazy. One positive to take away from it is that in the non-Holo variants you can see the art much more clearly and gain a better appreciation for it.
I kinda draw the line with re-releases though. I have Base Set, Jungle, Fossil, and Team Rocket completed, but I am highly reluctant to complete Base Set 2 and Legendary Collection.
If you’re not collecting sets then it doesn’t matter. Just collect the cards you like.
I like to collect the entire set but I do feel like the non-holo versions of the same card and artwork are a waste. I would’ve much rather seen a few other pokemon featured as non-holo rares in the set or at least different artworks. So I get conflicted because they are still rare cards and I do like having complete sets haha.
Two words: chase cards.
Every collectible card game needs them in order to sell boosters. The holographic cards are the chase cards, the cards you buy boosters for. So, actually… the holo cards are the waste of time cards.
I’m not really into them, I think it was lazy on WOTC’s part. Imagine the cool cards that could have been thought of if they didnt do repeats! But I do think to complete the set, you obviously have to get them. If not the set is incomplete! You just have to bite the bullet there dude
Likely the reason they started combining Japanese sets.
~200 card master sets are nice/ideal in my opinion. The recent sets are getting out of hand when they won’t even fit in a 360 card ringless binder.
I say bring them back, with a twist!
Make the holo versions 1 per box.
That’s the thing though… I am collecting sets, except I’m specifically not collecting the non-holo versions of the holo cards because I don’t feel I need them for the set to feel complete to me.
I don’t think making a whole new set of rare cards was an option WotC had.
It was either make two versions, or just have the holos.[/quote]
Any idea why that is? That being said, it would have been a reeeeeeaal small set if they didn’t do non holo repeats!
So you’re collecting incomplete sets. 
To me, non-holo duplicates are a lazy solution to beef up the amount of cards in a set. On the other hand, as mentioned before, non-holo’s bring out the background art that much more. So for me, they’re different enough to justify collecting them.
wasnt it so that kids could play with the non holos in their decks and keep the holos in good condition for binders?
Bingo;)
Totally the opposite to current days. All decks have to be foiled out etc. at one point, and Pokemon does a good job at supplying that with tons of (unneeded) full arts, variations in ‘rarity’ etc. But yes, in the end; holos were for collectors, non-holos for players.
At least these old sets are fairly small and don’t have reverse holos for ALL the cards. Reverse holos really puts me off and are the main reason why I decided to collect the e reader sets in Japanese instead.
Interestingly, Jungle + Fossil + Rockets combined have less cards than most modern sets… So it should not be too hard to complete them!
I see the reverses as the new variant to collect instead of 1st edition. Not the same but sorta feels that way when filling out a 1st/unlimited binder vs. master set w/ reverses.
I fully acknowledge that I’m collecting incomplete sets! Of course, I realize that if I ever wanted to list them I could not advertise them as complete sets. 
But as I said, although they’re technically incomplete they feel complete to me on a personal level, since I’m only missing the inferior versions of cards I already own (as has been mentioned, the “playable” version of the collectible cards).
For full disclosure, I’m putting together the “original run” of Generation 1 WOTC cards in PSA 10 condition. The cards I include in this are:
The thing is, so far I’ve been ignoring the non-holo versions of the Jungle and Fossil rare cards, because I just don’t find them appealing. And when I ignore them, the whole set works out to a tidy little number.
Base Set: 103 cards
Jungle: 48 cards (64 - 16)
Fossil: 47 cards (62 - 15)
Mew: 1 card
That adds up to 199 cards, which fits really well in my case that holds 200 PSA cards. 
Are you going for the holo Mew or non-holo version of the promo then?