But comparing them to 1st Ed, you’d expect similar issues and results, but it just doesn’t seem that way?
Were they just rushing to get the shadowless out the door after the unprecedented demand at release, and maybe they just pushed through as much as the could, even if quality was low?
Assuming youre talking about base set, I would go for shadowless/ 1st edition over unlimited any day. As mentioned by others, the colours are more deep and saturated and the shadowless border is very clean. 1st edition base is iconic and shadowless is basically affordable 1st base without the stamp. Personally, i dont collect unlimited base graded.
If youre talking about the entirety of WotC, its basically impossible to collect unlimited in 10 due to the very low pops of certain cards in like neo. In this case, psa 9 1st ends up being much cheaper and ive always personally valued 1st edition more than the condition jump from 9 to 10 in unlimited.
For me it always comes down to whether you are putting value in the card or in the grading company. Put a different way, if I was to crack the two sets and put them in a binder, which would I value more? A mint 1st edition set or a slightly minter unlimited set? Which would other people value more?
I have every PSA 9 1st edition WOTC holo so I made my choice a long time ago.
I don’t believe in paying 10x more just for a tiny ink stamp* on a TCG card, whereas the card design + artwork are exactly the same as the common version. However I don’t mind pulling it so that I can resell to people who value that tiny ink stamp so greatly.
*Before any smarty-pants correct or judge me, yeah I know the pic’s frame got that shadow for 1st edition. But I simply don’t care and don’t buy it.
^The REAL 1st editions are the JPN version, without rarity asterisk. For your info
From a nostalgia standpoint i would be indeed just as happy with unlimited base set instead of 1st edition or shadowless.
It is just the human nature and desire to own something rare.
Let me quote what fans here wrote, “artificial scarcity”. Set ENG cards can never be truly rare.
If you want truly rare cards, go for trophy/medal cards. 
Those are REAL rare. 
For me personally, 1st Ed all day. With WOTC in particular, people always desire the 1st Ed stamp the most for basically any set release and it’s one of the few ways to add some chase to collecting old Pokemon cards. With Base Set especially because of how popular it is already and the fact that the 1st Ed print for Base Set was much smaller than the Unlimited print has many advantages for collecting. It also had added liquidity/demand if you ever decide to sell any cards.
In the end though it really comes down to your long-term goals. If for some reason you prefer Unlimited more, then by all means collect them. But I’d say the majority of collectors will want the 1st Ed version over Unlimited if given the choice. Personally I value 1st Ed Base so much that I bought a PSA 5 1st Ed Charizard when I could have bought a way higher grade Shadowless or Unlimited. But I consider the 1st Ed version to be ‘legendary’, as do most other collectors and so I went for it instead (and I already have a Shadowless and Unlimited copy anyway 
).
Of course they are but since everyone knows they are, they are way, way out of my budget😅.
Also have no emotional connection to any trophy card and couldnt care less that i will never own one.
That’s what I am struggling with understanding, and maybe my nostalgia is outweighing the historical significance.
I do wonder if you are in the hobby long enough, if you will naturally move from nostalgia to history.
I feel that is how it goes for most people. You come back for nostalgia or fun at first, and end up going after a lot of different cards eventually as you gain more experience and learn more. For example, I didn’t really touch Japanese cards much at all when I returned, but I’ve become more and more interested in them over time and have built up a modest collection now.
Whether it’s historical or nostalgia, I feel there’s a lot of great offerings to pick up across the hobby as you get more engaged with it all.
I’ve been in the hobby for about 8 years and for some reason I keep buying the same damn cards.
You want really high rarity stuff, be prepared to pay the price. You want affordable stuff, then settle for artificial scarcity. Everything in life has pros and cons.
When one is in the hobby long enough, one may eventually get dissatisfied with the “usual”, commonly accessible stuffs. Then such persons move up the hierarchy of needs in search of rarer and more expensive stuffs. People’s mindset, needs and plans do change too, however on the other hand some people remain unchanged.
Nostalgia aspect is subjective. For most of us, growing up with Wotc ENG cards means it’s nostalgic for us. For fans growing up in Japan battling other trainers in those tournaments, those trophy/medal cards would be nostalgic for them.
Yup that’s correct.
Why is there a difference in rationale for books and cards? Ultimately it is just some differences in ink if you look at objectively.
Cheers!
For books, the 1st edition’s contents VS 2nd/subsequent edition’s can vary a lot.
For some books, it can mean from mere spelling errors to addition/omission of a few paragraphs/pages/chapters. Due to some external issues, some words can also be rephrased/replaced.
So it’s different content/feel altogether. In 1st edition, we can see the author’s original intentions thru these differences.
Not just a tiny stamp like in cards.