It will be interesting going forward tbh now that ash, and pikachu arent the main protagonists of the anime. Merch of Pikachu is still popular, but it makes me wonder if they will ever change mascots. I doubt it, but its fun to think about.
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I donāt think Ashās retirement has made any impact to be fair. Pikachu remains on most if not every promotion (cards, merch, graphics). The round head with two pointy ears is their brand identity, Ash was just a puppet lol 
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The original Top dog
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https://x.com/pokebeach/status/1949873848628957546
Hes still kicking!
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Has there ever been a set with Charizard, where that is not the top pull?
Lost origin trainer gallery? Boundaries crossed and power keepers but those were only holos.
Zard still got that dog in em
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Is Charizard still top dog? I think so.
The real question: is Charizard still updawg?
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AR-ARWOO!
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True Lol. Gengarās on the rise
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Whats dawggin you?
I feel itās less Charizard fell off and more other already popular Pokemon gained in popularity. Off the top of my head Iād probably rate the most popular species (in the TCG) as follows:
S+: Charizard, Pikachu
S: Umbreon, Gengar, Rayquaza
S-: Lugia, Mew, Mewtwo
This could change in the future. Iāve heard Umbreon and Gengar are especially popular with Gen Z collectors who didnāt grow up with Charizard or are sick of it being shoved everywhere for years.
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Just because you can put a leash on it and walk it doesnt make it a dog!
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Speaking as someone who wasnāt super deep into pokemon when I was younger, I wouldnāt say any of the others you listed are even half as iconic as charizard. Even talking to some of my friends who know nothing about pokemon know what charizard is but umbreon? No idea.
So yes, charizard is still top dog.
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I want a picture of Operator Lopunny now.
This pretty much sums up my thoughts also. I think the recent price movements in Skyridge illustrates your point pretty well bc it has desirable Charizard, Gengar, and Umbreon cards in the same set.
Gengar and Umbreon have exploded in price recently. Charizard has experienced āmodestā gains by comparison but is still the most expensive card in the set by a pretty substantial amount.
Gengar & Umbreon certainly have the momentum in their favor and I could see either taking the ātop dogā status in the future. Itās just hard to deny Charizard at this point when it still commands a premium in essentially every set itās been in.
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i mean the price of charizard skyridge is bonkers. I dont think the comparison your making is fair.
its harder to make a big % move higher if the price is already high to begin with.
a lot of it is just investment principals. like why would I invest in nvda today with a 4.3 trillion market cap. To ever 2x my money nvda would need to jump to 8.6 trillion which is more than almost every countries GDP. But if i start at a smaller market cap, I can see a realistic pathway to multiply in the future
If Iām an investor bro it might make sense to buy umbreon skyridge for 13k because i can see a pathway to 20k and making 50% gains
same gains on zard
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Iām surprised thereās no mention of Lugia. His cards are always big.
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