I think it’s safe to say that most collectors follow pattern.
They enjoy something as a kid
They lose interest in it for various reasons
They come back to what they enjoyed as a kid with renewed interest as an adult
My first exposure to Pokémon was base set and I collected through fossil before losing interest.
Naturally, when I came back to the hobby as an adult I picked up where I left off and had zero interest in anything except base, jungle, fossil.
Over time started learning about, developing an appreciation for, and collecting subsequent sets.
Now I’m completely engrossed in neo/e-reader era art…and if I’m being objective with myself… it makes base/jungle/fossil art look ‘whack’ as the kids say.
But base/jungle/fossil is what I grew up with, so I love it.
When I came back to the hobby, I had no choice but to explore the subsequent sets simply because there were no previous sets.
Question(s)
I’m curious what that process looks like if your first exposure to Pokémon wasn’t generation 1?
If you grew up with EX, do you have an appreciation for and/or collect WOTC or are you only interested in EX and what came after?
If you grew up with Diamond & Pearl, do you have an appreciation for and/or collect EX & WOTC or are you only interested in Diamond & Pearl and what came after?
I definitely agree with the pattern you identified, it describes my experience very well!
When I was into Pokemon as a kid, it was towards the end of the EX era and the beginning of DP. EX is my main collecting area and I would definitely say I prefer that era of cards the most. However, second to EX in my “preference” would be BW/XY, which was new when I got back into collecting.
I definitely appreciate WOTC and E-series era cards and have a good number of them in my collection. However I don’t really have specific collection goals for that era. In EX/DP/BW and so forth I have goals to get all of a certain type of cards. But with WOTC era stuff I’m more happy with getting the smaller number of cards that I really enjoy. I have no nostalgic attachment to things like Base Set Charizard and Neo Lugia.
I grew up first opening neo packs and stopped collecting as a kid at the end of the dp era. I do appreciate wotc but base/jungle/fossil doesnt hit quite the same to me as many others here it seems. I did have base/jungle/fossil etc as a kid but it wasn’t quite as interesting then or now as 2nd or 3rd gen sets.
Although I definitely remember fondly collecting dp era sets as a kid, but I don’t care for them as much now so I do think it’s partly what do you like as an adult and not purely nostalgia driven.
I typically follow the same path as well. I entered right at the beginning of Gen 3, so thats what I gravitate towards most but I definitely appreciate older cards too!
For example, Fossil Dragonite and Shining Mew come to mind for cards I really appreciate outside Gen 3.
To give a rough estimate, I’d put my focus/collection at 50% Gen 3, 25% Gen 1-2, and 25% Gen 4-9.
Genuinely curious to know as well. Im 31, pokemon anything was forbidden in our house. My parents were strict catholics and i would try to hide my cards but they always found them. Loved the show to death, played all the games up until sun and moon. They even went as far as to make me burn all my cards. But thats a whole different story. Anyway when i went on my own it was like i was making up for lost time. Got all the ones i remember back, and just went absolutely nuts for a while.
Sorry if this is too far off topic, but I got into diecast cars around 2000 which was many decades after people started collecting them. That hobby has been spoiled with excellence over the past 5-10 years and I actually enjoy the brand new stuff the most but have an appreciation for all eras. Funnily enough, the late 70s until about 2006 or 2007 were horrible relatively speaking- I don’t buy too much from those decades. But I love to find a good one from the 60s-70s along with the new stuff. The time that I started was one of the worst eras, not the best.
Anyone that started Pokemon after the first few generations is missing out if they don’t go back to WotC and anyone that only collects vintage is missing out too. But in contrast to the cars I typically get a bigger kick out of a nice WotC find than I do pulling a good card out of a modern pack. So I’m not totally immune to nostalgia.
I was 7 years old when Pokémon Diamond and Pearl came out and that was more or less my first exposure into collecting and trading Pokémon with friends in school. Personally, I have an appreciation for each generation before and after (maybe not now since I don’t really collect Scarlet & violet or sword and shield). I tend to focus on both what I grew up with and what cards have some type of special release or rarity to them.
When growing up with Diamond and Pearl, older ex series sets were still available at retail mixed with diamond and pearl packs from what I remember. At the time, even though ex cards were pretty much phased out for Lv. X, as a kid I could see the ex was superior in terms of look and appeal. Currently I still try and look out for chase cards from 2007 – 2009 for my binder.
There was a card store near my intermediate school my mom used to take me to that had older packs like base set and legendary collection. I would always ask for legendary collection even though they were $5 or $10 per pack which was insane to think of as a child since I could buy a whole tin for less than $20 and get a guaranteed Lv. X promo.
Those memories though of opening up older packs did allow me to feel nostalgic about collecting them as I got older even though they were already long out of print before I even knew what Pokémon was. I still try and collect set chase cards from WOTC - DP, but my other goals (autographs, JPN promos, prize cards) will always hold me back from set card collecting.
My adult collecting priorities are way different from collecting as a kid. The longer you’ve been in the hobby and researched different sets or cards, collecting goals are sure to change overtime.
I grew up with EX and Diamond & Pearl, but I’m still interested in WOTC.
In the schoolyard, WOTC cards were famous for being ‘the old ones’ and carried a certain cachet. Surprisingly, Base Set holos were desirable among my peers and I even then, even though we were 1-2 years old when they came out. I suspect the infamy of Base Set Charizard etc was handed down to some kids by their older siblings, who then spread the word.
I grew up mostly opening Diamond & Pearl /Platinum sets and the final few sets of ex era. Though back in 2008, you could still randomly find stuff like a R/S or Sandstorm pack once in a blue moon at the store, it was a weird time. But luckily I’ve gotten to open almost every set outside of WotC, I just didn’t get to appreciate it enough at my age.
I have a genuine interest for WotC, but it’s definitely harder to have an attachment for something you’ve never opened before (in my opinion). I’m sure some gen 1ers can relate to this who haven’t opened mid-era before.
Since I grew up opening ex-XY, those are my favorites, but I do still have Base Set through Gym Challenge complete in unlimited. I enjoy the history of Pokemon a ton, so I still eventually would like to have every card from Base->Skyridge complete. I also love any exclusive cards like VS Series, vending, festa, etc… I pretty much collect anything from WotC → SWSH
Was around 10 years old in 1999 when the boom occurred and then gradually grew out of Pokemon once Neo came around. Back then, Pokemon had the “kiddie” stigma and sadly I stopped following. I can remember going to Target years later and being shocked that Pokemon cards still were being sold
Around 2016 when Evolutions and Pokemon Go came out; that sucked me back into collecting. I originally was a Kanto only collector…but after experiencing and getting to know different regions through Pokemon Go/more exposure within the hobby, now I love other generations.
I actually grew up with black and white. So im REALLY one of the younger folks to this hobby. I collect/play Base-Legacy Competitively, and love wotc cards. 90% of my collection is Wotc almost 4x over. Then wotc reprints.
Its weird for me because Im also one of the ones who grew up with red/blue, BUT I never stopped playing the games. I did stop collecting the cards, but every Pokemon from each generation holds a special place in my heart, but some more than others. I really only have nostalgia for the older games, but not the pokemon themselves. Its a unique perspective imo. Ive noticed alot of people that have been around since it started, and got out of the hobby only really care for the old stuff which is fine, but theyve missed out imo!
Thanks for the response! If i put my nostalgia aside I completely understand that perspective. Base is always going to be near and dear to me no matter what but I also find the art in gen 2/3 more compelling. I haven’t dabbled in dp era yet so time will tell
Growing up, my family didn’t have a lot of money. I was very fortunate to always have what I needed. I always had clothes, food, a clean home, etc, but Pokemon cards were just not something my parents bought an abundance of. At the time it seemed like everyone around me had the sick holographic base set cards, but I didn’t. I guess when I started collecting, I was mainly interested in getting all of the cards I never had as a kid, but knew existed. It’s definitely turned into something else today though. I started to appreciate the art more, and just love the collecting aspect of the cards. It’s cool having rare things.
Funnily enough, my favorite generation is 3. Ruby was the first game I completed fully, and so I gained the most knowledge of Pokemon during gen 3. It’s the most nostalgic to me, and so that is what I mainly am interested in collecting today. Man, just thinking about it brings back the memory of encountering Latios, and catching it at like 7:00 in the morning on the way to school. What a blast.
So I guess it can sort of go both ways in a sense.
At first I honestly never really understood why people liked ex era cards until I participated in the secret santa and started researching it for my recipient.
After doing so I I have base level of understanding and have grown to appreciate it. I’ve since added a couple ex era cards to my collection.
Time will tell but I find concept of delta species intriguing and I’m sure delta species is just touching the surface of ex era cards
I can’t even imagine. The closest thing I can remember to something like that was the concern with harry potter books back in the day. I guess the only thing one can do is accept the situation and not repeat the mistakes in the future. I’m glad you got the ones you remember back.
I grew up with Base-Fossil so probably don’t exactly fit the question. Left before ex era.
I did cycle back to finish those 3 sets after university, but didn’t bother with the rest and thought it was dead anyway since I didn’t know anywhere that sold cards.
Last games I played on console were Ruby and Sapphire so didn’t have a great fondness of Gens 4,5 and 6 Pokemon. Even though I didn’t play Gen 7, the designs improved for me and then when got a Switch and played Gens 8 & 9, the bias against newer generations faded away.
It also helps that since I returned (during Chilling Reign) I collect more for the art than anything else so it doesn’t matter what Pokemon is on the card as long as the artist does good work. We are a minority collecting demographic though.
I’m not sure where we are at in terms of the nostalgia cycle, but what’s interesting is that the raw chase cards for the most part do not seem prohibitively expensive even after 10 years+ for DPP and earlier. I’m not sure what it means though. Print runs were a lot smaller but then so was interest. My own personal opinion is that a lot of chase card art is dated and ugly so there is a natural ceiling for prices/interest.
Like, it’s surprising to me that some tag team alt arts from SM are more expensive than loads of cards from the first 6 generations despite presumably higher quantities. Can that kind of interest translate to Level X, Primes etc? If it would, you’d think it would have already happened by now.
I grew up with Gen 4 and like to collect everything from there until now (although Gen 5 and 7 interest me less than Gen 4, 6 and 8-9). Additionally I also like EX era cards even though I didn’t grew up with them, however where I probably differ is that I am not really that interested in the WotC era cards.
I grew up with hgss (late platinum to early bw). And ofc I still love that era and have a special feeling for them. I bet everyone who came back to collecting has some sort of childhood dream in their collection, for me its some hgss holos and rayquaza lv.x. But that varies with everyone, id say 99% of my collection is not nostalgia driven, since I love many cards that were released just before my birth or when I wasnt even a year old, like vs series, eseries, japanese exclusive vintage promos. I like them for their rarity, art… different appealing factors.
Even tho money is always a factor for me, my likings do play a role. Since I have no connection to base I couldnt really convince myself to buy baseset since the art just seems very mid to me.