I feel exactly the same, but I stopped being excited after dp already. The late SM Tag Team sets brought me back into it (especially Cosmic Eclipse with the full art character rares) and I absolutely love the direction they´re going. I just leave out sets I don´t care for (looking at you champions path etc) and have at least as much fun as back in the day.
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Japanese has been on a roll since Ultra Shiny GX. I think Tag Bolt, Double Blaze, Sky Legends, Miracle Twins, Remix Bout, Dream League and Tag All Stars are all fantastic sets with multiple great to straight up incredible cards worth getting and cheap.
Honestly the first year of Sword and Shield was a little lackluster, but since Legendary Pulse they have all been home runs for me, although Shiny Star V ended up not really living up to the pre-card reveal hype. Still a good set though.
Long may it continue.
Yes I’m in the same boat! I’ve started delving into modern after discovering some of the full arts of the last few years. It’s mainly due to the fact that prices of sets I grew up with have gone up in value so much it’s forced me to look at other things to collect.
I hope the new Tyranitar V goes down in price because that is one of the best modern arts I’ve seen.
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Great thread! As many others have said, yours pretty much echoes my experience. I got back into collecting in 2010, tapered off around the end of XY, and basically stopped with SM except the holiday sets, which I thought were a lot of fun. The alternate full arts in modern sets are incredible, and despite scarcity, I’m as excited as ever to be opening modern packs.
I think simplistic cards like this would have been huge hits if they were only reserved for the big 3 and other popular mons like lugia, etc. I also didn’t like how they left out some mons, for example they did zard and stoise like this but not venusaur? Really irked me when S&M ended and we never got venusaur or swampert to finish off the evo lines.
This was exactly what I was hoping for when I saw the Koffing card that @nickofturl shared - more cards that spoke to Pokemon’s icon status rather than boring 5ban Full Arts. We still have the rainbow rares for now, but these last two sets have me singing praises.
Even the common art is weird, wonderful, and breathtaking! It has me excited for the first time in a while to see what future sets come out with.
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Just went on ebay to quickly order a copy, but they’re like 40-50 bucks?! Blaziken and the birds even way over 100! They have to come down short term, don’t they? (Please say yes)
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The Tyranitar/Empoleon Japanese ones haven’t gone down even though the English set is out, so unless the amount of product increases, I’d say you’re not gonna be happy. Have also heard Japanese supply is not increasing in the near future so not looking good.
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I haven’t seen the Single and Rapid strike cards go down in price but, supply is low right now. My recent experience with modern is the opening first week price is often close to the cheapest the cards get. I just bought the Slowking SR for 3600 yen.
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I’m so stoked to see Komiya is doing more full arts. Eager to see more down the line!! Wish I could paint like him 
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I don’t believe it is fair to call it a revival as when you see the release history from a meta point of view this has been the formula since generation 4. Gen 3 was an unusual experimental, growing pain era which reminiscent of an album that you don’t think is good but has a lot of forward-thinking game-changing and original qualities.
I relate with the OP post much as this is from a later time when I still remember seeing the debuts of Lugia and Ho-Oh LEGEND which from a rarity formula, presentation, and release standpoint changed everything about the release structure of the game. What we have now is, fortunately, more of the good and bad quality in quantity releases from a formula that starts with basic quality introductive models become increasingly more complex in style, creative capabilities, and artistic emphasis.
The outside collaborations (Mario & Luigi Gen 6, Edvard Munch Gen 7 & recent post stamps) have been it seems a generational tradition. Before that, it was promoting themselves within as a label only to claim sponsored collaboration afaik (Burger King, McDonald’s, Domino’s). The LEGENDS afaik were commission of artists outside of Pokémon (Shinji Higuchi known for being art director on Neon Genesis Evangelion) like the recent Urfishu (etc?) Studio Ghibli frelance artist used whom I can’t remember who if someone would like to roast this comment medium well are more then welcome.
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Sowsow is the messiah of modern cards.
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I feel so bad for people who don’t enjoy modern!
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Abrakadabra or gtfo
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The saddest thing in this hobby is WOTC only collectors, F.
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It seems that Pokemon is trying to satisfy collectors with realeasing tons of alternative arts and those amazing illustrations.
The last time i felt such excitement for modern was the Poncho Pikachu Era around 2016.
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I’m not going to lie, the last few sets have been killer. I hope Pokemon recognizes the demand they’ve received because of these new sets and continues to get art pieces like this. Besides Sowsow, Komiya’s also been a MVP artist for Modern as of late.
My only complaint is that they haven’t figured out a better alternative than Rainbow Rares. It was interesting during the brief “Waifu” boom where you saw the more rare Rainbow rares going for LESS than their regular colored counterparts.
But all in all, this is a great era for Pokemon as far as artwork goes. Excited to see what they come out with next. The last few sets have been consistently incredible!
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I was really into s&m before the sun and moon era it’s a massive shame really.
I prefer the black and white era shiny/secret rares. Many it the modern cards try to make up for lack of creativity (talking about sun and moon) with more shine. The tag teams and alternate arts have been amazing. Amazing rares and Shining cards were also a breath if fresh air from the rainbow rares. They’ve tried this in the past with breaks and prisms but they don’t stand on their own like amazing rares and Shinings. I’m really enjoying modern.
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