Pikachu illustrator
1st edition base set charizard
Rayquaza Gold star
Crystal Lugia aquapolis
Masaki gengar
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I think many of us had similar experiences! I know I certainly had, I was totally wowed the first time I saw it, instant “this is special!”-moment, blowing up the rarity in my head, loving the look of it, with no-one around to crush my assumptions. That initial sentiment may only have lasted for a few weeks or even days but by that point the impression was already made. Also helps that it is a singular and beautiful card.
I think a lot of the cards I would term “iconic” are tied to these little magical moments and experiences that so many people share and connect over.
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If we’re being vulnerable about our feelings towards DCE then I’ll add that one of my earliest dreams that I still remember involved pulling a Double Psychic Energy card. The artwork for it was so cool.
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I’m legit shocked that this guy isn’t on every single list.
In 1999, pretty much every single kid had this card. For most, it was the first holo they got. For a lot of kids whose parents didn’t heavily fund the hobby for them, it was one of their most treasured cards. For others, it was the catalyst of playground 1st edition debates and discoveries, people talked about this card.
In 2010 when I was in Uni and Facebook meme groups were all the rage, there was a page floating around called something like “Keeping a Machamp Pokemon card in your wallet as ID” which had like a million members, just regular people during a major Pokemon lull, not hardcore Pokemon fans. People remember this card.
And even 20 years later when people flooded back into the hobby, people find out there’s still layers to this card with shadowless, cosmos variant, trainer deck.
Base set Charizard is the only card that holds a candle to this card when it comes to “iconic”.
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I love that you included Ho-oh but realistically speaking, it’s a pretty niche Pokemon in the grand scheme of popular culture.
Lugia just has so much more relevancy than its counterpart with the second movie, XD: Gale of Darkness and its rookie card being released during the height of Pokemon’s popularity shortly after the Generation 2 games.
Personal anecdote but when I was growing up and collecting cards every kid wanted Lugia during Neo Genesis’ release. Its art was so badass and it used 3 different types of energy to attack! But by the time Neo Revelation rolled around most kids had left the hobby and it was considered “uncool” to still be collecting Pokemon cards.
Honestly yeah, I second it as being insanely iconic. My brother and sister still recall this card and they gave up pokemon ages ago and never looked back. When I tell them that actually valuable versions of it exist they still doubt me hahaha!
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This always surprises me - I always thought that Ho-Oh would be at least as popular as Lugia, due to it being fire type and therefore the Charizard equivalent of gen 2, as evidenced by its art on the Gameboy box. My brother got Pokemon Red and Gold; I got Blue and Silver. I guess Lugia just gained a lot more relevance through the movies.
There’s so many good cards here that could count as iconic, though if we’re talking iconic as in most seen or most recognized, I feel like I’ve seen these cards more times in my life than any other tbh. I guess that’s the case for many common or basic Pokemon cards, just because that’s what everyone had as kids because they were so common. Hence, common cards.
But it probably would be boring to include commons, which I guess is why ‘iconic’ can and does mean more than “most seen” or “most recognizable.” I guess .w.
I for my part was disappointed when I learnt Ho-Oh’s typing, felt like a pimped Moltres and became a little less special in my mind. Still preferred it to Lugia as a kid, though I loved both. Like you say, the movie definitely played a huge part.
Lugia was more “special” in a way, weird hybrid creature as opposed to just a bird, no water type despite living in the depths of the ocean and, like someone mentioned earlier, the 11/10 god tier rookie was released during peak hype unlike the Ho-Oh Masago equivalent. Plus people love Psychic types.
Really wish I bought that Ho-oh a few years back…actually many years back, when I decided to complete the holo sets for Base-Fossil.
Beautiful artwork.
I don’t think Ho-oh has ever had a movie right? So it’ll never be as popular as Lugia starring in the 2000 movie or whenever that was with the bird trio too.