Not exactly unpopular yet unknowingly for many of us it was our first case of aromatherapy, or drugs.
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Sniffing cardboard - how Japan is corrupting our children! More at 11
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The children please think of them! *Meanwhile on your 6th Carlsberg with your neighbours in the garage watching Euro.
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Not sure if this is an unpopular opinion. 
Last English box I opened didn’t even contained any Secret Rares, and the quality of Japanesr cards over English cards is better period. The only exception I can think of is the English Hidden Fates set which had pretty high quality overall (confirmed by the hundreds of BGS Black Label 10 Charizard cards, and many PSA-10s).
Also, the silver borders on modern Asian sets also look better for most cards than the yellow English ones.
Greetz,
Quuador
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I’m in the same boat. I have such a hodgepodge of singles because I just buy specific cards based on what I like without any thought to what set they came from
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I keep a shoebox full of pack fresh base unlimited energies untouched by human hands for the exact reason to open on a rare occasion and breathe in the smell and be transported to another place. That will always be something I keep.
“Dad, Dad, why is Grandpa always taking that shoebox out of his closet and sniffing it, then hugging the box right after, then putting it away out of my reach?”
“You or I wouldn’t understand, son. From what I can gather, it is a sacred ritual of a long forgotten time, that will likely die with his generation.”
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Every time I open a pack I always smell the cards
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Are you saying the English competition is on par, if not better than, the Japanese set composition?
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That depends. If we’re speaking from the perspective of an “advanced” collector; one whom buys booster boxes, completes sets, etc, then sure having smaller sets with stronger identities is usually better as that usually gives us more motivation/purpose/value/etc to want to buy and collect that product.
On the flip side, English’s method of taking 2-3 Japanese sets and mashing it together for a super set is much better for the casual hobbyist. Take an average kid that buys 1 ETB every two months. Their only exposure to pokemon product is when they go with their parents to Target/Walmart/etc every few weeks. The kid is a fan of eeveelutions, but also big cool dragon bois. The “monstrosity” that is Evolving Skies is a much better product for the casual buyer because they have a shot at everything within one product line. These casual buyers don’t care about set identity, all they’re interested in is “opening some pokemon cards”.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m a boomer myself. I grew up with base set and all that, but I definitely feel the who emphasis on set identity, cohesion, print quality, becomes more of a focus when you become a more “advanced” collector. For the casual collector (or maybe I should use the term buyer because collector implies some focus) they just want cool cards, and these bigger “monster” sets are better suited to give them the variety and excitement that they’re after without having to pick and choose between sets. I think we at times grossly underestimate the percentage of the market that casual buyers/collectors make up.
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Unpopular opinion: the word “boomer” should be banned from the English vocabulary unless you’re saying “Boomer Sooner” at University of Oklahoma sporting events.
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Ok boomer
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I can’t wait until the year 2040 when people say “OK zoomer” to people that support live gestation over artificial wombs…
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A corny term coined by snot-nosed kids to disrespect older people. I’m only 31, but seeing the phrase used by people around my age and younger to disparage people in their 60s and 70s just goes to show how far western society has fallen in terms of actually respecting our elders.
Anyway, back to regularly scheduled programming…LV. X cards are underrated.
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Lol okay zoomer.
It’s a romantic idea in assuming these elderly didn’t get the same criticised viewpoint by younger generations at earlier times, including these live that are 60/70’s as it’s a “back in my day” none argument which isn’t able to fact find. They are in that category in fact the actual boomers.
And not to score a double intently but level X’s really are where they are and set the foundation for the basic higher rarity chase cards that followed on since. They’re just a bit more visually distinctive than simple EX’s, GX’s and V’s that followed on the quo.
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"And little Augustus Pelham said to me, ‘It’s the younger generation knocking at the door,’ and I said to him, ‘Oh, but the younger generation comes in without knocking, Mr. Pelham.’ "
- Night and Day by Virginia Woolf, 1919
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I absolutely do not respect our elderly, I respect those who deserve it. Old people did have more time to earn it, so the group gets more respect from me, but it is stupid to show someone respect just because they are old.
And lv. x cards are indeed underrated, but that is my nostalgia era so I might be a bit biased.
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Amen.
I think the real question is: compared to what? I think LV.Xs are underrated compared to a lot of post-DP cards. But on the whole, I think they’re rated just about right. I feel like LV.Xs just didn’t offer anything new. They’re basically just ex clones. That said, there are quite a few gorgeous LV.Xs.
DP Empoleon comes to mind:
(not my card; photo from Google)
And SV Rayquaza:
I do like how they brought back the trainer-owned thing, though. Having the face of the trainer is a cool addition to the card and I wish they did some cards with it during the EX Series, too.
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Defeatism in collecting is a self-fulfilling prophecy. When I see people post “This is my grail card, but I’ll never be able to get it.” I agree with them, because they will not work towards it with that attitude. But when someone posts “This is my grail card, it will be very difficult to obtain, but I will not give up” I have much more confidence in their success.
There is a difference between Defeatism and disillusion. It is completely understandable to be frustrated over prices and worried cards are slipping out of reach. I experience this all the time. But most collectors on this forum are in their 20s and 30s. If there is a specific or rare card you want, I recommend to keep an eye on the owners. And if the card is out of your price range even if it were to appear, focus on building up your personal collection of other cards, or savings, since if it appears once it can potentially trade hands years down the line.
The vast majority of Pokémon collectors are not on their death bed, bitter that they were never able to obtain their grail card. Most of us have, God willing, decades ahead of us. What is completely out of your price range at 25 years old in 2021 may be more reasonable at 50 years old in 2056, even if the card has increased in price.
As an example, there are seven officially awarded No. 1 Trainer with Chansey featuring a girl character instead of a boy. If one were to go on the market today, I would not have the money to be a competitive bidder. Does that mean I should believe "I will never be able to get this card "? No absolutely not.
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It is still easy to obtain raw mint WOTC and Ex series cards for good deals.
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If your Chansey sculpture sold, you would be able to get it no problem
I want a PSA 10 shadowless chansey but there’s only like 17 of them in the world or something. Got myself a PSA 9 at least
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