What are your unpopular opinions in pokemon?

[wotcfetish]

@qwachansey

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.

Reminds me of Kiyosakis Line: A Statment closes the Mind a Question opens the Mind
He mentioned: escape THIS → I cant do,get it / i cant afford it / i have no time. Instead it would be more productive to ask:
How can i afford it / how can i do it / why should i do that?

[qwachansey]

I didn’t realize Golurk was based off the mythical Golem until today. I thought it was just some ugly robot. To be honest I am a little uncomfortable with the design and feel it is disrespectful to the religious history of Golem which must be made from the Earth mud or clay not have flashing lights and rockets. Japan should stick with Japanese mythical beasts for inspiration on new Pokémon not venture into other religions. I don’t want to see a Ganesha style elephant Pokémon either for example.

[omrot]

@buckna

@qwachansey

I didn’t realize Golurk was based off the mythical Golem until today. I thought it was just some ugly robot. To be honest I am a little uncomfortable with the design and feel it is disrespectful to the religious history of Golem which must be made from the Earth mud or clay not have flashing lights and rockets. Japan should stick with Japanese mythical beasts for inspiration on new Pokémon not venture into other religions. I don’t want to see a Ganesha style elephant Pokémon either for example.

Chansey is basically an egg kangaroo

Do you feel offended Buckna? Pokemon is making money off of Australian mythical creatures?

[stagecoach]

@qwachansey

I didn’t realize Golurk was based off the mythical Golem until today. I thought it was just some ugly robot. To be honest I am a little uncomfortable with the design and feel it is disrespectful to the religious history of Golem which must be made from the Earth mud or clay not have flashing lights and rockets. Japan should stick with Japanese mythical beasts for inspiration on new Pokémon not venture into other religions. I don’t want to see a Ganesha style elephant Pokémon either for example.

This is a bit of a misunderstanding of what golems are and where they come from. The golem is a creature from Hebrew folklore - not religion. While it appears in religious texts (which is the nature of most preserved ancient writing, as literacy surrounded religious scripture and was prioritized for preservation), the golemic creature is sort of like a Frankenstein-like entity. The most famous Hebrew story about golems is actually akin to a sort of superhero story called The Golem of Prague - a legend in which a rabbi creates a creature to defend Jewish locals. This story served as inspiration for an in-universe superhero comic starring a golem in Michael Chabon’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, a historical fiction about two Jewish comic book authors.

There is a really good quote about golems from Moment Magazine, a Jewish community publication, that also heads the Wikipedia article:

The golem is a highly mutable metaphor with seemingly limitless symbolism. It can be a victim or villain, Jew or non-Jew, man or woman—or sometimes both. Over the centuries it has been used to connote war, community, isolation, hope, and despair.

There are really no rules for golems. In their most typical archetypal form, they are made from clay and have Hebrew script on their foreheads. They are commanded by placing scrolls in their mouths, which brings them to life. But these aren’t “rules” with deep religious significance or anything - the golem is a fictitious creature. It is a legend. It is comparable to something like a phoenix. While it is closely tied Judaism since it’s a specifically Jewish legend, it does not hold the sort or religious importance that worries you. Golems have appeared in fiction for hundreds of years - they are welcome and beloved characters.

This is significantly different from something like Ganesha, which is an actual Hindu deity that people worship and holds spiritual significance to many millions of people. A Pokémon based on Ganesha would be insulting because it trivializes and fictionalizes something people worship and hold in esteem - it’s a recognized deity in one of the largest religions on Earth. But a golem is not worshipped, it’s a story for fun, so seeing it reinterpreted as a Pokémon is not out of line with its many interpretations since the creature’s inception. I think it’s a fun gateway to Hebrew myth for people who might not know about the legacy of the monster.

(I am really in to Hebrew legend and myth.)

[kurtosisblakeinfini]

@qwachansey

I didn’t realize Golurk was based off the mythical Golem until today. I thought it was just some ugly robot. To be honest I am a little uncomfortable with the design and feel it is disrespectful to the religious history of Golem which must be made from the Earth mud or clay not have flashing lights and rockets. Japan should stick with Japanese mythical beasts for inspiration on new Pokémon not venture into other religions. I don’t want to see a Ganesha style elephant Pokémon either for example.

Too late. Japan internal inspiration finished after core Gen 1&2 Sugimori-Tajiri era and has expanded out ever since. Golurk isn’t even the first hebrew inspired 'mon, let alone golem and is actually closer to the original basis, whilst also not taking itself too seriously (classic pokémon) by adding contemporary features in being more flexible. That’s good you feel uncomfortable that way believe it or not as it exemplifies their creative freedom. lol Pokémon definitely should not take this cultural appropriation seriously when they are the leaders in contemporary creature design in having more depth for engrained respect to source material for more elements of world mythology, culture and natural history than most other fantasies that the pokemon themselves are icons for cultures individually speaking. Arceus is already based on many Asian-related creator deities so a Ganesha would be no different than seeing Cthulhu or many of the many animal headed anthropromorphic middle eastern deities.

[vintagetcg]

@omrot

@buckna

Chansey is basically an egg kangaroo

Do you feel offended Buckna? Pokemon is making money off of Australian mythical creatures?

Thanks! You just shattered my childhood. I thought Skippy was real but I did start to question my belief we he flew that Helicopter once.

[kurtosisblakeinfini]

@qwachansey

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.

Yolo. You/one might as well try and in the meantime also resolve other matters and as cliche as saying “you never know when” it’s actually true when you really don’t know when and how much next time the thing you’ve seeked for who knows how much increasingly long with turn up. Several collections, grail items posters, clothes and vinyl (seperate interest but fuck if ONLY Pokémon release official good looking holofoil gatefold soundtracks) have hit me this way of recent in such suprises but damn it is very easy to obsess into a minute detail of one object meanwhile the rest of collection wants come and go like the beasts. I got numerically speaking the rarest vinyl (1 of 10 copies) on my wants at such an unexpected suprise and amazing price but also missed out on auctions for posters that inspired me to be on this forum of recent, and I’ve only seen them once. I’m trying to be anecdotal with what you’re pointing out and I agree that defeatism or disillusion, one might as well try and gear up and see where it goes.

[kurtosisblakeinfini]

@buckna

@qwachansey

Golurk goes brrrrr

Chansey is basically an egg kangaroo

I do find a plenty of parallels of Chansey to Kangaskhan. Maybe they were planned initially as version exclusives I guess? I do see a lot of Cait Sith similarites personally, but same as concept from Sephiroth to Mewtwo’s origin story it was likely that if inspiration did occur it was Pokémon first.

[qwachansey]

@stagecoach I happen to disagree. I am very familiar with the history of the Golem. Much of it I learned from my grandmother who was my last living relative to speak Yiddish and faint Hebrew. That the Golem defended ghettos from slaughter. It is nothing like the Phoenix which is considered a complete myth.

[stagecoach]

@qwachansey

@stagecoach I happen to disagree. I am very familiar with the history of the Golem. Much of it I learned from my grandmother who was my last living relative to speak Yiddish and faint Hebrew. That the Golem defended ghettos from slaughter. It is nothing like the Phoenix which is considered a complete myth.

I see. I come from a Judeo-Christian family myself so I hope you do not feel I was speaking out of turn. I mistook your post for only just learning about golem myth and I did not realize you were Jewish, which was why I responded the way I did. I meant no offense so please accept my apology if I have caused it to you. It was not my intention to summarize your own ancestry to you.

[qwachansey]

@stagecoach it’s totally fine. I see where the confusion lies. I meant I had not realized Golurk was supposed to be based off a Golem until today, because the design is so far removed from the history and culture while still maintaining crucial elements such as the seal, enscriptions, personality, and other Pokedex entries that make it clear Golem is the base to work off. I happened to be reading about the Pokémon after the Alt Art reveal and being curious.

[zorloth]

@qwachansey

@stagecoach I happen to disagree. I am very familiar with the history of the Golem. Much of it I learned from my grandmother who was my last living relative to speak Yiddish and faint Hebrew. That the Golem defended ghettos from slaughter. It is nothing like the Phoenix which is considered a complete myth.

As I understood it, golems have always been considered a complete myth. Perhaps there were some who believed in them, but they were always merely folkloric (in the same vein as mermaids or leprechauns). Regardless, golems have zero religious significance in Judaism and I don’t see how Golurk is in any way offensive (or at least it certainly isn’t to me).

[qwachansey]

@zorloth

@qwachansey

@stagecoach I happen to disagree. I am very familiar with the history of the Golem. Much of it I learned from my grandmother who was my last living relative to speak Yiddish and faint Hebrew. That the Golem defended ghettos from slaughter. It is nothing like the Phoenix which is considered a complete myth.

As I understood it, golems have always has been considered a complete myth. Perhaps there were some who believed in them, but they were always merely folkloric (in the same vein as mermaids or leprechauns). Regardless, golems have zero religious significance in Judaism and I don’t see how Golurk is in any way offensive (or at least it certainly isn’t to me).

I understand this is an unpopular opinion but this comment is absurd. In the Talmud Adam was initially created from the dust (clay) of Earth. The “folklore” history is completely different from mermaid or leprechaun.

[zorloth]

@qwachansey

@zorloth

As I understood it, golems have always has been considered a complete myth. Perhaps there were some who believed in them, but they were always merely folkloric (in the same vein as mermaids or leprechauns). Regardless, golems have zero religious significance in Judaism and I don’t see how Golurk is in any way offensive (or at least it certainly isn’t to me).

I understand this is an unpopular opinion but this comment is absurd. In the Talmud Adam was initially created from the dust (clay) of Earth. The “folklore” history is completely different from mermaid or leprechaun.

There’s a difference between golems being referred to in religious texts and their having religious significance. Golems have zero ritualistic or practical relevance in Judaism. They are significant in Jewish folklore, but I don’t see how that makes it offensive to base a Pokemon on them (I’m saying this as another Jewish person, in case it wasn’t clear).

[jawsh98]

@zoroth, I am always confused why you have to argue everyone’s comments? Anything having to do with religion, remember to move on to a different thread.

[lordpokesmoke]

@jawsh98

@zoroth, I am always confused why you have to argue everyone’s comments? Anything having to do with religion, remember to move on to a different thread.

An argument in the unpopular opinion thread?

[kurtosisblakeinfini]

@brendantheclayboy

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.”

Damn. That was poetic.

[zorloth]

@jawsh98

@zoroth, I am always confused why you have to argue everyone’s comments? Anything having to do with religion, remember to move on to a different thread.

I enjoy arguing with people. I don’t mean it as a negative or aggressive thing. I just like discussing different ideas or things that interest me. Conversation is pointless if everyone agrees about everything. When I see something I strongly disagree with, I like to express that disagreement – not to be aggressive or provoke the other person, but to start a dialogue. Some people view arguments as an inherently negative thing, but that is precisely the opposite of how I view them. I always remain civil, even when the other party doesn’t.

[legendarymewchu]

I don’t mind TCG not guaranteeing a SR in each Japanese box. I also feel like guaranteed SR is a form of fixing a box and shows they can and will control pull rates.

It makes finding a SR a bit more worthwhile and feel like ‘the old days’. It feels silly when you pull a SR and not even excited as there’s 20 other better SR’s.

Having said that - they need to trim the numbers down and just remove rainbow. When 25%-33% addition to main set is SR is just silly.

[kurtosisblakeinfini]

@zorloth

@jawsh98

@zoroth, I am always confused why you have to argue everyone’s comments? Anything having to do with religion, remember to move on to a different thread.

I enjoy arguing with people. I don’t mean it as a negative or aggressive thing. I just like discussing different ideas or things that interest me. Conversation is pointless if everyone agrees about everything. When I see something I strongly disagree with, I like to express that disagreement – not to be aggressive or provoke the other person, but to start a dialogue. Some people view arguments as an inherently negative thing, but that is precisely the opposite of how I view them. I always remain civil, even when the other party doesn’t.

https://media.giphy.com/media/HPvfnOuz1tOgg/giphy.gif(image larger than 4 MB)