Financial freedoooooom! 
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I really donĀ“t understand this sentiment. People are acting like this is the most mediocre set there is (like Vivid Voltage). While there are similarities, the setlist is not one of them. Surging Sparjs has some great cards and is a lot better than SV 7, 5, 4, 3 and 1. I also think it is better than 6 and 2, but this can be debated.
If you ask me, it is a super solid set and I think people are going to want to open this for a long time. The Pikachu art is not great, but it is nice. The Latias and Latios arts are gorious and there are a lot of other fun cards. Is SV going to get even better? Probably, but this is the beginning of that.
Then all I need to do is develop personal charisma and get some Patreon subscribers, and I am so set 
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Nice to have a bunch of FOLKS on Patreon. No charisma needed though.
Fundamentally, Surging Sparks is not doing anything different from other SV sets. Whether the cards ālook betterā than past SV sets is purely subjective.
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Would be interested in a @Dyl comparison take, considering they spearheaded the Evolving Skies Market Watch when the popular mindset was to trash its price point for being too new.
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I donĀ“t really know what to say anymore. I think the set is objectively a very good mix of popular PokĆ©mon with good artwork. More so than most of the other sets, and definitely more so than Vivid Voltage, a set on which most people would agree that it is not very good.
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I never commented on the price.
The only comparison I see here is what is being chased, not whether the cards look better in hindsight. Rainbow Pikachu VMAX and SIR Stellar Pikachu ex are the peak of tcg set gimmicks in their respective eras before TPC moves on to something else (e.g. special art, Ownerās PokĆ©mon). Vivid Voltage had its regular Pikachu cards, Amazing Rares and a Charizard holo all of which graded in multiple thousands. Surging Sparks will do the same with Illustration Rares and Special Illustration Rares. Itās history repeating itself because this formula works for the masses
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Yeah I guess thatĀ“s true.
The point IĀ“m trying to make is that the whole list of Surging Sparks with some very good SIRĀ“s and IRĀ“s is just objectively better than Vivid Voltage. But hey, everyone obviously has the right to disagree. We will see.
Again. No one is making the direct comparison between Vivid Voltage and Surging Sparks. The comparison is framed in the context of where the sets fit into each era.
The comment I first responded to seemed (again) to be doing this. Also, the sentiment here seems to be that Surging Sparks is nothing special. I disagree with this 
But, I could be interpreting it wrong. These conversations tend to be better in person.
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I meant that I would like to hear what @Dyl thoughts were on the early ES hype/ what people were saying about the card art and price vs. the same metrics on what were all seeing with Surging Sparks.
Vivid Voltage pika had a lot of hype you may have not been born yet to remember. Prices have been surging on cards in a newly released set? You dont say? You must be around 7.5 years old to have just discovered that happens on a newly released set. SS has a variety of artworks just like every sv era set, doesnt mean its a great set. My favorite card in the set is Dugtrio and its not even close. Dugtrio > pikachu swallow that pill and dont choke on it.
Yes Eeevees posing as their evolving skies counterparts, are way nicer of an artwork than a 3d generic pikachu showing you its asshole. Thats also my opinion. The next evolving skies look a like would be prismatic Evolutions so i think youre thinking of the way better set coming out in a couple months. Not surging sparks. And yes eevees sets usually has the best artworks, I agree. Its also friday, woosaa
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Its ok to not understand my opinion. I dont see any crazy cards that are worth it for me. You do. The Latios is very nice like you said. The latias on the other hand is not all that great. I see how they put the two artworks together but just didnt cut it for me. Im willing to invest in this set because of the hype its getting at the moment but definitely not a set Id enjoy opening.
YouĀ“re entiteld to your own opinion, obviously. I responded because I donĀ“t think this set is a one-trick pony. It does have some very popular cards in it, so yeah, I disagree.
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Your only evidence of this being a bad set is based on 1 Pikachu chase card and not any other information. Having a Dugtrio as the best card in the set by a long shot means you havent looked at anything in this set without bias and hate. Vivid Voltage dosenāt have any good art, any viability, and no space for collectors at all. The sheer variety in Surging sparks immediatly solos Vivid Voltage. Your still stuck on a 2022 set that can be soloed by sun and moon team up alone (Weāve even talked about this earlier.) Dont insult me just because I dont like your precious little stonk set.
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I agree that Surging Sparks has a better mixture of pokemon, but it feels marginal, or perhaps leaves you wanting more. Nonetheless its definitely less SV pokemon, which I think was already mentioned. The similarity to Vivid Voltage is the Pikachu chase. Sure they arenāt 1 to 1, as there is more variety in SS.
The silver lining I think everyone can agree on is Surging Sparks shows how desperate people are for a good set. If you remove the AR/SAR aspect, SV would be the worst era to collect. No one is excited about SV pokemon, or completing sets. The focus is entirely on the beautiful AR/SAR cards, which is more about the design template than the actual pokemon.
13 Likes
I agree with the first half of your comment.
However, removing the AR/SAR aspect would be the equivalent of removing Secret Rares and Full arts from Black & White or X & Y. There is not much left then.
I think the Illustration Rares and Secret Illustrations are what makes this era pretty good (not the best so far, but it is getting there IMO). I wouldnĀ“t call it desperate because of this, I just think it is a fun set.
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I feel like this has been more and more of trend each era and its kinda sad. I actually like new mons so love seeing sets like Paradox Rift filled with them. It seems like many older collectors now wait for the time of Non X Pokemon sets which I think is unfortunate. SWSH I canāt think of any big chases for people from the Galar mons besides Galarian Moltres(Which is still based off a Kanto mon), Crimson Invasion is seen as one of the worst sets due to it being mostly filled with new Ultra Beasts, and even going as far back as Emerging Powers, people still bring up the lack of hits.
I really think this thread and sets at large can be boiled down to perspective. If you think the set is good and has hits from your perspective, great. That doesnāt mean everyone else will like it, but as a collector if you love the set thatās the important part. Even what I said above is just my perspective, its perfectly okay to not like new mons and vice versa. As some as said in this thread already card art is subjective to the person. Iām sure kids are loving this stuff and some will probably be really excited to look back on things like Crimson Invasion while others simply wont bother. This keeps the market going and fun!
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