Neo Genesis was an easy pick for me as well. Gen 1 and Gen 2 are very nostalgic, and I really enjoy the simplistic artwork of Base-Neo Genesis, especially for the holos. I remember as a kid I always wanted Neo Genesis packs because I liked a majority of the holos you could pull. It also helps that it included my favorite generation starter line. Lastly, I loved how WOTC introduced and integrated Gen 2 into the TCG. It seemed so fluid and it just “felt right.”
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1st ed shadowless. I also love reverse holos from legendary collection. Art from Base set is just too classic. My top 1 would be yeah base set 1st shadowless, top 2 would be a tie between jungle and fossil.
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Was torn between Gym Challenge, Neo Discovery, and Neo Destiny, ultimately voted for Destiny for nostalgia.
I can remember being pretty underwhelmed when Neo Discovery came out for some reason, but looking back it has some of my favourite cards.
Gym Challenge/Neo Destiny because I can remember looking through a guidebook/magazine of all the English cards printed up to that point (I think Destiny had just come out?) and wanting so many cards. If I remember correctly they had guide prices for each card, and the 1st Ed. Shining Charizard was something like £60(?), and that seemed like such a huge amount lol.
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People who voted for base 2 or LC… Your opinions are wrong.
I’m surprised that Rocket has no votes. I voted for Fossil, but Rocket is up there for me.
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TDLR: Everyone hates the Team Rocket set
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Gym Challenge peak Sugimori
Who could forget Lt. Surge’s Secret Plan?
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Print run was way, way high, and outside of the Dark Blastoise and Dark Raichu none of the holo artworks do much for me.
Team Rocket is probably the most coherent set in the list in terms of theme. Shame it didn’t get the votes. I suspect that a lot of people would put it top 3 but I guess not many as top 1. That applies to me too
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I’d be curious to see this same poll for those under 20.
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Right I bet a lot of their answers would be X and y sets or sun and moon but you never know. Plus there is always younger kids that still like old school cards. They are obsessed with the word “Vintage” so will probably buy old cards just to get their Vintage Kool guy pass haha. I was about 12 when base set came out so obviously that was the original set i collected. It’s definitely a favorite but I got a lot of joy from collecting the sets I never had as a kid. So anything Team Rocket or later. Because like many others I stopped collecting in high school but rejoined as a adult
As a GenX-er I was only vaguely aware of Pokemon in the late 90’s and early 2000s, via friends and family members who had kids. (I enjoy collecting in general and was focused on rare jazz, funk, and breakbeat records at that time.) After I finally settled down and started a family in my late 40s (gasp!), my son was eventually introduced to Pokemon from his school friends and that’s how I discovered it.
At the time there were Evolutions packs sprinkled in with the stuff he was opening. I was immediately drawn to the “old artworks” that were so visually distinct from the rest of the sets. I didn’t know they were base set reprints at the time, but I soon learned that’s what they were. As an outsider who didn’t grow up with Pokemon, I see something in the base set artworks that is raw and pure, and that’s the kind of art I am drawn to in all genres, not just Pokemon. So I voted for 1st Ed Base.
It’s a tough choice, though, because Himeno killed it in Jungle, there’s so many great Neo artworks, and so on.
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Was your favourite set also your favourite booster pack design?
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No, though close. Team Rocket had some of the most original artwork in the old WOTC sets and I loved Gyarados appearing multiple times - Team Rocket and Gym Heroes being tied for my 2nd favorite set, Neo Discovery for 3rd, and then Base for 4th.
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Kinda. My favourite pack art is the Neo Discovery Umbreon pack. I didn’t vote for Neo Discovery but it’s in my joint top 3 lol. Was yours?
Jungle and Rocket are my favourite sets but I prefer the jungle boosters which was the deciding factor.
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My personal favorite is Gym Heroes, have great memories and love the holos (especially gengar and moltres!) with a close second being 1st Ed. Base.
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Have to go with 1st Edition Base Set. A close second though is Gym Challenge - top notch old school Sugimori artwork
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It’a toss-up between Jungle, Neo Discovery (the most underrated WOTC set, in my opinion) and Neo Revelation, but due to nostalgia, my vote goes to Jungle.
It’s not even just the holos; it’s the non-holos like Exeggutor, Weepinbell, Eevee, Butterfree, etc.
I specifically remember being at my grandmother’s house and sitting outside with the neighbor kid and going over our binders together and we were just admiring the Jungle cards because they had just come out.
Nothing will ever beat that experience for me.
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Team rocket for life! If you disagree then expect a very angry dugtrio to turn up in your room tonight…
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