Looks. It’s pikachu holding a trophy bruh…aside from them being super rare. Also the whole argument that you didn’t win it is kinda irrelevant since they’re not physically designated to anyone on the cards.
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Look this Pikachu in the eyes and tell him he isn’t cute:
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So it’s a trophy of a Pika holding a trophy. I can dig it:)
@garyis2000, He is the 3rd place but a fan favorite because of the art! A vestige of the old chubby pika. 
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I’ll only collect a trophy card if it has Mew on it (see: Victory Orb Mew and Mew vs Celebi Stadium) but I certainly appreciate some of the older trophy cards and the beautiful artwork they have ^^
Right. He was chubby when I was skinny.
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It’s like holding a piece of history and you truly are, it feels very different holding a trophy/prize card as opposed to a high value chase card. If you appreciate Pokemon and it’s history it is a no brainer.
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When I said I don’t have a nostalgic connection to Japanese trophy cards it’s because I didn’t know they even existed as a kid.
When I was opening packs and playing the game in elementary school, I didn’t wish I had a trophy card. None of my friends talked about them. Whereas we all definitely wanted a Charizard.
I get they are rare. And there are obviously a bunch of people who want them as proven by the prices. I just have never understood the appeal.
Lots of things are rare that I don’t want. The example of a super bowl ring is perfect. I have no desire to have an athletes trophy ring. (Unless it was to sell and make money. Lol)
I think it’s great people like the cards. That is the beauty of Pokémon. It is very diverse !
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It’s easy to see both sides. What I wonder is, how many trophys are in the hands of the Japanese? And how many are in the hands of the Japanese winners?
Take away the PSA case of a PSA 10 Rayquaza GS and you have a mass produced card, owning the same card thousands of others own. Take away the PSA case of a PSA 5 Wonder Platinum and you have a card that has only 20 in the world, knowing only at most 19 other people own this card.
Its that exclusive element that feeds the egoistic minds of collectors, knowing they own cards in the best grade (PSA 10 collctors), or cards that not many people own (rarity collectors).
Also you get more storage space. Buy two trophy cards a year or 500 set cards a year 
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If you don’t see the appeal, don’t buy them. If you want to see the appeal as others see it, open your mind and think like someone who does.
Asking the forum why do people like trophy cards and then when you get answers, you revert back into your own mindset, isn’t going to lead to your understanding. You’ve already said why you don’t see the appeal can you see the way others think?
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That’s why I asked…
I addressed comments as some of the responses seemed to get defensive. Not all, but some.
I’m not trying to belittle your collecting preferences. I’m sorry it upset you.
It didn’t upset me. Why do you think it did?
There’s a lot of post about why people like them. Do you see why someone else might like them now?
Every thing you have that you don’t use is a collectible. Those sauce packets from every fast food place in town that are piling up in the drawer, are by definition collectibles. Make sure your collectibles bring you joy. Make sure they conjure up warm feelings and memories. Since the soy sauce and ketchup probably don’t…throw em out.
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SiX haNdeD oUt PeR YeaR
I don’t know why you only did it for the art academy 100.
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Time to pop out of the shadows!
You see, I’m the exact opposite almost, in regards to collecting Pokemon cards. I mainly aim for trophy-style cards, and am not that interested in the original base set.
When the original base set came out, my family and me (being a kid) were too broke to afford any pokemon cards. I got literally zero old school booster packs/cards from my childhood, so I don’t have a strong attachment to base set at all. I definitely see the appeal in collecting the base set if you opened it up when you were younger though! No joke, if it wasn’t for trophy style cards, I probably won’t be collecting in this hobby.
Why it appeals to me:
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The thrill of the chase: Honestly, it’s pretty exhilarating to try to chase down trophy cards when you have a set budget in mind (or even if you have unlimited funds) because they are really hard to come by. It takes a lot of patience, and it makes you appreciate the cards even more when you finally got it in your hands! If you have unlimited money, you can literally complete the entire base set and all subsequent sets within 30 minutes of clicking “buy now” on ebay, whereas it’s currently impossible to do the same for trophy cards.
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The historic value: Trophy cards have a great history behind the cards, in the way it is released, the city of origin, and it’s a great snapshot of the era it was given out. It’s a celebration of victory at a certain location, printed on a card. The older, the more significant it gets! For example, Scott’s 1997 pika trophy cards are not just trophy cards won by somebody else, but quite literally the first ever trophy card released in Pokemon history. That’s an insane historic value right there, and all subsequent pokemon TCG competitions and trophy cards all go back to that specific point in history. To me, that’s pretty significant and fascinating!
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The artwork: I disagree with how the artwork being bad; aside from the trophy cards that have someone’s face printed on them , the trophy cards are usually drawn by renowned artists and heavily reflects on the era it was released. Arita did the original pikachu trophy cards and Ken sugimori partially did TMB and fully did Spring Battle Road trophy cards. Subjectively speaking I find the artwork incredibly well drawn.
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Appreciation: As a collector, I think of it as bringing a trophy card to a good home, where it is appreciated and admired by a fan of pokemon. It’s like buying a painting from a renowned artist; you didn’t exactly paint the painting either, but it’s still appreciated.
I’m not even going to touch the value part because while it’s nice that the cards hold value, that wasn’t the main reason I collect the cards.
@admiral77, I don’t think the people are being really defensive. I think that different people see the appeal of the cards in a whole other way, and are just sharing their own unique perspectives without going too in-depth about it. Cullers made a good point because I think you’re unintentionally creating a strawman argument with your comments so it may make other members uncomfortable. For example, while it’s fair that you think that owning someone else’s trophy card feels pointless; it’s not the only reason why collectors buy trophy cards. I’m pretty sure none of the members here buy a trophy card to ride on the coattails of previous pokemon tcg winners or pretend to be a previous pokemon champion. They probably buy the cards for the history, the art, the rarity, the value, etc. It’s not just nostalgia that makes people want to collect pokemon cards… Also, while the artwork on some trophy cards are not that great (like specifically the one you chose); you literally discounted so many really good artwork trophy cards by doing that. Not all base card arts looked great either. Item finder is not exactly a good artwork, and plus it’s a rare so it would suck if you opened a base set booster pack and instead of charizard you got that instead. However, I won’t say the base set artwork is awful and then just show item finder, you catch my drift?
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I get what you’re saying about the trophy cards that don’t have Pokemon art on them. I’d love to own the older trophies just because of the nostalgic artstyle. That said, some trophies I don’t get the appeal of. The CGI Pikachu trophies from the mid-2000s do nothing for me. I would love to get one from the HGSS era though! For my collecting purposes, I’ve got to be real nostalgic for the card or blown away by the art. Some trophies hit that mark and others miss it.
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I think the market is pretty clear about a trophy status not being enough. There are so many 2010-on Japanese trophy cards that don’t sell or sell for relative peanuts. But I don’t know how you can hold a vintage Japanese trophy or an English Pika and not appreciate how special they are.
One of the challenges of high-end cards is conveying their brilliance through photos and scans. I have never seen a scan that comes close to offering the goosebumps-level appeal of a #1/#2 FA Pika.
I think a lot of people become substantially more interested in them after encountering them in person for the first time.
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The question might as well be, “why collect pokemon cards at all?”. What you collected as a kid had to start somewhere. That initial discovery of a charizard, caterpie, EX card, or whatever you grew up with is the exact same process with trophies. I will never forget the initial discovery of trophy cards. I dug through archived forum posts in the mid 2000’s looking for new cards to collect. Honestly one of the most memorable moments in the hobby. Genuinely felt magical.
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I personally think this card is beautiful. Wish I could own a copy haha. The energy symbols in the battle arena artwork does it for me 
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