I would also go with Victory Orb all day!
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I think both are very desirable, the bigger difference I feel is one is more established to the mainstream (Charizard). The Trophy cards to me are for a bit more seasoned collector in the hobby. I feel most people on the outside or who grew up with Pokemon won’t often know about them, but they are slowly getting more and more exposure over time and becoming well established in the hobby. As more and more people join the hobby or become interested, the trophy cards are uniquely positioned compared to just about any Charizard set card and collectors like owning these more rare and unique cards. They are quite literally like having ‘trophies’ in your collection to me.
Both of these cards have ‘bragging rights’ but I think it’s safe to say there will always be another Charizard out there. With the Trophy card, it will always stand out in your collection much more to me.
Overall, I love Charizard - but it would be really cool to own a unique/expensive trophy card as well, so personally I would go with the one that you find most appealing as a collector and have an attachment to. For what it’s worth, after I acquired a Gem Mint graded WOTC-era Charizard (not 1st Edition, lol) it satisfied my childhood Charizard ‘itch’ and instead I put my money into acquiring a bunch of other cards I want.
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I think we need to distinguish between significant trophy cards vs ‘random trophy cards that people only want because they’re rare.’ There are some trophy cards that people actually want. Like I can completely understand why the Illustrator or Kanghaskhan are hugely coveted by people. But then there are other ‘trophy’ cards that feel mainly driven by speculative demand.
I’m not nearly knowledgeable enough about the trophy card market to say which category the Victory Orb falls into. But I think it’s something OP should think about. Victory Orb may very well fall into that first category (I genuinely have no clue).
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@zorloth, You are correct. The orb is not the most desirable. Which is why this is a good contrast.
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Yeah, it’s definitely an interesting comparison. Maybe it’s just my personal collecting preference, but I would much rather have a top-tier set card (I.e, PSA 9 1st Ed base zard) than a low-mid tier trophy. I’m just not a fan of the idea of paying 5-figures for something that isn’t a top-tier item within its class. But to each their own, of course. If OP loves the orb, then awesome.
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I agree. In general, Charizard is going to be desired by majority of new and old collectors probably for the rest of time compared to these more obscure Trophy cards. It’s definitely the ‘safer’ play in this sense.
I just feel maybe if I was in the situation where I had to choose between these, and I wanted something more unique in my collection, that a Trophy card could be a compelling prospect. I think if I was in this for the long term, I might be swayed to go for the Trophy first and buy the Charizard later given the availability of each.
Overall, it’s a little hard to know the long-term and how this would work out for this Trophy, so I think it really is going to depend on ones collecting goals and what they enjoy most in this case.
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Trophies don’t do anything for me personally. I’ve never played the card game (except on the original GB TCG), I don’t keep up with the competitive scene, and they instill no sense of nostalgia in me. I can appreciate the rarity and value of trophy cards but I don’t think I’d get anything close to the enjoyment I’d get from a 1st ed charizard
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I think the replies so far are doing a fantastic job of demonstrating the debate I’ve had going on in my head (with fewer usernames involved haha).
I love owning a rare piece like a trophy card in PSA 10, but I do often wonder if the main enjoyment only comes from having something that someone else doesn’t have. Take away the exclusivity, and how many of us would pay a lot of trophies a second thought?
The reason I focussed specifically on a PSA 9 Charizard, is due to the rough equivalence in value to my trophy. If I was going to liquidate that card to fund a high value purchase such as a 1st ed Charizard, I’d want to get the highest quality copy possible, rather than massively downgrade from a “gem mint” trophy to a NM> set card.
I did like the point that was made, over the collectible (not monetary) value of a top tier set card, next to a mid-tier premium one. That’s a very good question!
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I think you should keep the Orb, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with selling rare promos or trophy cards for set cards if that is what you prefer collecting.
I will give a recent example; I sold my Art Academy Goomy, which only had 100 distributed, and had sentimental value from grading myself. I was quite fond of the card did not intend to sell it when I purchased it, but I became much more into BW and XY Japanese sets over the past two years, and finishing them isn’t cheap/ money doesn’t grow on trees. I decided that while I love Goomy, it didn’t really fit in with any my overall collection goals, and I would rather complete my BW Shinies, even though they are all set cards. Some people would find it foolish to “trade down” very rare cards for mass printed ones but at the end of the day your collection is your own business.
And on the other end of the spectrum, when I sold my Art Academy Pikachu Fujishima, which was painful to sell, it was to help cover the cost of a trophy card I wasn’t sure I would get the opportunity to buy again, was part of my overall collecting goals, and I wasn’t willing to miss my chance (Gold Victory Cup with original case). I don’t think I would have sold that Pikachu to buy BW or XY cards and I certainly wouldn’t sell the Victory Cup.
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As others have said, I think it’s important you really try to tune into what exactly you want. I am personally a subscriber to the whole idea of ‘can I get this card again?’ So, if it was up to me, I’d say Charizard 1st Edition PSA 9 will likely be more available moving forward, than a PSA 10 Victory Orb.
I think a new-back trophy equating to roughly PSA 9 value of a 1st edition Charizard is pretty strong competition. I’d argue pretty much everyone in this hobby already knows about 1st edition Charizard, it’s THE card. Yet, this new-back trophy with less desirability, less exposure; it’s less historic, less iconic, newer, and it’s STILL competing with the PSA 9 value of the most popular card in the hobby. It only takes a fraction of the demand for these higher volume set cards to make the rarer cards pop.
I don’t own a Victory Orb, nor do I own a 1st edition base charizard, but if I had $20,000, there’s a ton of cards I’d be looking at before a PSA 9 1st edition Charizard. That’s just my take, though! Buy the one that makes you happy.