Guys, I was looking at my Lapras (FO), Magneton (EVO) and Mew (EVO), and the only major differences I see between this sheet and the Evolutions variant of the Classic Stars Holofoil is the density of the effects (the stars and dots are closer together), the shape of the "+" effects (on the Evolutions sheet they were plus symbols formed of four "-"'s), and possibly the sheen (it's a little hard to tell, but on the original and Evolutions variants the sheets seemed to be formed of two separate layers, with larger stars above smaller stars, creating an almost lenticular effect, while in this case there seems to be just a glossy holofoil).
Pictured above is my Magneton (EVO) with the different pattern objects circled in red. All the symbols on the new holosheet are accounted for, but the "+" is formed of four separate "-" at right angles to each other, and the objects aren't packed as densely as on the new holofoil. (The lenticular effect is harder to capture.)
The only card in my collection with the original Classic Stars holofoil, and my favorite Pokémon tied with Charmander, this card has a special place in my collection. Note, however, the absence of any sort of "+" object, and the presence of several more star-like objects (including a diamond-like four point star, a burr-like eight-point star, and a larger eight-point star with a hollow center that looks like a drawing of the sun).
I would be really excited to get this holofoil on promos because Classic Stars is one of my favorite holofoils of all time. I will be a little disappointed if some of the lenticular effect of the predecessors is lost, however. Introducing this holofoil (which is pretty, but obstructs art) for promos and the more vertical XY bars holofoil (which is bland, but leaves art unobstructed) will provide a good balance of "pretty" and "functional" holofoils. I still hope they don't kill off Reverse Holofoils, though. Not only do I love them, I know someone who collected solely Reverse Holofoils. With three guaranteed foils in each pack, surely there's still room for reverse holofoils, so that reverse holofoil fans get the same chance that "pretty holofoil" and "functional holofoil" fans do. If, however, reverse holofoils have reached the end of the line... they've had a long lifetime, with dozens of variations internationally, and anyone who wishes to catch up on older variations can, for the most part, collect them on a very small budget.
If reverse holofoils as we have known them do meet their demise, it would be interesting to see the return of stamped foils. This would also tie into the
ex era nostalgia Pokémon is angling for, but would be detrimental to the pattern of releasing stamped holofoils as promos in prerelease kits. In addition, reverse holofoils have become something of a branding factor for the Pokémon trading card game, being tentatively introduced in 2002 and consistently printed from 2007 to 2022. Also, even Japan, which has no guaranteed reverse holofoil, has featured reverse holofoil/mirror foils in their High Class expansions/Strengthening expansion sets, and without such sets in the states, it would be weird if Japan went on to get reverse holofoils every four months and international markets simply ceased to get them at all. There seem to be reasons both before and against making such a move, and without more information, it's impossible to know what move Pokémon would make.
Maybe the reverse holofoils will feature the holosheet from the Legendary Collection.
Water Pokémon Master's "wild" speculation makes sense, and I'm not sure why he didn't put it in the article (with the disclaimer, of course, that it is just speculation).
After all, the people who don't have the patience to fully read articles will just skim through the comment's section to find out what he said, so if he puts his speculation in the article itself, they'll never spread it as fact.
