Right, Commons/Uncommons/Rares haven't usually been the problem ever, even with some older sets having decently cheap commons and the like. Even old larger sets like Expedition have pretty cheap commons, but it's definitely, like what you said, all these chase cards that are bloating the sets. I really, REALLY dislike how TPC pretty much only appeals sets to either casual fans or players who want to bling out their decks. If you want my opinion on it as a collector, it's really turned me off to this era. I can list all the issues this has right here:
- Full Arts, Rainbow Rares, and Gold Items have less collectible value than most other ultra rares in the last few years. Full Arts are bland renders with no love put into them, Rainbows are a lazy more expensive palette swap, and Gold Items are the worst ultra rares EVER. There's nothing appealing about a shiny golden card of a stupid looking stick, or a belt, or whatever nonsense they put out with these.
- They're too hard to get, especially when ALMOST EVERY SINGLE GX GETS A HYPER RARE. Rainbows have a LITTLE bit of appeal. but I don't like them enough to want to hunt down every single one of them, especially when they're so hard to get hold of. Either they're too expensive or just too scarce.
- They don't make sets fun to collect anymore. I may have mentioned on here before that I adore the Black and White era. I've collected every single full art from those eras and I'm continuing on the secret rares and normal EXs, and whatever else I need to get. Those sets are pretty heavy sets when it boils down to it, but they're fun enough to collect because everything is unique. Same goes for older sets. Every ultra rare has its own charm to it. Every holo has its own charm to it. Even commons, uncommons and rares can feel special in some sets, such as e-series sets (Expedition is my personal favorite). What's unique about higher-rarity GXs? It's literally the same "background" every single time. I like the uniformity at times, but you know what else did uniformity? EXs. And yet they still all stayed unique and memorable.
There's only a few things I can say this era got right, and they are as follows:
- Shining Legends. This set made me love collecting Sun and Moon for once. The shinings are some of the best ultras that Pokemon had put out in YEARS. Each of them are unique and memorable? Check. Each of them look good next to eachother? Check. There's just enough to feasibly collect without destroying your wallet or your sanity? Check. I ADORED the shinings of this set, and even enjoyed the small amount (comparatively) of GXs that went with them. Secret Rare Mewtwo added that icing on the cake that just made it easily the best set in the entire era. Now, do I wish there weren't the FAs or RRs? Yeah, I really do. (I like the FA Mewtwo's artwork but that's just an exception). It'd have made the set better if those things just weren't in the SM era but Shining Legends did what it could.
- Tag Team GXs. Well, scratch that. I'd say that Tag Teams ALMOST knocked it out of the park. Good artwork to start made their collectible appeal above most anything else in the series. And the alternate arts. Good god those are some of the most gorgeous cards ever created. Sadly, again, like all good things in this era. Full Arts and Hyper Rares had to dampen the experience and make for more set bloating. We really didn't need those, and I was SO excited to think that the Alt. Arts would replace FA/RR's for Tag Teams. But no, this is the Sun and Moon era, I should have expected more.
- GX Ultra Shiny. Another thing they ALMOST got right. The shiny reprints of the non-GXs? Fantastic. The shiny reprints of GXs? Not as fantastic, but only because of, YET AGAIN, full arts and hyper rares. Imagine if these were the only versions of those cards-They'd blow people's minds. I know I'd love to collect them if they weren't just a sad palette swap we've seen three times. If only...
See the pattern here? It's those stupid Full Arts and Hyper rares. They screw up everything that this era does right. If those two things (and gold items) didn't exist, Sun and Moon would be a pretty great era. One of the best? Not sure, probably still one of the weaker ones out of them all, but nonetheless, it'd be a LOT better. I'm fine with Full Art Supporters-They're a great way to give some of the characters in Pokemon some love and the art is usually always good. I like the normal GXs for what they are, and I like the art appeal of Tag Teams. There's so much this era does right and it bothers me that there's so much to slow it down.
I think Black and White/XY did it very well, despite a few bumps in the road.
- Although there are two (sometimes three) versions of an ultra rare, there's LESS ultras total in these sets, and they all had their own flair to it. Secret Rare Megas from early XY? Not the best choice, but they fixed this promptly in early 2015 with Primal Clash's gorgeous Full Art Megas.
- Secret Rares were done fantastically (apart from the Early XY megas). In Black and White, you had the choice reprints of certain cards. Although some were items, these were so few and far between it never really mattered. The black and white SR's are some of my favorite iterations of some of these Pokemon, such as the Empoleon from Plasma Freeze which is my favorite card of all time. They had just the right amount of rarity and appeal to them that makes me, at least, want to collect them all. I love the way they look. And then you have the XY BREAK era secrets. One or two per set, just the right amount. And of course, like the BW secrets, they have visual appeal to them.
- The sets were also just the right size that made them feasible to collect. Just the right amount of stuff, just the right amount of pull rates (in later XY, BW pull rates are garbo).
If Sun and Moon had continued this trend, it'd have been perfectly fine. So what do I want from gen 8?
- No more than two versions of an Ultra Rare. Three if it's like, one secret or something.
- If there are Full Arts, I want backgrounds. Make them unique.
- Keep FA Supporters, those were fine.
- No more bloating of the sets. I want sets that are a fair challenge to complete. Not whatever these last few sets have been.
- Artistic variety, like how the Alt. Art tag teams are doing (I'd be fine with Arita art for ultra rares though, I love Arita).
- A more appealing Ultra Rare than GXs. They're fine for what they do, but I want something more vibrant and nice to look at like the BW and XY eras.
- I want them to try some new things, like how the EX era did with the many different kinds of cards they came up with back then. Deltas, Gold Stars (the bane of my collecting existence), etc.
- A continuation of the mix of obscure pokemon being represented, with fan favorites as well.
- All the legendaries. Come on, Pokemon, you owe me after skipping on poor Regice, Suicune, the Lake Trio and Arceus with EXs.
Will we get any of these things? Probably not. Pokemon doesn't care about what collectors want. They only care about the casual crowd and the players. And that makes me sad, because I fear that I'll end up quitting collecting because of this. I've been doing this for four, almost five years now and I've loved every second of it. Don't ruin it for me Pokemon. I miss that feeling the Black and White sets I'd find gave me. That sense of wonder and excitement for opening packs, that sense of progress towards completing a set. At least amiibos give me that progression feeling, I love those little plastic figures.
Did I go on for way too long? Yeah. Am I too salty over a card game? Yeah. I apologize for all the rambling and ranting I do around here all the time-It's just something I'm passionate about. Because, despite what Pokemon thinks, collectors care a lot about the game too.
