Understanding New Generations

Hey everyone,

Im kinda new here.

Been collecting Pokemon cards for a while, and have successfully collected the first 251 pokemon. Now I begin the task of collecting the next 200 :S

I am totally confused by the new sets? Since Pokemon USA took over from WOTC I just dont know which sets are important. Before it used to be easy, you had Base -> Jungle -> Fossil then to Neo Genesis -> Neo Discovery -> Neo Revelations. there were other sets in between such as team rocket and gym leaders but those sets never really interested me.

My question is, amongst these new sets (EX sandstorm, EX emerald, EX legend makers etc.... also in 4th Gen, Diamond and pearl etc...). Which sets are the Fossil's, the Neo Genesis's and the Jungle sets? and which are the team rocket decks that are less important from a collectors standpoint. I know in the ideal world one would collect every set, but I simply dont want to spend that sort of money. I want to complete the important sets, shall we call them the "Primary Sets"?

I would really appreciate anyones advice, or info.

Thanks in advance.

Wilson1

I don't quite get what you mean by "Primary Sets". What defines a "primary set" in your opinion? This would help me better determine what you're getting at.

Hey, thanks for such a quick response.

Sorry I didn't make it very clear, its kinda hard to explain what I mean, but I'll try.

So I'm collecting cards, and my objectives are to A) Collect all the different 486 Pokemon. B) Collect all the cards in each set, that I have started to collect from, therefore I want to try and keep those pokemon I collect to as few sets as possible.

So as 'primary' sets I would define them as:

Generation 1> Base Set, Jungle, Fossil
Generation 2> Neo Genesis, Neo Discovery, Neo Revelations.

As of Neo Revelations, there was 11 sets of pokemon cards, but one would only have to collect the 6 sets above to collect a card for each of the 251 pokemon.

So in Generations 1 & 2, it wasn't necessary to collect cards from Gym Challenge or Gym Heroe sets as they were made up of reprints of pokemon from earlier sets.

Are there sets in the 3rd and 4th Generation that are similar to the Gym Challenge or Gym Heroe sets. Sets that don't introduce new pokemon, but just reprint old pokemon with gimmicks attached?

Im trying to decipher which sets to collect cards from in the 3rd generation, there are 16 EX sets, which of these sets actually introduce new pokemon into the TCG? If I collect a card for each pokemon from 252 to 386, I don't want those 135 cards to be made up of cards from 16 different sets?

Again, thanks for any advice.

Hope this is clearer :S

After Neo Revelations, you can ignore sets like Legendary Collection, Expedition, Aquaopolis, and Skyridge, since those all just have Gen II Pokemon. If I were you, I'd look at the setlists for each set and figure out which sets you'd need to buy at least some of to have all 135 Hoenn Pokemon in your possession. If memory serves, you can, by and large, ignore EX: FireRed/LeafGreen and the sets that follow it up until the EX: Emerald, as I think those are mostly just Kanto Pokemon. EX: Emerald on has a mix of all three generations. I think Deoxys and Jirachi don't debut until EX: Deoxys, though I'm not sure, as I didn't really collect much between 2003 and 2009 because of money reasons.

I'd also look at the setlists for the Diamond and Pearl sets to determine which sets you need to get to obtain one each of the 107 Sinnoh Pokemon. I think Arceus doesn't debut until Platinum Arceus, though (and he's got one card for each type in the TCG in this particular set).

LOL Donavannj!! It pains me to hear you say aquapolis, skyridge, and expedition are not worthy! They are a collector's dream :>

I know what you're getting at though. So Wilson, you only want one card of each pokemon out there, is that correct? You lose me with this distinction between sets though. Not every set includes every pokemon from a certain generation, you will have to collect from a variety of sets in order to complete the collection. Why not just search up each pokemon in order and choose the card you like the most from whatever set it's from? That seems easier than sifting through entire sets.

Also, aren't there 493 pokemon? I may be confused.

It kinda pained me to say it, actually. Those sets are fun to collect, even if I barely have any of them.

I do think Wilson should look at collecting the version he likes artwork most on each card, though.

And at the moment there are 493 Pokemon. 151 from Kanto, 100 from Johto, 135 from Hoenn, and 107 from Sinnoh. There will be another 150 coming with Black and White versions soon, though.

Hey,

Thanks for the responses.

Yeah, I just find the new sets from Nintendo so.. frustrating! theres so many different cards for each pokemon! I prefer the original sets where there was one card for each pokemon, sometimes with a holographic version. now theres Ex typed and owners pokemon and delta species pokemon, its confusing which card to get.

I wouldn't want my collection to consist of multiple different set cards such as blanes pikachu, raichu.Ex, dark wigglytuff, etc... I would like the standard types of cards (with no gimmicks), such as pikachu, raichu, wigllytuff, etc...

Maybe its just me being OCD. I just think Nintendo are spoiling it, no doubt in an attempt to make more money off of each pokemon. WoTC did a much better job in my opinion.

I went through the sets, and it looks like you'd have to collect.. Ruby and Saphire, Sandstorm, Dragon, Hidden Legends, Deoxys, and Holon phantoms, to collect all of the 3rd Gen pokemon.

I do have another question.

In which set can I find the standard, normal, no gimmicks, basic card, no Ex, no delta species versions of Latia and Latios? I have looked in all the sets and cant find just a standard card for that pokemon?

Also which Mew card is considered the collectors choice? which one would you recommend collecting? I have the ancient mew, and the promo mew, but I want one thats not promo, and thats from a real set, but just standard type, no EX or Delta species?

Thanks again, your helps appreciated.

wilson1 said:

Yeah, I just find the new sets from Nintendo so.. frustrating! theres so many different cards for each pokemon! I prefer the original sets where there was one card for each pokemon, sometimes with a holographic version. now theres Ex typed and owners pokemon and delta species pokemon, its confusing which card to get.

I wouldn't want my collection to consist of multiple different set cards such as blanes pikachu, raichu.Ex, dark wigglytuff, etc... I would like the standard types of cards (with no gimmicks), such as pikachu, raichu, wigllytuff, etc...

Maybe its just me being OCD. I just think Nintendo are spoiling it, no doubt in an attempt to make more money off of each pokemon. WoTC did a much better job in my opinion.

I went through the sets, and it looks like you'd have to collect.. Ruby and Saphire, Sandstorm, Dragon, Hidden Legends, Deoxys, and Holon phantoms, to collect all of the 3rd Gen pokemon.

I do have another question.

In which set can I find the standard, normal, no gimmicks, basic card, no Ex, no delta species versions of Latia and Latios? I have looked in all the sets and cant find just a standard card for that pokemon?

Also which Mew card is considered the collectors choice? which one would you recommend collecting? I have the ancient mew, and the promo mew, but I want one thats not promo, and thats from a real set, but just standard type, no EX or Delta species?

Thanks again, your helps appreciated.

Click to expand...

Those were added to give the game some variety and depth. The Pokemon cards with vanilla names are still VERY abundant in sets, as well as for general collector's appeal.

We were talking about the different vanilla name versions, not the special name versions, though a lot of the special name versions are pretty common.

And Nintendo/Media Factory have been designing the sets since the beginning in Japan. Wizards of the Coast largely stayed true to Nintendo's wishes when they had the publishing rights for America. And it's always been about the money. The Pokemon TCG would've died off long ago if it didn't make money.

Well, that settles that bit.

Your options for Latias and Latios of the sets released during the third gen are basically just the ones in the first Trainer Kit from 2004. You could look at the Gen IV sets for one you like, though.

As for Mew, I do believe the WOTC Black Star Promos 8 and 9 are the same card as the Mew in the Japanese version of the Fossil set. You probably have one of these, and I'm honestly not sure why Wizards/Nintendo decided not to release this card in the Fossil set. There are quite a few Mew to choose from though in sets printed after Neo Revelations, though, if you wanted to look at any of those.

Well they didn't release the Japanese fossil mew in the set because they wanted it for a black star promo. Alright Wilson, I'm starting to understand what you mean by 'plain' cards. You don't want leader's pokemon, dark/light pokemon, etc. You most certainly can find just a plain version of all the pokemon, but you will have to include nintendo era cards just because WotC did not release cards of pokemon from generations when they weren't in the business of printing pokemon cards. So if you mean you want a card of each pokemon and all in the style of WotC, it isn't possible if you want to get past 2003. [And as a side note, WotC were the ones who printed all those dark/light and other 'gimmicky' cards you hate ;)]
As for mew, the only WotC era mew card not released as a black star promo, as far as I'm aware, is from expedition. It's just a regular mew card, one is holo one isn't.

As Donavannj said, there is the latias/latios trainer kit. Other than that, the only latias/latios cards that aren't ex/delta/* and not black star promos are from great encounters.
If you want, you can just make a list of the ones you are still looking for and we can let you know what there is.

The thing that always confused me about collecting the pokedex way is that in some sets they repeat the pokemon.

E.G: Base Electrode and Jungle Electrode.

I would personally collect all variations of the one pokemon, but you seem like you're only interested in the one pokemon. (Just by how you described it, I could be wrong).

I would recommend you look out for that, as in newer expansions they do tend to repeat some pokemon a few times.

The thing that always confused me about collecting the pokedex way is that in some sets they repeat the pokemon.

E.G: Base Electrode and Jungle Electrode.

I would personally collect all variations of the one pokemon, but you seem like you're only interested in the one pokemon. (Just by how you described it, I could be wrong).

I would recommend you look out for that, as in newer expansions they do tend to repeat some pokemon a few times.