I’m talking relative to the 1st Edition English Base Set cards (or any other competitors).
If I’m understanding correctly, these were some of the first (if not the first?) cards produced depicting Pokemon. I understand that Japanese cards in general are less desirable but we’re talking about the first of the first.
I don’t have much of a collecting background in trading cards, with the exception of when I was younger, but I liken the Topsun cards to first appearances in comics.
Yeah the character may have eventually had a more popular spin-off, but those first appearance are still the more collectible of the bunch. Can I take it that this is not the case with Pokemon cards? Or am I missing something entirely different
you mention too many sellers, and while I haven’t looked a ton, the pop report is absurdly low. Is this because PSA doesn’t grade them anymore? Or are most so beat up that they don’t bother sending them in?
They definitely grade them (I have 700 in the PSA queue currently). Populations will definitely expand although nothing near a normal set imho. Whole market is in flux atm, I think it’s a great time to accumulate stuff you love. I love topsun, so I buy it
I don’t know much about the market for Topsun, so I can’t comment on the demand.
However, this hobby is just so big. There are so many things to collect from so many different sets. I absolutely can appreciate Topsun cards and their historic importance, but I have other collection goals in English I want to complete first, before I would consider moving to other areas like Japanese exclusives. That’s just me as an English collector.
Speaking more broadly, even if a person mostly collects Japanese cards, they still might prefer to finish some of their TCG goals, like No Rarity Base Set for example, or the many, many other Japanese exclusives, before they would start collecting Topsun.
So yeah, if a seemingly important set seems undervalued or underappreciated, it might just be that other people are too busy collecting everything else.
For most people, Topsun is going to initially look like a worse version of how you felt as a kid when your grandma bought you “Pokémon cards,” only to learn she bought you Topps packs. (Sorry, Topps collectors )
I always go back to the mindset I was in when I got into collecting Pokémon cards as a kid, since that’s where most people will have left off before they come back to collecting as an adult.
Looking back, to me Topsun didn’t become valuable until:
I noticed I liked certain watercolor Base Set art more than others
I started to notice that other cards from other sets in the same style were some of my favorites
They are super boring. They look playing cards slapped with the same sugimori stock art you can get on hundreds of other products. “First” on it’s own is nothing more than a novelty.
The variants also only serve to confuse. Blue back, green back, whatever that tacky looking holo variant is called. I’ve never been interested enough to understand the difference
As you can tell I’m not a fan. But I do think there’s still a healthy demand for the cards. The money people pay for these I’ll happy spend on something I enjoy more
Topsun cards used to be thrown into almost every purchase I made from Japan as some free gift. Whilst some sellers in Japan have hooked into the idea that people are now willing to pay silly amounts for them, if you search for things like “gum cards” in Japanese and don’t include “Topsun” in your search you can still find dozens of bulk listings of them for under $10.
Right now in my mind they are akin to common Pokémon telephone cards and playing cards - they’re something you can buy from Japan for practically nothing and sell on eBay for a small fortune. This is a side effect of having lots people with money to throw at things on eBay who simply haven’t discovered Japanese marketplaces yet.
It is because most don’t know about them. It’s that simple. They are the original cards. Original Gameboy accompanying collectibles for your favorite gen 1’ers. They are a cool novelty–love 'em. It isn’t about the stock art aspect. Everyone’s always on about this stock art business. Those are the definitive design stances of them, and these are relics, the shrines or faces of their conception. If most people into base set knew about these the demand would be much higher–though there is a healthy demand for them still. The aesthetic is very cool as a mantelpiece more so than a TCG art box.
@pichufan, please point me in the direction. We’re talking '95 topsun right? Don’t see a single thing and would very much like to know about these bulk listings.
some harsh opinions in here, I’m either going to be on the very right or very wrong side of history but it doesn’t matter I can’t stop myself . I honestly love the look, feel, and simplicity of the cards. That + it’s an actual 150 set is just A+
I can appreciate that some folks don’t fancy the art, but if what I’m understanding is correct, they are the true “first appearance” of Pokemon cards – albeit it slightly aesthetically unpleasing.
I do suppose they never really were “trading cards” in general, and most folks don’t know about them. I’m having a hard time deciding if it’s more like a comic book first appearance or an ad in a comic book introducing a new character. Clearly those two are entirely different things.
My last questions… are these generally regarded as being the first of the first? Or does something else contend with that? I’m assuming the no rarity cards are up there?
In the end it’s just a preference and not about being right or wrong
It’s not the same as comics which has such a precise origin point for characters. There’s too many ambiguities in pokemon. Technically the games are the first appearance of the creatures. There’s also the delay between Japanese and Western release. Base set was the first TCG release which is arguably more important. Etc etc. The point is while the rookie or first appearance concept is a part of most hobbies, it manifests itself in different ways. Many more Western individuals would rather have a sealed Red/Blue or complete base set than these older esoteric Japanese cards
When you think of Pokemon cards, most people think of the actual WOTC or modern cards. Most returning collectors will be purchasing something to get their nostalgia fix, TopSun cards don’t have the nostalgia factor. Personally I think they have nice art, but I have never had any interest in buying any.
This is a common misconception due to their copyright date of 1995. There’s a whole thread about it here: www.elitefourum.com/t/the-great-topsun-debate-looking-at-the-history-of-pokemon/30306/1. It is my belief that these were distributed between March 1997 and March 1998. The Bandai Carddass Series 1 cards were the first released non-TCG Pokémon cards in ~September 1996.
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