Just thought it would be cool if someone wanted to buy a card but was stuck for inspiration that this thread would be a good resource.
Post below a card you like that others might have overlooked or not know of 
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The PCL Pokemon Card Laboratory card. One of the most underrated imo. Has a cool story: “only awarded to those who challenged and won against the PCL employees at the 2004 Gym Challenge Tournament”.
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Bandai 1997 Special Jumbo Carddass Pikachu card.
It was given to participants of the 1997 Tokyo Toy show, held at the Tokyo International Exhibition Center(Tokyo Big Sight Inc.) from March 19th to 23rd (General Open Day is 22nd and 23rd).
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The Zapdos from Vending Series II and/or the holo variant from Red/Greed gift set:
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@surfnsnow Great looking card. Zapdos is in his habitat too (at the power plant from the game)
I always recommend the Grand Party promo. It hits right in the cross-section of Japanese trophy card and English card collectors with the classic Ken Sugimori artwork, and it is still very affordable and freely available.
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The new hyper rare shining charizard guaranteed to make you $10k
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Im always big on non tcg cards. It’s the easiest way to make a collection unique.
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Arguably the most underrated cards out there, these are the first Pokemon cards ever released 5 days before the Japanese Base Set in the Corocoro comics. No rarity is not the true “1st edition” 
(Glossy Versions)
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Wanted to put this in recent purchases, but it fits here better I guess.
Any Japanese Play promo with exclusive artwork. I got the Mew below a few weeks ago for 60$ buy it now, it was up for like 6 hours and was not immediately sold.
…60$. Yeah, not enough people know about these.
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I’ll break this into formats each aesthetically representing Pokémon’s decades. All are never a bad entry depending on the persons previous background and identity to Pokémon, with all three possessing unique, inspirational and historic qualities.
1990’s: While WOTC and Media Factory represent foundation for the franchise it started as today, it is actually Gaia. half of the machine that introduced and began millions along with what the other nostalgic niche Theia that contributed Pokémons Earth.
Japan’s Bandai Carddass and more prominently the Topps Series for the rest of the world, although more affiliated for the game and anime are equally impressive gateways feauring unique styles which like the Sugimori watercolours are now moments in time, still held in reverence to many.
This Theia half actually served purpose solely for collecting and are what I like to coin them as the true original full art Pokémon cards.
Not to mention the beautiful backgrounds and direction of overlooked holofoil texture patterns.
2000’s: AFAIK, the Legends have yet to have a negative unpopular opinion (besides ending too abruptly and these examples not having the jumbo treatment) set the stage for the design format of what has been proceeded to death since.
2010’s: This set deserves everyones attention, regardless of status as it’s irrelevant. Spoons cross hopefully (*The Starry Night*) that collaborations with artists/cultures past and present (*Godzilla/ Evangelion/ Supreme) will be the reoccuring theme for this upcoming decade.
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A card I just purchased that caught my attention and that I wasn’t aware of before. Amazing artwork imo.
You can currently pick up ungraded copies on ebay under 10$, however most are played copies currently.
There are psa 9 and 10 copies available on ebay coming in at an affordable price.
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Definitely agree with @jkanly about the Grand Party. The artwork and 2 stars at the bottom make it a great card, and I’ve doubted a lot of times whether to buy it or not. In the mean time the price kept rising, and after someone posted a picture of it (again) on reddit last week, I now have my copy (finally) incoming. Albeit not very fast, the value of this card has only grown, but is still very affordable for what it is imo.
But to add a recommendation myself:
Jumbo cards in general. A lot of people think they take too much space, but they got some great artworks imo. To give some examples:
Greetz,
Quuador
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Nice add on the Jumbos. Not everything comes in a Jumbo but they have some really good artwork like you mentioned.
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Shining Mew Corocoro
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Uhg, this thread… RIP my bank account.
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Damn, that’s a steal. Love that card.
I’d recommend some really cheap set cards which are often overlooked because they are no chase cards or don’t feature popular pokemon.
Like:
awesome artworks and great holo patterns.
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The original Trade/Exchange Please! promo is one of my favorites. It’s a unique old-back Japanese promo that always makes for a great conversation starter!
Second place goes to the lenticular Deoxys from the 2004 VS deck. A great conversation piece and another totally unique card!
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This is my new favorite thread. I love all the cards being shared. I wish I could make a collection of these cards. I love the diversity.
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