I’ve been picking up holos from the EX series sets for a few weeks now and something I’m having a hard time deciding on is whether I should be buying stamped holos or the normal holos. Take Holon Phantoms for instance; is it better to have a delta species Metagross in its normal holo rare version or the stamp with the “Holon Phantoms” set name?
Same applies to pretty much all of the EX sets when the stamping is possible.
Just looking for other opinions on which is likely better to have way down the road.
Typically reverse holos are valued less than regular holos. Now, I have some holos and reverse holos from delta species/holon phantoms/crystal guardians and dragon frontiers because in my opinion the gold border is among the best borders that have ever existed in the English TCG. And not only is the reverse holofoil in those sets identical with the regular holofoil, the reverse holos add a stamp AND a golden card name to the card. I’d say that’s an upgrade over the regular holos in every regard. However, some people might find that the stamp distracts from the artwork.
That’s exactly what I’m talking about. When the normal holo and reverse have the same holo pattern in the artwork, but the reverse includes a stamp and whatever else (gold lettering, etc).
Fire Red/Leaf Green don’t use a set stamp or a change in name color, but they added a holo pokeball symbol in the center of the text box.
I can’t help but think things like this would only make these types of reverse holos more desirable, but I wasn’t sure how the community viewed them. Sounds like at least you and I are on the same page.
FWIW, I have only been collecting the reverse holos of the EX series. Starting with Hidden Legends and onwards the reverse cards have the same holo as the regular with more bling as noted. I find this more distinctive and fun to collect versus the regular holos from those sets which then seem comparatively boring.
@jonandek,exactly. The reverse holos usually also have a lower pop, so that’s a nice extra challenge.
@kamon,for those mentioned ex sets I agree, I like the reverse holos slightly better. However, most reverse holos in the sets after ex are different, as the holofoil isn’t the same, instead it’s that they ‘reverse’ the foil so that the artwork is not covered anymore but the rest of the card is. I’m not really a fan of those reverse holos because I’m used to holofoil artwork. But with the right mindset even the newer reverse holos can be seen as preferable, because sometimes the background in the artwork of a card is much harder to see if it’s covered with a holofoil. You can notice this with the old wotc sets that have a holofoil and non-holofoil variant of their cards.
Personally, it entirely depends on the set and the card. Some cards look great and others look off putting if the stamp is not aesthetically pleasing. I would prefer having a holographic version of the card instead of a stamped version as it clutters the artwork in my opinion. However it’s entirely up to what your interests are.
I like the reverse holos more for several reasons.
Two aspects haven’t been mentioned here yet:
They’re rarer. The pullrate in ex era sets is 1:3 afaik. If you subtract goldstars/ex cards it’s like 9 holos per box. Even if the reverse holo rares have the same pullrate as a common reverse holo, it’s still 1:90 or so per pack depending on set size.
They’re quite unique in the grand scheme of ptcg sets. Reverse holos like they’re in e-series sets have been the standard for several years now which makes them less desirable imho.
I’m an ex set collector, so I honestly prefer the regular holos from these sets; once I have those, I look for the reverse holos. I like the look of the stamped holos as much as anyone else, but it’s hard for me to pay sometimes double or triple the regular price for the RH compared to the regular.
I also think I’m one of the rare collectors who really likes the look of the RH cards from Ruby & Sapphire to Team Magma vs. Team Aqua because of their luster–current RHs are much duller. In the end, though, the ex series is just wonderful!
The reverse holo rares, at least from the sets I have been collecting have the gold lettering in the name/HP which in my opinion make the card look amazing and worth the extra premium along with the stamp.
