When you look at pokemon cards which eras do you define or titles do you place on certain years of cards?
For example the comic book hobby has certain eras or groups of comic books they lump together. How would you categorize pokemon cards? What years or sets will be considered modern/vintage?
I think it can be helpful to start putting years of print into categories or maybe we are too early in this hobby to do this.
Thoughts?
The most distinctive eras are surely WOTC/ non-WOTC for the English side and old back/new back for the Japanese side. The rest of the eras are pretty much defined by the Pokemon/Nintendo company themselves like ex, DP, XY, SM, SS etc.
âYears of printâ arenât really a good metric IMO, because not the years themselves are whatâs interesting, but whatâs happened in those years or what sets are included in those eras. Like, you could say â1999-2003 eraâ, but âWOTC eraâ is just easier and more straight to the point of what matters. Same goes for ex, DP etc.
Of course there are âsub erasâ like Neo and e-Reader when you want to go more into detail.
And for the term âvintageâ, this one is dynamic I think. There surely used to be a time when Neo or e-Reader sets were âmodernâ as opposed to the âvintageâ original era with the first 151 Pokemon. Right now, most would consider the WOTC as a whole vintage. The ex era is on the edge I think. But give it a few more years and the consensus will be that theyâre also âvintageâ.
tldr: I donât think years should define an era, but it doesnât hurt to know in which year the era started/ended.
Here is how I understand things, others may have a different viewpoint or may be able to break certain eras down even further.
First Era**: Japan Only (1996-1998)**
Iâll start with the Japanese-only era. This era included non-TCG cards like Topsun and Bandai Carddass, as well as exclusive Japanese TCG sets like the Vending Series. It also includes the original Japanese TCG sets that were later printed in other languages - Base, Jungle, and Fossil, and Rocket. This was also the time when the most valuable trophy cards in the hobby were printed, like the Illustrator, original Pikachu Trophies, and Family Event Kangaskhan. For the rest of the discussion I will focus on the English cards.
Second Era:English Origins (beginning of the larger âWOTC eraâ; 1999)
This era starts at the very beginning of 1999 and runs through the end of the year, with the original print run of the English Base Set by Wizards of the Coast. This era comprises the original Pokemon phenomenon, a time when Pokemon was at its peak of cultural domination. The cards include English Base Set, Jungle, Fossil, and some Black Star promos, which contain the rookie cards for the original 151 Pokemon.
Third Era: The End of Generation 1 (2000)
This era includes English Team Rocket, Gym Heroes, Gym Challenge, and some more Black Star promos (although Team Rocket could arguably be put in the second era since this was around the time that the initial wave of Pokemon hype began to cool down). They were the last cards to be printed prior to the release of Generation 2.
**Fourth Era: Neo Era (2000 - 2002)**This era includes the introduction of generation 2. It includes Neo Genesis, Neo Discovery, Neo Revelations, Neo Destiny, and some more Black Star promos.
**Fifth Era: e-Reader Era (2002-2003)**This era includes Expedition, Aquapolis, Skyridge, and the last Black Star promos. It can also arguably include the Japanese exclusive Web and VS series cards. This is the final stage of the the larger âWOTC eraâ for English cards. It is also the final set prior to the introduction of Generation 3. This transition from this era to the next one is a defining transition in the hobby.
I know far less about cards post-WOTC than many other people here, so perhaps others would be able to break this down even more like I did with the larger âWOTC era.â
**Sixth Era: EX Era (2003-2007)**This era includes the first English cards to be produced by Nintendo rather than Wizards of the Coast. It is also the era that introduced Generation 3 and of course is the era that contains the highly sought-after âEXâ cards. It includes English sets #17-31.
Seventh Era: **Generation 4 (2007-2011)**Includes English sets #32-47.
Eight Era: Generation 5 (2011-2014)
Includes English sets #48-58.
Ninth Era: Generation 6 (2014-2017)
Includes English sets #59-71.
Tenth Era: Generation 7 (2017-2019)
Includes English sets #72-86.
Eleventh Era: Generation 8 (2020-present)
Includes English sets #87-88 (so far).
the categories are based off each generation of pokemon games
then theres some subcategories, like neo, platinum, etc
not that complicated
@hyruleguardian basically summed it up. You could break the eras down even further but that would just be pedantic.
All of WOTC and EX stick out to me and HGSS as well. I think sun and moon was actually pretty decent especially considering itâs modern lol. Everything else is pretty meh to me.
Iâd say @hyruleguardian, summed up the eras pretty well, but there are always different ways you can classify PokĂ©mon releases via the different types of cards produced like ex, gx, tag team, etc or by the generation of PokĂ©mon itself.
In my head, which is quite simple, it works like this:
So where are the cutoff?
Imo:
In addition the distinction between WOTC and Nintendo is important!!!