Both are similar in price, but which do you think is the better buy? Not just for investment purposes but also your own personal opinions! I want to hear other opinions about these two very prominant cards in today’s market, and which you would rather have and why.
I think the Lugia card is awkward and unappealing, and Giratina by Kanda is one of my favorite modern cards. Would make the choice easy for me if I were to choose.
I would also be picky on what 9 I buy given the significant availability.
I voted for Lugia. Partly due to bias but also because I feel that the card hasn’t really shot up as high as I expected given Lugia’s high popularity.
Giratina on the other hand I don’t see as being as popular or iconic a species as Lugia so I have been surprised for a while (as discussed recently in a different topic) that it has easily outpaced Lugia V in terms of monetary value. I think the card is being carried by Kanda’s incredible artwork and appealing style, and rightfully so.
I love the Lugia artwork. The first Lugia I have seen that makes it look threatening and really emphasises it’s storm maker lore. Also, it reminds me of Shining Gyarados with a random boater caught in a storm at sea with a huge Pokemon dwarfing them.
I can’t predict the long term head-to-head on these. There’s every chance that Lugia will shoot up if SWSH era is subject to big price booms as a previous block in the same way that certain Sun/Moon alt arts leapt upwards (sometimes wildly so) when SWSH was current and the SM era was the previous block. That said, Kanda shows every sign of continuing to grow in reputation and becoming one of the all-time popular Pokemon artists and surely this will put the Giratina V alt as an iconic modern card. I think the Magikarp will also keep climbing.
As a disclaimer, I say all of this while being completely unaware of which of these cards (if any) has a statistically tougher pull rate or if one is harder to grade a 10 than the other.
But yeah, on a personal level, Lugia for me. But I would also love to have the Giratina, even as a raw card, if I could justify dropping that much on a modern card.
not sure if you’re aware, but in the TCG, the Lugia VSTAR deck has completely fallen out of the meta. nearly nobody plays it anymore, whereas Giratina VSTAR literally just won Portland tonight. I know very few players buy these sorts of cards for their decks (typically they go for full arts instead when the special arts are so expensive), but there is still a % who own them and are keeping them for this reason.*
*I mention this, bc I believe once Giratina and Lugia both are no longer in the standard format, Giratina will drop more than Lugia
I will also say, I don’t believe the Giratina will hold as well over time as the Lugia. I think the art is unique and has a wide appreciation at this moment, but over time, I believe the Lugia will be the one people go for when, lets say in gen 11 or something, someone gets into it and decides to go back and collect some SWSH special arts.
It should be noted, I am not a fan of either personally.
I will end by saying, you should look at both of them and decide which one makes you more excited when you think about owning it. Pick that one.
II don’t like this Lugia artwork, but also wouldn’t want to buy and hold a 9 of a modern card. Maybe be very picky when buying a 9 of he Giratina. The artwork is much better and Lost Origin didn’t have any god box controversy to pump up alt art supply like Silver Tempest did.