Hey all, as some of you may know, PWCC is running a countdown for the top 100 most iconic cards of all time, and spoiler alert, unfortunately only one Pokemon card managed to break the top 100 list. That didn’t sit right with a few of us, so we’ll be running a separate top 10 list dedicated specifically to just Pokemon cards, and wanted some input from the community on what they think are the top 10 most iconic Pokemon cards ever created. Doesn’t need to be the most expensive, or the most popular, cards released, just what you think fits the bill for iconic.
I’ll be compiling all the suggestions made here by Monday morning into a list, and will consult with a few people on where they think what cards deserve to be on the pecking order. The final list will be then released in a couple of weeks, hopefully to lots of debate on how I’m an idiot for not including the Base Set Magikarp.
Thanks in advance for the input, and if you want to check out the top 100 feel free to click below, Luke Skywalker got the 84th place today.
Base Charizard
Base Pikachu
Ancient Mew
Black Star Mew/Dragonite promos
Illustrator
Scream promos
Shaymin EX
Charizard (or maybe Rayquaza?) gold star
Tropical Wind (and Tropical Beach; maybe Worlds promos in general)
So far these are the only ones I’d be comfortable putting there (and probably Charizard gold star is a stretch)
Base set 1st edition Zard (honestly just wanna put the 3 final evo starters here together. Even though zard is more money, I bet anyone can recall all three and usually together.)
Ancient Mew
Entei reverse holo movie promo
Lugia Neo Genesis either edition
Illustrator
Base set Pikachu
tropical wind
Corocoro mew
Pikachu black star promo #4
GB dragonite
Probably there are others that I could exchange in here, this is just a list of off the top of my head stuff.
If the list is iconic pokemon cards I think the illustrator is the only trophy that has a shot at being on there. Tons (probably the vast vast majority) of people who are super into collecting have literally 0 nostalgia/desire to collect non set cards so to say certain trophies are iconic is probably not gonna pass.
Yeah, I had the same issue when writing my list. I didn’t wanna fill it with all set cards. However, you could take the list as most iconic from each era too for example, tapu lele GX definitely signifies SM era standard format. She rocked every single deck. We’ve gotta remember that lots of people play the game outside of vintage. And that probably today there are more people with knowledge of newer stuff but near zero knowledge of vintage. (I know my list is all vintage haha!)
To me iconic means most people could accurately picture the card in their mind without looking it up, and it has stood the test of time and is still relevant. Illustrator is the only trophy I could easily do that with, most trophies I think people don’t know where they came from or what event they were given out in.
Each era is gonna have it’s card that was popular for play, but if that card fades into obscurity 1 year after rotation, how iconic could we really say it is? Vintage should be 100% of the list because modern has not stood up to the test of time, maybe the 10k charizard gx for modern but that thing never gets talked about anymore. Its hard to say if there will be fans of that card defending it and talking about it on forums in 10 years like we do here for gold stars, base set etc
Hmm, yeah. Lots of good points there. Makes me wonder if any modern will really stand the test of time. Hard to say I guess. Things move so darn fast in every aspect of life. When Kim Jong Un visited America it was frontline news for like a few days, then was immediately forgotten about the next week.
Same happens for cards. New sets every month, so the previous sets tend to get lost. Not to mention that in English they have monstrous sets, so each individual card stands out less. I get the feeling that eevee heroes JP version is gonna be a stand out set for the rest of time.
Either way, I guess just make the list to the best of one’s ability:man_shrugging: Everyone will have their own opinion either way. I may amend my list because Happy birthday pika was a good idea
I think this one is kinda obvious but we overthink it cause we are really into this hobby lol Unfortunately I don’t think Gold Stars, or tropical winds or shinings, etc that we love would make this list because normal people wouldn’t know them, making them not iconic.
Interesting exercise! I’ve got 7 that instantly come to mind; they feel like the most recognisable and significant for a variety of reasons.
Black Star #1/glossy Corocoro Pikachu
1st Ed Base Charizard
Illustrator
Trophy Kangaskhan
Ancient Mew
Corocoro Mew
Grand Party
2nd anniversary Birthday Pikachu
Depends on how you interpret the term ‘iconic’. I interpret iconic as a term to describe something within a genre/industry that has transcended whatever it comes from and is likely to be known by people who aren’t involved in the hobby/industry at all. (Think Hulk Hogan being iconic because
even somebody who has never watched a pro-wrestling match is likely to know who he is).
So with that interpretation the most iconic cards are:
Base Charizard
Base Pikachu
Base Charmander
Ancient Mew
Base Mewtwo
Base Blastoise
Base Venusaur
Mewtwo Strikes Back Promos (All 4)
Flying Pikachu
Mew Movie Promo
I know it’s a fairly ‘boring’ list, but I think these are the cards your average citizen is most likely to recognise and/or remember from their childhood or their kids childhoods.
A top 10 most iconic cards would probably just be the 10 most popular Base Set or Charizard cards, but I’ll add some variety to the list, picking cards that are iconic within their own categories for different reasons.
Base Set Charizard - No explanation necessary.
Ancient Mew - The original super cool promo.
Shining Mew - Probably second to Shining Charizard in popularity for shining cards, but the most recognizable Japanese-exclusive promo.
Gold Star Charizard - The most popular and most iconic card from the EX Series, and most popular gold star.
Pikachu Illustrator - Everyone knows it as the most expensive card ever. Can’t beat that pop culture boost.
Hidden Fates Shiny Charizard GX - The card that kickstarted the modern era of shiny/collector sets, chase Charizards and ultra-rare pulls. Don’t underestimate what this card did for the modern hobby.
Mewtwo EX Full Art (Next Destinies) - Another card iconic for what it changed for collecting and represents in the TCG. Kicked off the era of big-basics in the TCG, started a 2-generation run of Pokemon-EX, and started the full art style that has been present ever since.
Lillie Full Art (SM Base) - This card changed the game for full art trainers. The underage waifus were never all that expensive before this, but after Lillie it’s never been the same.
Pikachu & Zekrom GX (Special Art) - The card that started the TTGX era, rescuing SM from obscurity, while also kicking off the special art era which has driven Pokemon ever since.
Base Set Pikachu - Trying not to put more than one card from the same era on this list, but you can’t deny Base Set Pika’s cultural importance and relevance.
Base Charizard
Base Pikachu
Base Squirtle
Base Charmander
Base Blastoise
Base Venusaur
Jungle Eevee
Neo Gen Lugia
Ancient Mew
Illustrator
Entei Movie Promo
for example, tapu lele GX definitely signifies SM era standard format. She rocked every single deck. We’ve gotta remember that lots of people play the game outside of vintage. And that probably today there are more people with knowledge of newer stuff but near zero knowledge of vintage. (I know my list is all vintage haha!)
