Definitely Polish, smaller population (I believe even limited to the target audience) and only 2 sets vs 8 sets for Russian. Dutch would also be a contender in theory with 3 sets, but since those were during peak Pokémania they likely received much larger print runs than the sets during Gen 4 or 6. So overall I think Polish is the rarest followed by Russian and then Dutch
Hardest = Japanese. Even if some of the rarest japanese cards appear, most people can’t afford them. For example, the 2001 tropical wind, or snap pikachu/magikarp have 1-5 lifetime appearance’s. These cards break the bank when they sell. Where whatever polish or obscure language set card is not going to be a 6 figure item. Look at any other languages trophy cards for comparison. Japanese is more valuable, thus making it the most difficult.
In this post I had in mind cards from the main generations/sets. I know even in english there is a Post Malone 1/1 card, but im asking about main stuff
Sure just isolating set cards niche languages are a challenge. But value is very relevant. Some of the unlimited japanese cards carry a premium because they are so rare and have more demand. Where russian, polish, etc while rare probably won’t be too expensive. Anyway not trying to diminish your point, you are absolutely right these niche languages are scarce, just emphasizing how value is a big factor as well!
Japanese cards aren’t necessarily rarer I guess, but theres so many of them. Is it harder to complete the handful of foreign language sets from a niche collecting language, or harder to collect a hundred+ sets (many in both 1st edition and unlimited) for Japanese sets across some 30 years? I tend to think the latter. From a cost perspective, Japanese is definitely more expensive to complete, with the only other language thats comparable being English (dunno which is more).
It is tough for sure to complete any language, but I still tend to think that the sheer volume of Japanese cards makes it more challenging in nearly every way. I don’t collect foreign cards though, so maybe I’m wrong? @Quuador is my resident foreign language collector enjoyer with his species collecting, so he may have some additional insights here
Of course, you may not be referring to “master set” like collecting. If you just mean in general which is more annoying, I could see foreign cards being the answer (non english/jp). Like its been said, these cards just dont pop up often and the pool of collectors is so shallow from a size perspective than the big two (english/jp).
Hope that clarifies it some
I didnt mention trophies and rare promos and such, but if you include those then JP for sure
I feel like most people didn’t understand my question.
I asked about collecting cards from the main sets from Base Set - SV era. I’m not talking about rare trophies or cards outside the main sets, because as we know, they are rare in themselves.
Thats the point. Most of the Japan cards you can just buy on ebay/pwcc/fb groups. Try buy Vivillon Reverse or Dialga from Russian sets or Pikachu Reverse from Polish DP. Even if you find that, its 100x harder than japanese.
