As the title asks, “What’s the most reused artwork in the hobby?”.
Before I start rambling, I want to say that this post is entirely my own personal opinions and is in no ways official. I am sure there will be disagreements on various criteria. If this post does not effectively answer “What constitutes a card’s uniqueness”, it will at least show the vast amount of cool tidbits of information regarding Pokémon card printing and its overall history. Here goes!
With Celebrations releasing soon, it would be neat to have some sort of combined list of all unique cards using the same art. By this I mean all variants and unique printings of cards using the same artwork? At first, this seems quite easy to calculate, but after spending some time looking at all the many variations of specific card arts, I found it is much more complicated than I would have thought.
One of the biggest things to consider is, What constitutes a card being “unique” from another card with the same art?:
- Is it set specific?
- Do errors count as unique variants?
- Do all errors count as unique variants?
- What about other languages?
- What constitutes a specific artwork being “the same” between different cards?
- How does the prevalence of grading companies influence the recognition of variations?
- What about variations between companies’ criteria?
These are some of the many questions that one could throw out when considering unique cards. As such, I have made a general (and by no means official) list of some factors to consider, as well as my own personal views on these factors. If anyone else has done this before, please let me know!
This thread is meant to gauge a general answer to the main question, but also to be a wider discussion on what criteria matter and what criteria matter less (if at all) when considering a card to be unique for collection purposes. At the end of the day, collect what you like!
Some criteria that I would consider important enough to distinguish a card as unique:
- Base Set Variations - 1st ed, shadowless, unlimited, 1999-2000 would each be its own distinction. (4 unique cards)
- 1st Edition and Unlimited Printings (2 unique)
- Holo/Reverse/Non-holo (all unique)
- Types of Holo - Some cards see various holo releases either as a theme deck exclusive, blister promo, or some other avenue. All are unique.
- Specific Sets - Ex: Base Set 2 is its own unique set, so a Charizard from there would count as a unique card and add to the total Charizard Base Set artwork total. To build off of this, Legendary Collection would have 4 total Zards (Holographic, Theme Deck non-holo, Reverse Holo Fireworks pattern, Jumbo)
- **Jumbos -**This includes any “oversized” Official Pokémon card including Box toppers. Ex: Charizard GX #SM60 would be two unique cards. One is the regular sized, the other the jumbo
- Theme Deck (and other product) Exclusives - To me, cracked ice holos (and any other holos/non-holos from English/Japanese) would each be a unique card. In the past, Pokémon has reprinted various cards to be included in preconstructed decks or bundles. These would all be their own unique card. (However, if specific cards CANNOT be reliably discerned when in opened form (not in a sealed product/box) then they would not be unique).
- Blister Promos/Promos in General
- Prerelease/Staff/Set Stamped Cards - These would all be unique versions of cards. (ex: Charizard Evolutions Prerelease would be separate from Charizard Evolutions Prerelease Staff).
- Errors/Misprints- Errors are a very broad, complicated, and fluid topic for TCGs, especially Pokémon, especially WOTC era. Entire threads can be typed about what constitutes an error or not. For simplicity, I would say that not all errors are significant enough to establish uniqueness, but some are. (Examples of some Unique errors that I would consider to be unique variants of cards - “No-Damage Ninetales”, “Ghost Stamp Pikachu”, “Red/Yellow Cheeks Pikachu”, “No Symbol Jungle Cards”, “1st Edition Pikachu Promo”.
- Championship Deck Reprints. - While unpopular for collectors, these cards are still unique variations of artworks that were given their own specific releases.
- Redrawn Arts - Stormfront Charizard line, Celebrations Base Set Pikachu. The arts are “new” drawings, but the drawing is of the same original art.
Some criteria that I would NOT consider important for determining uniqueness of a card:
- Variations in Print Color - Some cards with slightly darker colors vs ones with slightly brighter colors. Despite being distinct, I feel that these variations are not necessarily distinctive enough to be their own unique card release. Additionally, some of these variations aren’t easily determined when looking at said cards. If a card is particularly different in its coloration, it could be a distinction (like with some Japanese vending cards), but even then its up to the collector!
- Printing Facility Defects - By “defects”, I am referring to things common in trading card printing that is typically a result of factory error, but not significant enough to be deemed a unique card variation. (Ex: whitening, print lines, off centered/miscut cards, silvering, creased cards, crimped cards, etc.)
- Non-TCG Items - This includes stock art, box arts, clothing, merchandise, etc. Really anything that isn’t a Pokémon card.
- Non-PokémonTCG Cards - Basically any cards that aren’t Pokémon TCG cards but still use the art.
- Unnoticeable Variations - This is more so a catchall for any differences that cannot be reliably seen or noticed by experienced and inexperienced collectors.
-
Personal Damage - “I threw my cards as shuriken when I was a child.” “I got BBQ sauce on my fossil Magmar.”
Some criteria that I am unsure of where to place:
- 1st Edition Stamp Variations - Given that distinctions exist between the various WOTC era 1st edition stamps, one could theoretically see a thick vs thin stamped card as two separate variants. However, is this too specific of a distinction? Additionally, factoring in Gray stamps (and any other stamp variations) makes this increasingly more niche. I do respect the grind though.
- Non-official Releases/Variations - cough Prerelease Raichu cough cough test cards cough. These are cards that have less reliable means of proving their authenticity and or are too risky to determine authenticity for. That isn’t to say that these cards can’t be real Pokémon cards however.
- Ink Issues - This one is a bit unique as some cards have very sought after items for collection, (Haunter ink blot, Hitmonlee Cigar Stain, Blastoise red dot) whereas other cards can lack any sort of collector appeal. Additionally, some cards lack entire layers from the printing facility and or have other collectible discolorations. This factor is similar to the Variations in Print Color factor, but is a bit more difficult to decide for.
- Languages outside of English/Japanese - This one is a bit more controversial I’d say, but given that the two primary languages for the hobby are English and Japanese, I would consider these to be most important. However, if unique promotions or releases for specific cards exist (World Collection Tour from the WOTC era, Indonesian Stamped KFC promos, etc.) I would consider these to be significant variations. If someone was to collect every unique art, it would make sense to grab other languages, but I also understand that most collectors stick to either Japanese, English, or both.
- "Extra Holo" Holos - Some cards from the Neo era have “extra” holo on them. These are quite rare (and beautiful), but I am unsure if they are really a distinct enough variant when totaling art counts.
This took quite a while to come up with and I haven’t even covered all of the factors one could or could not consider. Anyways, If I had to guess which specific art has been used the most, I would say Base Set Pikachu 58/102. This art was seen through all of the Base Set variations and Base Set 2. It has 1st edition and unlimited variations. It also has the unique “ghost stamp” error as well as the infamous “red/yellow cheeks” variants. It was further used for a variety of WOTC promotions which also have some variations. (Poketour, E3, etc) It was also included in Evolutions, having a non holo, reverse holo, and a cracked ice theme deck exclusive holo. This art has also been redrawn by Mitsuhiro Arita for Celebrations and for Rising Rivals! This doesn’t even include any of the Japanese equivalent sets and any other language variations! There is even an actual gold version of this card released in Japan.
The Base Set Charizard 4/102 has also seen its fair share of reuse. Legendary collection has multiple, as does Evolutions. There of course is the Stormfront redraw by Arita. Celebrations also sees the return of this art. Other arts from Base Set have seen reuse over the years.
This is my first thread post on Efour, so I figured I’d try to make it as well thought out as I can.
that is why I wrote Rest in Peace, legends never die