I was recently wondering why people collect cards in different languages.
Since I’m from Germany, I started to compare some prices for base set cards and realized that the unlimited versions are very similar n price between English and German. But when it comes to 1. Edition or high PSA graders the prices skyrocket in English compared to the German cards.
I was wondering how does this happen?
The second questions I was wondering about is. Why do you collect Japanese cards?
I understand for English and your native language its mostly nostalgia. But what makes you collect Japanese cards?
Really looking forward to hear your opinions and reasons for your collecting focus =)
I’m for most part strictly a collector of Japanese cards. I love the quality and look and of Japanese cards. They also have a lot of exclusive Holo and stamped cards. Set cards tend to also be more affordable than English and still relatively available. It’s just more enjoyable for me.
I really enjoy collecting the Japanese cards for a whole number of reasons. Ranging from general cultural interest, linguistic fascination (I consider the hiragana, katakana and kanji script miniature artwork in itself), Japanese-only stamps, various Japanese-only sets, Japanese-only trophy cards, Japanese-only promos, artwork not seen in any other language and last but not least the historical aspect.
Japanese Pokémon cards will always be the first ones, the ones that started it all. The cardstock and printing quality is also a very nice bonus. I also prefer most - if not all - of the Japanese cardbacks to the rather lackluster and still unaltered English cardback.
Furthermore I happen to be a huge Tomoaki Imakuni fan and have been ever since 1999 when I first came across him in the Pokémon TCG on my Game Boy Color! His OST and the crazy cards he played really left an impression on me. I guess it also helps that English is not my native language so I’m not automatically tethered to it as opposed to many here.
I personally collect in all (currently 12) languages for my collections (except for my Full Art collection, for which I primarily focus on English and Japanese exclusive ones).
To answer your second question: there are a lot of Japanese exclusive cards which (most likely) will never be released in other languages, including English. Japanese cards also have a lot higher quality control than other languages. I see English miscuts, off-centered cards, crimped cards, ink misprints, etc. pretty often, but for Japanese these are all pretty hard to find because those kind of errors almost never leave the factory (although I’ve seen quite a few lately from one seller for some of the new Sun & Moon sets on eBay though, not sure what’s up with that…). Anyway, overall Japanese cards have a much higher quality control. It’s also easier to get a PSA-10 for Japanese cards than English for almost all cards.
As for why people prefer English over let’s say German: simply put: there are a lot more English-speaking people in the world. And there are also non-English speaking countries which didn’t had their own print runs and where English cards were sold as well. All those people would prefer English cards mostly.
1st edition cards are also more popular than unlimited editions, which is why the unlimited edition cards are mostly about equal in price for English, French, and German, and slightly less for Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and Dutch (let’s ignore the harder to find Korean/Chinese Base Set cards for now, especially since unlimited edition Korean cards are rarer than their 1st edition counter-parts, similar as most Japanese sets…)
When i look at a card, im looking at the picture/art and not reading the text so it doesnt really matter what language its in… the Japanese promos have the best art so that is why i collect them.
I collect so one day I can keep the cards I really like and enjoy, and sell all the rest to pay for an engagement ring. So some are for personal interest, and others are a “investor” approach.
Part of it is the completion aspect. For example, I collect Drifloon cards. Needless to say there aren’t that many of them so it keeps the chase going if I can track down the cards in other languages. Or, say, the jungle Vaporeon-- it’s my favorite old card so I’d like to get as many versions as I can.
With Japanese cards right now I’m doing two things: 1) buying a box or two when the new sets come out (just for the thrill of opening new stuff) and 2) I like getting the older cards with the unique art that wasn’t printed in English.
Some cards simply look better in Japanese, at least for what I collect. Japanese BW/XY full arts are just miles better than their English counterparts, both in terms of quality and appearance. The texture is way clearer and more detailed, the colors are more in-depth, and they overall just have a more “rare” feel. Back in BW/early XY you only got a full art in every other box, so it was an occasion to pull one.
Little things also make a big difference like the Delta Species cards where the border is gray instead of yellow. Works much better with the early delta holos which were all part steel type and even the later ones as well.
I collect only Japanese right now, and this is the big reason why. They were the first and started it all! As a kid I remember going to the league on Saturdays and always being thrilled when I could trade for a Japanese card. Now a have binders full of them and the circle of life is complete
I really only collect English and Japanese. I hate to say it but people hating on collecting Japanese doesn’t make sense to me when Pokemon itself originated in Japan. At the end of the day it is a Japanese product written in different languages not an english product translated into Japanese. But more importantly Japan has so many exclusive cards native to their language and some of the best looking cards only have a Japanese variant.
I like variety. Even if it’s just language. A lot of people collect English, a lot of people collect japanese. Not a whole lot of people collect global sets of different species.
I personally have a global bulbasaur collection. Just purchased the final base set variant this week but for even something as common as base bulbasaur there is a lot of fun to getting that language variant that’s been eluding you for months.
