Humans and some animals have the unique ability to form subjective like/dislike opinions without significant exposure or justification.
For example, what is your favorite color? Many of you will know immediately whether you like/dislike a color, artwork, song, etc., but why you like/dislike the color, artwork, song, etc. may not be as easy to explain to someone else.
Sometimes I know why I like specific Pokemon or cards, but other times I can’t easily explain why I am drawn to it. For example, my interest in Dragonite is likely tied to its kind, helpful, yet powerful portrayal in the anime and movies, and its difficulty to obtain in the Gen 1 games. I love Rowlet because of how it was portrayed in the Sun & Moon anime and I think owls are incredible creatures.
But other interests of mine seem inexplainable, and are just “right” in my brain. For example, my interest in swirls on cosmos holofoil, my love for Atsuko Nishida’s work and watercolor art more generally, my interest in the colors blue and green, etc.
So why do you like what you like in Pokemon? Do you know?
I have an affinity for water and ice types mostly because im terrified of deep water in real life. I love the ocean but it scares the crap out of me. As for the weird misfits like garbodor or ferrothorn i guess its because i always felt like i was/am strange but cool as well lol on a serious note i think my love of prerelease and stamped promos in general is because i wasnt allowed to do pokemon anything as a kid and the kids that got to go to the play events or any kind of convention were like, god level status at the time. Its just weirdly special having all the promos that anyone could have gotten by just being there in one place. As it grows it really feels like my own little piece of history.
i can’t say i have tried to psychoanalyze my particular preferences.
i do know that i like gen 3 card layout and art style the most (peak arita, kusajima, and harada for example). also really dig the and ex rarity (although not all within these rarities)
as for pokemon, it’s really all over the place…
mew is my favorite. i just think it is the perfect pokemon
umbreon is my second favorite. idk i just think it is peak, aesthetically
it gets a little muddled after that…
absol - “coolness”
milotic - elegance
rayquaza - power
lati twins - design personality
dragapult - probably my favorite mon post-gen 3
chien pao - not far behind pult
tatsugiri - in general, one of the strongest general pokemon designs
as for card art styles, i tend to gravitate towards Arita and Furusawa for modern the most. it’s not so realistic that it feels uncanny, but it is what i guess i’d call “anime realistic” lol. like their ratios and shading are just so spot on
but really there are just so many amazing artists these days. it really just depends on the illustration.
i like when there is a scenic background (my favorite modern cards is probably the Suicune V SAR)
idk its really hard to say WHY i feel this way tho. i just like certain things more than others.
This is a really interesting thread, I asked myself similar questions many many times, and I’m curious to read other replies.
Obviously a huge chunk of my taste derives from a mix of nostalgia and imprinting, but if a dig a bit more I can’t say -for sure- why the 6 years old me chose certain pokemon, colors or layout.
My theories:
—I loved the mew vs Mewtwo movie a lot, so I tend to like psychic pokemon
—I was a nerdy kid fascinated by nature so I was into grass pokemon like bulbasaur
—cheap neo and ex era commons were my first cards, and it definitely shaped my taste regarding the layout and favorite artists
—gen 3 was my first generation played, but gen 4 was where I spent so much time. Today I end my collection with dp/platinum era.
—cosmo holo were so special, no other tcg was that sparkly to my eyes, producing a feeling that I still feel today
—the childhood desire for a more “mature” side of pokemon lead probably to my interest in older sugimori artworks and tcg history.
Honestly this love for grass and psychic even connects with my username, as a recurring fascination toward nature/science and mysticism. I find those themes and palettes really appealing and complementary.
Unlike some users on here, I don’t really remember much from my early Pokemon days (because my long-term memory is not that great). I can barely even remember playing through Gold, so I’m not sure my favorites or TCG preferences are heavily influenced by nostalgia or anything.
After ruling that out, I don’t really have great, “defensible” reasons why I like certain things (I also don’t feel the need to try to understand why I like something to somehow justify my preference). Design-wise, I generally tend to favor pokemon with “cute” designs—aside from the pokemon in my signature, Spheal, Rowlet, Jigglypuff, Swinub, and Cyndaquil are others I enjoy. I generally don’t vibe as well with pokemon with harsher, more angular designs (not a huge fan of Digimon and Yu-Gi-Oh, as examples of similar designs). I’m also finding that newer gen pokemon generally do not resonate as well with me, but it does feel like there was a gradual (or abrupt?) design shift at some point.
Overall, not sure why I like what I like, but it’s an interesting question.
I think I tend to like things more if I can attach a level of realism to them. My nostalgia is almost all based around the games rather than the cards as I was a pretty avid gamer as a kid. I was big on FIFA and wherever the transfer window closed in real life and squads changed, I always had to restart my career modes and use the actual teams so that it felt more real.
It’s not such a leap for me to believe in Blastoise as turtles exist, whereas I look at Latios and Latias as conscious airplanes which is too much of a stretch for me to feel any attachment.
I believe that the only attitude worthy of a man like me is to persist in an activity he recognizes is useless, to observe a discipline he knows is sterile, and to apply certain norms of philosophical and metaphysical thought that he considers utterly inconsequential.
Pokémon is a thoroughfare whereby I access the feeling of a childly imagination, though sharpened now by the master’s hands of adulthood, so years and years of cultivation.
“Who am I? What is my true reason for being? I will find my own purpose…” — Mewtwo
Togepi has been my favourite Pokemon for longer than I can remember or pinpoint to why. I was probably younger than 10. So the why on me liking it has certainly evolved over time, but I have had theories but no concrete answer to why ~8 year old me decided Togepi was the best lol.
I grew up in Gen 3/gen 4 era for video games and that’s where my love of the franchise really accelerated to what it is today, but my first introduction to Pokemon was the Anime years before those games. So obviously Togepi was a big part in that with Misty.
I think I got so attached to Togepi because it was so unique and new in the world of the original 151. It felt like its own thing entirely, all while still being a Pokemon and having that traditional feeling of a Pokemon. That love certainly grew over time even more and as I got older and focused on the games/cards for my Pokemon enjoyment, getting the Togepi egg and not being able to catch it elsewhere in multiple games I played throughout childhood, reaffirmed that feeling of uniqueness and fondness to me.
Even though I don’t hunger for most vintage cards, cosmos holo just hits different.
Whenever some random bulk card gets a cosmos variation in a junk modern promo box, its desirability increases exponentially. No other holo pattern has achieved the same effect.
It started as nostalgia since I couldnt get singles to make competitive decks but theme decks were easy to play with and enjoy with friends. Its also because its obscure. Collections with the same thing you can find anywhere dont interest me enough to collect them myself. A collection no one was odd enough to do in 20years and unique enough you can pick it out of a lineup, thats more my speed. Very few people were interested in decks so even finding out about variants has been one of those things that I can put a bit of pride behind finding it out and gathering them in one large collection.
It hits just right for me: unique, rare, obscure, nostalgic, numerous, historical, and has a built in completion idea since the contents are known. Other options were the flip coins or pins but there are people who are way more dedicated to those than myself and the lines get blurred due to releases and whats official. English decks are easier since they are either english or they are not, with a box or they are loose promos, very little ambiguity.
I like pokemon that I’ve just had greater exposure to. Whether it’s by playing the games or a portrayal of a pokemon in a video that gave me a greater appreciation of it.
I’ve also always liked flying types/the wind element in fantasy games so that’s another dimension.
I like what I find ‘interesting’ (this is probably relating to the release), beautiful/visually appealing, or anything that evokes a strong sense of nostalgia.
If I were to try and give examples of items that tick only one box each, they would be, in order:
Certain promos, like PCL, though thinking about it now this is probably the category I have the least of that doesn’t also tick one of the other boxes.
Postcards and posters (the art on a lot of them is incredible and often unique/not available elsewhere). They’re also a good size for appreciating the art.
This one is hard because typically nostalgia is tied to a positive memory, in which case there has to have been something else positive about the first experience. i.e. there’s very little you’re nostalgic for without also finding it visually appealing or interesting. Maybe video games is the best example. Even if I barely play them I enjoy having them.
While most items will fall into more than one category, on reflection I think the biggest factor is what I think looks good above all else. I think that’s probably the case for a lot of us getting back into Pokemon as adults; typically there’s something we see that triggers a “woah that’s so cool” response.
I tend to like the sort of goofy CG used in the Diamond and Pearl era. That style was typically reserved for strong Pokemon, the kind you would use in Pokemon Battle Revolution (which of course, fully embraced it), and it really worked on me as a kid. I loved seeing Dialga and Palkia etc. in trailers and stuff in all their 3D glory. That sort of style wasn’t really used very much if at all towards the end of the EX era, so it felt like something new and fresh when DP base set came out loaded with 3D cards. I still love them today, and I hope they stay cheap forever :')
The things I’ve always liked best in Pokémon are the sense of exploration & mystery in the games, and the zoological aspect to Pokémon.
I was always a big nature fan, so suddenly having these cool animals that could battle and be collected like bugs?! Sign me up!
It’s probably why Mew has always been a favourite, with it being this huge enigma early on in the franchise’s history, and how it’s the genetic ancestor of all Pokémon.
Incidentally, I do actually know why my favourite colour is what it is - I was dinosaur crazy from toddler age, and chose my favourite colour based on the Power Ranger who had the coolest dinosaur Morpher. No idea how the hell I can remember this, but that’s the batshit dumb reason behind my choice of favourite colour!
The type of Pokémon I like are ones that usually had a decent amount of airtime in the anime or movies. Darkrai, Shaymin, Lucario, Entei, Latias, and Lugia are some Pokémon I like due to how I enjoyed watching the movies that revolve around them.
The cards I like to collect revolve around their history and how it was obtained. Always loved history, so naturally I gravitate towards cards with a story.
I’ve always been drawn to cute things. As a kid, my favorite toys were cute plushes. My favorite cards as a kid were also the ones with the cutest artwork, usually drawn by Nishida. I certainly like ‘cool’ artworks as well but my favorites still end up being cute artworks.
Also explains why my favorite pokemon are generally cute such as togetic and celebi.
Most of my favourite cards and Pokemon in general come from childhood nostalgia, the ones I have specific memories about coming from playing the games, trading in the playground, watching the show and opening packs.
One specific aesthetic I’ve always been extra-attracted to is the deeper colour and foiling of the 1st ed / Shadowless Base holos. They weren’t available in the UK through retail, but the card shop in my town had some on the back wall behind the counter, and I was mesmerized. It’s far from a unique perspective but they have a lot more value to me personally than unlimited.
However having aged a bit, developed my world views and since taken a few steps outside the safari zone, I’ve also come to value history and provenance a lot more, even in spite of lack of aesthetics in some cases. I think this would have happened naturally but eFour has massively accelerated the process.
My favorite holiday is Halloween, so it tracks that my favorite Pokémon is Pumpkaboo and my favorite types are Ghost and Bug. When I was a kid, I liked all the cool, edgy and strong Pokémon. I still like them, but as I’ve grown older I’ve found more of an affinity for the simple and cute designs as well.
I also like setting goals I’ll never reach and starting projects I’ll never finish…and I just don’t dislike any generation of Pokémon as a whole. Plus I’ve always been a completionist, so collecting all types of Pokémon cards is really easy for me to enjoy.
lol on a serious note i think my love of prerelease and stamped promos in general is because i wasnt allowed to do pokemon anything as a kid and the kids that got to go to the play events or any kind of convention were like, god level status at the time. Its just weirdly special having all the promos that anyone could have gotten by just being there in one place. As it grows it really feels like my own little piece of history.
and ex rarity (although not all within these rarities)
primarily the japanese releases.
