If you only started collecting Pokemon cards any time in the last five years, I can’t emphasize enough to you how much the hobby has changed. I remember when Hidden Fates launched in 2019. It was the most-hyped set of its day, comparable to something like Prismatic Evolutions or Destined Rivals, and believe it or not, you could just walk into a store and buy it. My local GameStop had those beautiful Ultra Ball collections on the shelves for months after release, with new stock coming in all the time. No one was punching each other in the face in the middle of Costco or rioting in the Van Gogh museum over it. Boy, those were the days. I’m sorry if you missed out.
Obviously, things have changed a lot. The spike in the popularity of Pokemon cards in 2020, driven by a combination of millennial nostalgia, pandemic boredom, and influencer market pumping, turned the Pokemon TCG into a high-value commodity. Slimy resellers and small-time investors saw an opportunity and jumped on this new gold rush, and collecting Pokemon cards has never been the same.
Related
How Is a New Pokemon TCG Pocket Player Ever Supposed To Catch Up?
If you’re starting Pokemon TCG Pocket now, you’re already too late.
As a lifelong collector, it’s been painful to watch how competitive acquiring Pokemon cards has become, and the inflated market has started to push me away from the game. I would have loved to relive the glory days of shiny hunting in Hidden Fates with last year’s Paldean Fates, but the bots and scalpers just took all the fun out of it. I miss the magic, but I’m hopeful that Pokemon TCG Pocket’s shiny-ful Themed Booster set will help me remember why I used to love collecting Pokemon cards.
There Was Nothing Like Hunting Shinies In Hidden Fates
Shiny hunting has a much shorter history in Pokemon TCG than you might think. Though it’s been a core part of the video game fandom since Gold & Silver, shiny Pokemon have only made rare appearances in the TCG of the years.
Shiny Pokemon first appeared in 2002’s Neo Destiny set, which included eight “Shining” Pokemon with one per deck limit and energy requirements. They were then reintroduced as Pokemon Star in EX Team Rocket Returns with the same deck limit. Starting with 2009’s Platinum set, we would occasionally see non-mechanically unique Shiny Pokemon pop up, but no more than three or four in any set. Shining Pokemon returned once again in 2017’s Shining Legends, which paved the way for 2019’s Hidden Fates, a full-blown Shiny special expansion with over 80 Shiny Pokemon to collect.
The way Hidden Fates wove in the Shiny Pokemon was brilliant. The Shiny Collection had a different set number than the main Hidden Fates set, and Shiny Pokemon would only appear in the reverse holo slot, meaning you had a chance to pull a Shiny Pokemon and an ultra rare in the same pack. All of the shinies, including the full-arts, were recolors of previous cards with a special background, meaning every Shiny Pokemon in the set had a non-shiny counterpart in some other set.
Shiny Hunting in Hidden Fates was the most fun I’ve ever had collecting Pokemon cards. They were fairly obtainable – at least compared to the average secret rare Pokemon cards – yet each one you found felt special. 80 is a lot, but it felt like a reasonable collection to complete. They were fun to find, fun to trade, and they made opening packs feel a little bit more exciting. Hidden Fates was, and perhaps still is, the Pokemon TCGs most perfect set.
We had a number of attempts at sequels to Hidden Fates, but none of them hit the same way. That’s partly because it’s harder to build the same excitement on the second go around the Poke park, but mostly because the cards were so unbelievably hard to get. I barely collected any Shining Fates or Paldean Fates when those sets were current, because I just couldn’t find them. I like shiny hunting, but I don’t like hunting for packs. When the scalpers are in cahoots with the vendors that stock the shelves at your local Target, you know things have gone too far.
All Of The Shiny Hunting, None Of The Scalpers
I’m delighted that Pokemon TCG Pocket is giving us a new shiny hunt so soon. Shiny Revelry, launching this week, is Pocket’s fifth set and by far its most hyped – at least, if you ask me. This is our chance to rip packs and delight in the discovery of Shiny Pokemon without having to race bots online, wrestle with scalpers at a department store, or worst of all, pay jacked-up prices on eBay just to get a taste of shiny cardboard. This is the purest shiny hunting has been since Hidden Fates, and I’m excited that Pocket players are going to get a chance to experience what collecting was like before the pandemic.
I do have to temper my excitement somewhat though, as Shining Revelry doesn’t take quite as many cues from Hidden Fates as I would have liked. This 111 card set only features 14 Shiny Pokemon, so it’s a lot closer to the original Shining Pokemon sets than Hidden Fates was. Among those Shiny Pokemon are must-haves like Charizard ex, and Lucario ex, but also some questionable choices like Varoom and Weedle. When you’ve got 80 to work with you can include a wide variety of Pokemon, but when there are only 14, it’s better to stick to the hits.
The set also introduces two new tiers of rarity for these new Shiny Pokemon, which is a little concerning. We don’t know the pull rate numbers yet, but given how frustratingly rare basic ex cards can be, I’m worried I’ll only end up finding one or two Shiny Pokemon until I either run out of funds or it’s time to move onto the next set. I imagine these won’t be tradeable either, given their elevated rarity. It’s all speculation right now, but a shiny set with only a few shinies that you probably won’t find anyway isn’t really a shiny set at all.
Concerns aside, this is an exciting direction for Pocket to take so early, and I can’t wait to see what it does with Shiny Pokemon moving forward. I’m hoping there are bigger plans than simply adding 14 Shiny Pokemon to every upcoming set, but even if that is the case, I’ll be glad for the opportunity to hunt shinies once again, without the scalpers standing in my way.
- Released
-
October 30, 2024
- Publisher(s)
-
The Pokemon Company