Do you collect holo-foil cards? - Baneful
May 2014

 

For the very few who don't know, holos are cards with shiny card art or shiny lettering.  Historically, people sought after these cards because the shinier they were, the rarer they were.  It was an easy way to discern rarity.

 

Though, as we know, a lot of the time there are commons and rares that end up being way better than Ultra Rares, overallThere are lots of people who "holo out" their decks and seek holo cards.

 

A lot of the time, the reason is vanity.  We appear wealthier and more established when we own the rarest cards.  Its also aesthetic; some of us will pay more for the luxury of getting better looking cards.

 

Konami understood this and this is why Champion Packs came out.  They knew that lots of people would pay to get a shinier version of Book of Moon and such.

 

In another way, it establishes players who are just looking to put enough into their deck to get practical results apart from players who are in love with the game and want to collect.

 

Its also a display of loyalty to cards we like.  For example, COTD reviewer Christian's favorite card is Skill Drain and he owns a holo playset of it.  When i played Monarchs, Raiza was my favorite card at the time, so I was sure to get Ultimate Rares of it.

 

Still though, the idea of an all-holo deck doesn't appeal to me.  In fact, I love using decks that consist of the lowest rarity.  It feels parsimonious.  And its fun to watch a $40 deck beat a $600 deck.

 

Which is exactly what happened when Pojo's own Jaelove (Jae Kim) topped a Shonen Jump in 2005 with a deck consisting of many starter deck commons.

 

Contact: banefulscolumn@gmail.com