Posted in: Games, Pokémon TCG, Tabletop | Tagged: pokemon, pokemon black and white, Pokemon TCG

A Holographic History Of The Pokémon TCG: Black & White Era Lines

Over the years, the Pokémon TCG has featured many different patterns used on their holographic cards. Some patterns lasted for years, while others had short stays, making them markers for their short time in the franchise. On this new installment of A Holographic History of the Pokémon TCG, let's take a look back at the first pattern to take over after the long-running galaxy foil used for years and years with Black & White's horizontal line style.

In April 2011, the Pokémon TCG released the Black & White base set, which introduced a brand new kind of holographic pattern: the horizontal line pattern. This was a major and unexpected change at the time, as galaxy foil had been used more or less consistently since the English-language Pokémon TCG adopted it in the year 2000.

This new pattern is, I feel, underrated. While galaxy foil will always be the classic (and is still used for promo cards, through every era), the Black & White horizontal line pattern is still stunning. Like no main line holo pattern since (we'll get into what that means shortly), it lights up when it catches the light, sending vibrant lines throughout the foil of the card.

This holo style for Black & White set a new pattern for Pokémon TCG releases. Now, with the start of a new generation of sets, a new foil pattern would be introduced. This has led to each era creating a visual marker with their holos. XY would bring a foil without a pattern that lit up with thick beams of rainbow when exposed to the light, though it was so flat that it was hard to tell if some cards were holo. Sun & Moon introduced the wavey holo pattern, creating watery loops throughout the card. Most recently, Sword & Shield introduced the vertical lines, which were reminiscent of the Black & White lines, but thicker.

This idea that the main lines of Pokémon TCG cards all had their own patterns can be traced back to Black & White. This establishing of a consistent main pattern also allowed other cards to stand out: deck holos used cracked ice patterns, Black Star Promos continued with galaxy foil, McDonald's promos created their own speckly pattern, and cereal promos used small circles. In time, we'll get to them all, but for now let's tip our hats to the Black & White era which, in some ways, began this wave of variety.

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