(1) Chespin, Fennekin, and Froakie Boxes + Blister Pack with Pins [8/19]

I thought that 5ban WAS in an in-house group of Gamefreak people? I could have sworn I've seen this rumor before.
 
All 5ban does is make 2d cards. Some of them are great, but if they took over XY? That'd be 2d card after 2d card. Our point is, we want a variety of art styles.

Note how the Kalo trio's box says special foil. The crappy lines are just regular foil, so is there a new holographic pattern around?
 
I have no doubt these are BW promos, but it wouldn't surprise me if the card templates for XY were similar to BW, if only due to the parallels between Gen I/II and Gen V/VI.
 
I don't mind the cards' artworks. I actually think they look rather nice. o:

I really want to get the Fennekin pin, and I'll probably end up getting all three of the XY Boxes. xD
 
Salamencetrainer34 said:
All 5ban does is make 2d cards. Some of them are great, but if they took over XY? That'd be 2d card after 2d card. Our point is, we want a variety of art styles.

Note how the Kalo trio's box says special foil. The crappy lines are just regular foil, so is there a new holographic pattern around?

These are 3D not 2D.

Personally I have a deep hatred for most of their stuff, but they have been getting better. Their first couple of cards were the most unneeded thing ever and it really made most of the cards just as bad as shoving Ken Sugimori clipart onto the cards.

CMP said:
I have no doubt these are BW promos, but it wouldn't surprise me if the card templates for XY were similar to BW, if only due to the parallels between Gen I/II and Gen V/VI.

The Team Flare Grunt is unnumbered so we likely won't get these as BW promos since they are not from BW technically c'B
 
I'm a big fan of 5ban, especially the cards they've released recently - mainly because they suit holographic cards so well. Some of the Plasma 5ban cards are gorgeous.
 
Yeah, I'll take 5ban over the goofy mid-90's CGI the TCG tried to pass off as artwork in the original ex and LV. X cards. >_>
 
TokenDuelist said:
The Team Flare Grunt is unnumbered so we likely won't get these as BW promos since they are not from BW technically c'B

I wasn't aware of the Flare Grunt promo, so thanks for that nugget. However little knowledge I have of the TCG, though, I don't recall too many unnumbered promos in English. Therefore, I ask: are the starter promos going to begin the XY promo collection, or do you suppose they'll be unnumbered?
 
Frost said:
Yeah, I'll take 5ban over the goofy mid-90's CGI the TCG tried to pass off as artwork in the original ex and LV. X cards. >_>
No, those were better. Heck, even the goofy CGI in Base Set cards is better than 5ban.

The problem with 5ban cards is that they are made so that the Pokemon is obviously not part of the scenery it's been placed in - the same problem with tacking Sugimori art onto a picture. Granted they have been getting better, but the same problem remains: the Pokemon isn't part of the scenery. (If you want examples, look at Plasma Storm's Durant - Call for Backup - and especially the Garbodor - not the one with Biosmog.)

It's gotten to the point that I can tell 5ban drew a card art because of how obviously in-your-face it is. And, in some cases, they have no backgrounds at all - Krookodile BW? Eelektross NVI? The Three Cows NVI? Where on earth are they? A black hole?

5ban has had more than enough time to clean up its act with how it chooses to make TCG card arts. They haven't. Now I want them gone. Gone. Forever, never to come back.
I wonder when I'll ever start liking the TCG again...
 
Virtually all of the original ex cards had the same problem with there being no backgrounds at all. And in those cases, the CGI was clunky and amateur looking, with the Pokemon all looking off-model and like they were designed for a low budget PS1 game. So, yes, in those cases I DO prefer 5ban's art because at least the Pokemon look accurate in them.

The Pokemon not looking like they belong in their background is an odd complaint to me, since SO MUCH of the artwork in the TCG has the Pokemon plopped in a generic background of swirly colors and such. That isn't a problem exclusive to 5ban, and 5ban has cards like NV Leavanny where the Pokemon ARE in actual environments too.
 
5ban has cards like NV Leavanny where the Pokemon ARE in actual environments too.
That is another example of a card that is not part of the background. Look closely. The Leavanny looks plastered right onto the background, with no real attempted blending whatsoever.

The Pokemon not looking like they belong in their background is an odd complaint to me, since SO MUCH of the artwork in the TCG has the Pokemon plopped in a generic background of swirly colors and such.
Well, I DID bring up Sugimori in my statement as well, so...I'm aware it's not a 5ban exclusive problem. But if 5ban really is supposed to be a good graphics company, they should know better, and not do this.
 
CMP said:
TokenDuelist said:
The Team Flare Grunt is unnumbered so we likely won't get these as BW promos since they are not from BW technically c'B

I wasn't aware of the Flare Grunt promo, so thanks for that nugget. However little knowledge I have of the TCG, though, I don't recall too many unnumbered promos in English. Therefore, I ask: are the starter promos going to begin the XY promo collection, or do you suppose they'll be unnumbered?


Most likely unnumbered or the start of X/Y promos.

DNA said:
5ban has cards like NV Leavanny where the Pokemon ARE in actual environments too.
That is another example of a card that is not part of the background. Look closely. The Leavanny looks plastered right onto the background, with no real attempted blending whatsoever.

The Pokemon not looking like they belong in their background is an odd complaint to me, since SO MUCH of the artwork in the TCG has the Pokemon plopped in a generic background of swirly colors and such.
Well, I DID bring up Sugimori in my statement as well, so...I'm aware it's not a 5ban exclusive problem. But if 5ban really is supposed to be a good graphics company, they should know better, and not do this.

Why are people even defending 5Ban Graphics, like holy. I will admit some of their stuff has gotten better, but they still fail quite heavily at some of them. I like when they use CGI but then draw over it and give it a more traditional feel. They need to do that with all their stuff, or even put backgrounds in. Some of their plasma stuff is pretty great in that regard. But when they slap stuff down onto a generic overused background? How can anyone defend that. There are a lot of cards that have competitive value and whenever I have moments where I use them, I am stuck looking at such god-awful excuses for card art. Someone could have drawn something for that, not slap a 3D Model on it, change the hue/saturation of the background and call it done.
 
I was VERY disappointed with 5ban's meloetta, I'm seriously considering selling both of my meloettas to buy two or three or four of those gorgeous ex battle boost meloettas when they are released in english.

Tacking the pokemon against a background is not necessarily bad, but it has to be well done: ariados neo genesis was horrible, and it was the original sugimori drawing.

In defense of 5ban, and as a 3d artist, I'll say that backgrounds in 3d are insanely hard, complicated and difficult; they demand several times the effort it takes to do the pokemon model and rigging, show inmediately if you reused some assets and you can't reuse the backgrounds for other cards, since each one has a unique illustration, that's why most of 5ban's cards don't have backgrounds and just show graphic effects or something.

But then again, they are not m******** atsuko nishida, so I don't care.
 
Since they contain 3 packs apiece, I'd assume somewhere around $15.
 
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