Maybe they weren't as rare as I thought....

I grew up mainly with the 2nd and 3rd gens and remember one kid having 13 Rayquaza ex'es and 6 Lugias, all of which were fake. Apparently he'd paid £50 for them.

Back in my day, we didn't have fancy level-x cards or your flying machines!
Sorry, I couldn't resist.
In all seriousness though, I feel like the card game has changed from something that had some strategy involved into he-who-has-the-rarest-cards-wins.
Now I just collect the cards for the pretty pictures.

You can say that again. I think that's the initial reason why people collected cards in the first place.

Remember when Blue Eyes White.....I mean Charizard used to be one of the best cards?

Indeed, it was one of the best cards because of how much damage it could do, combined with the fact of its good HP and Pokemon Power that made it easier to execute its attack.

Individual cards could sell up for as high as 140 dollars.

I remember that.
Me and my mom's reactions when I got one in a booster pack she bought me, omfg

I actually still have the whole set for the basic and jungle one lol...except Charizard...i never got him every other card i have lol...man i was so happy i got a blastoise...he was my favorite pokemon back then lol