The EX era started in 2003 right after the Wizards of the Coast era concluded. This was a period of time when the popularity significantly died down and Pokemon was doing everything they could to revive the hype. Nintendo took over the card production and in my opinion, elevated past what Wizards of the Coast had done. They introduced the EX holos where the holos extended to the edge of the card. These were the most popular at the time. Every pack has a reverse holo and many people did not take care of them. This led to the lowest survival rates and the lowest gem rates for these card. These also had a more dynamic holo pattern as well as the set name within the design. The cards were amazing, but we’re just simply not as popular at the time. Fast forward to today and these have the lowest PSA 10 populations by far. Over the past year, these have become some of the most desirable cards in the entire hobby. The average PSA 10 population is around 15 to 20 which is absolutely unheard of.