Dude, it already starts to be painful to watch your posts, you’ve already posted so many of my collection goals i’m slowly trying to complete and to top it off several of those i’ve had to decide not to collect myself 
i guess it indicates that you indeed have a great taste of cardboard but this is starting to give me anxiety when watching my incomplete binders and lists
2 Likes
Haha so sorry Jopo! I know the feeling, I really do. For instance, you destroy my Slowbro collection and I’ve seen far too many things in your collection that press me for the Slowbro equivalent and I have to look away.
As consolation I am truly glad you enjoy them 
Mad thanks for stopping by as always, very pleased we share the interest in the promos!
1 Like
@brendantheclayboy that Slow family collection is amazing, congrats! So much of that art is so good. I also never realised how different that legendary collection holo pattern is. Again, what an update!
1 Like
Always bringing the heat @brendantheclayboy! What are the orange binder sleeve you use?
1 Like
Thanks @dizzylochs ! The LC’s are icons, some of my favorites to display. They kind of epitomize the glory I see in these artworks!
@pulpyfan , thanks so much my dude. So actually just usin’ my penny sleeves, and what you’re seeing is just my orange binder! Just a typical RING binder. Myep. That’s right. For half my collection I tend to use those. But worry not my friend, it isn’t O ring, it’s D ring. And I am obsessive over how they are meticulously stored. The other half the collection is ultra pro suede premium side load binders. Love having both. So any time you see color you’re seeing ring binders, any time you see black they are suede zip binders 
2 Likes
Nothing beats McDonald’s promos. AWESOME collection, my friend.
1 Like
Thanks so much Matt! Really appreciate a fine contributor to my collection stopping by. Pleased you enjoy its progress man!
1 Like
@brendantheclayboy, another lovely update. The Pokemon e-minimum cards are really a work of art. I always wondered why Bulbasaur got the short end of the stick with a non-holo card. Considering each Pokemon-type had 3 artworks, for grass type they chose Chikorita instead of Bulbasaur to have a holo card. No love for the bulbous boy!
Really enjoyed the showcase.
Cheers!
1 Like
I’m glad if i can spread that pain to you at least in some ways and my relief is that you are running out of stuff on my goal lists so i can finally check your collection updates without fear about what i’m this time going to see (unless you keep on posting stuff so good i have to widen the list again)
1 Like
Wow you’ve organised and presented this really really well.
1 Like
This is a special day in my collecting career. I have obtained my the last old back exclusive on my goal list for this, my favorite binder. I now consider the binder to be complete and whole for the first time. Along with the upmost nostalgic WOTC cards, and sentimental specific cards, my heart will always cherish most the old back era for all that it is, all that it brought about, and all that it represents to the history of Pokemon. Knowing there are no more new ones to place in here is a strange feeling, something I almost never wanted to happen in a way.
Here are the last pages to showcase, each with a general theme.
The Natta Wake Promos. My, what a set. When I first saw that Pikachu it blew me away. It took me quite a while to land back on earth so I could buy more cards. Pikachu getting smashed on wine and stuffing its face with cake in a Himeno glitter din of bursting flair and color? Say no more! And Hoppip is a masterwork in surrealism. Good lord what an array. The brave Mankey of the gang taking one for the team and risking it all for some fruit, with such dynamic and frantic movement beautifully conveyed. The comedy and multilayered emotion of seeing a frantic Sunkern sprinting from a perturbed Spearow. Jynx, in Himeno VS airbrush fashion, singing hymns in a realm of nothing but notes and the sound of music. And of course, Psyduck, so good it had to be reissued for the english people–just an incredible piece to be remembered. Himeno really blew it out of the park with this perfect little squad, along with their magazines. I personally enjoy them alongside another magnificent exclusive, the Eevee of the ruins of Discovery. And whenever possible connected artwork should be featured together.
Next up we have the ANA and others page. The bird trio are emblematic. Japanese delivery Dragonite is far better than its english counterpart with that stamp obscuring the artwork. The Togepi and Marill are definitely noteworthy, a peculiar look to them, quite unordinary. But the best is saved for last. I think Ooyama’s Exeggutor is among the best that the old back era can provide. Unbelievable. Look at it! Utterly delightful. What a cool set symbol too, what great history. I love me my glossy GB Meowth and of course Brendan’s white star Chansey, heavenly.
This is one of my favorite pages here. We have some altered and ‘banned’ arts and some serious color variety. The most significant of all, the Staryu. Most people don’t even talk about it! The only card from base that was changed for no known reason! Fan book Mewtwo is so great, one of the first cards released on gloss. Sabrina’s Gengar is so great, well deserved in its popularity. Another pair of favorites from these here parts are the pedagogical diggers. Asobikata Diglett and Dugtrio. Elegant Tanaka work here. They pop, they spring, they mesmerize.
Party Pika page! It’s so great to be able to at least have one snap card. While I would adore a Koffing or another of the real ones, this Trainer Mag copy will definitely suffice forever. I think my favorite of this sextet is actually Mt Fuji Pikachu though. It is just the composition, the color. Great series of releases. And then this leads into another superb series…
The gym promos. Ugghhhhh!!! Amazing, amazing cards! If it weren’t for Imakuni’s Doduo, it would be impossible to pick a favorite (even though he’s not technically part of this ‘set’. But we don’t need formalities like that here!). Yes, thankfully we have the outer realm creation that is Imakuni’s Doduo. What a damn classic. I’m also a sucker for Erika’s Dratini. Love that card. It is discovering secret cards like these that kept the childlike excitement in Pokemon continuously going.
Finally, the gen 2 page. Some more glossies, some others. I just can’t get enough of the Murkrow. But the favorites go to the Info Pack Dunsparce and Bellossom. Again, secret cards, very esoteric releases. I really actually like the Unown R. It really stands out among the set unowns.
And that’s it… well… okay, I cheat on some rules from time to time and I threw this in my old back binder with a few other rule breakers. I mean c’mon! Best ‘rerelease’ ever. This is what they should have done with so many cards. HOOLLLOOOOOO.
And that is it. Technically I am still missing a few old backs, but these are such cards that I would rather own slabbed, such as grand party or corrected ivy pika (or Fan Eevee… Or Fan Karp… or unikarp…), so I don’t see myself ever getting 2 of these just to have in the binder. Maybe if I get crazy money, sure, but I am pleased this binder’s exclusives are complete.
Just as I do with holo variants, I often consider glossy cards to be unique enough of variants to consider them ‘exclusives’. It just does enough to the look of the art and card that it affects me thusly, when comparing them to their english counterparts.
There are, by my count
97 promos
101 vending pokemon
17 vending trainers
32 vhs / starter promos
and 24 trainer promos
So if I’m not mistaken I have 271 exclusives in this binder completed, of which a handful or so aren’t really exclusives, but glossy counterparts
17 Likes
Big congrats on completing your goal! They look amazing together like that, and as always I love the little stories and thoughts you added to your posts. 
Umm, Marowak is neither gen 2 nor present on that page. 
I think you meant Hitmontop?
Greetz,
Quuador
2 Likes
First of thanks a lot @quuador! Glad you like my thoughts when I share. Been really enjoying your Pikachu around the world as well my friend.
Second, hahah wow what a typo. **Murkrow**
I have gone back and edited that. Yeah in my mind I said Murkrow and apparently I was in a different place when typing. How embarrassing
2 Likes
Wow, man! What an incredible goal to have completed! And what a lovely post to wrap it up! Congrats! And I can totally relate to part of the journey coming to an end to be bittersweet. Even so, what an incredible gift you’ve given everyone, taking us along for the ride as you put together a beautiful sub-collection. We’re all waiting for more! More stories, more analysis, more poetic descriptions and philosophies! Can’t wait to see what’s next for you! Again, congrats my dude!
4 Likes
You mad man actually did it!! Wow! I know you’ve been working on this forever and I couldn’t be more happy for you that this chapter finally comes to a triumphant close.
What an insane time capsule a collection like this is! Even more so than most set cards, these exclusive promo cards connect to specific events and interesting releases in Pokemon’s heartland during the golden age. Really one of the best collection ideas I’ve ever come across on e4.
3 Likes
Obscure old japanese promos are some of my favorites, especially since many have eluded me for a while. I barely learned about that togepi and onix last year and I haven’t seen the bellossom until now! And many are still criminally cheap. Definitely want a binder with pages very similar to these eventually.
4 Likes
Your words are equally lovely for me @kromaticlanturn ! I always greatly appreciate your responses and enthusiasm. I sound like a broken record all the time, but it is something I look forward to seeing when it happens, and you and my other homies are such good impetus to share and be motivated. Thanks a lot my good friend!
@muk and same can be said for you my great man! It’s such a satisfying goal, the best really. What you said is what makes it the most fulfilling to look through, knowing how each and every card had such a unique way of being brought about, and how they have such a palpable air of greatness. And you butter me up too well
I know, I’m crazy, a total madhatter, and I love it!
@wooltchi , before I joined E4, I never thought to dig so deep to find random sub sets and hard-to-find releases. Without E4 I wouldn’t have thought to check in the ways I know now to do. That is such a great gift of awareness and insight. And I’m glad to have shown you the info pack Bellossom! Collection sharing is so rewarding in that way. I’m always taking notes from the squad here, just like how for instance kromatic showed me a Girafarig that I might never had known about. And forget about muk’s contribution, that crazy dude has singlehandedly added probably about a 100 cards to my pile! Thanks for stopping by man, glad you enjoy!
5 Likes
Me opening this collection thread to see all the updates:
Extraordinary, @brendantheclayboy! A completed binder of exclusive old back cards?! The stuff of dreams. Congratulations to you!
6 Likes
@taizokai , I burst into laughter! That’s quite the meme there, top level stuff 
I appreciate it a lot my friend. Of course I am very pleased you enjoy it as I do yours. Happy to see that you came for a look. CANNOT wait to see what you have in store as well!
1 Like
My collection thread has been almost entirely restored. The OP is looking beautiful once again, and I got all the additions looking clean again, with good alignment. But there is one more item. To complete this restoration, I have a few older updates needing to be added, that I had made on the old site. Here is the first of three. Several friends of mine have already stopped and made beautiful comments, and I am grateful for that. I can’t thank them enough.
July 20th, 2022
I was going to treat the completion of the full 9 slot page (to be seen) as the requirement to consider this goal complete, but I just got way too excited, and these are sort of the biggest things alongside Porygon that I will basically ever obtain, so I had to just tell myself this is in of itself a major collection goal completed! I am amazed looking at these gems in person. They really do feel like a lottery prize to me. My own personal lottery!
They are so transcendent. Just about the heaviest and most cosmic depictions of poses against and infinite void up to that point, and possibly ever since. I love the non holos of the regular sets, but these dazzle, they inspire, they zap. They are so much better. Sometimes the holo treatment isn’t better for the simple shine and sparkle. Sometimes it enhances beyond the wildest fantasy, a total dream. And are these cards dreamlike.
While I’ve always thought it was a tad strange that Nishida was commissioned for only 2, I love Blastoise the most. I am partial to the Turtle anyhow, with base blastoise being my strong water suit. I love this blastoise just the way it is, and that means it not being Nishida’s, so I can’t question it. If you asked me this same question as a kid, I would have told you it was hideous. I think it is stupendous now! Such a flattering relic of the time, very unique, distinct. It actually looks like he is standing in crystalline, ice cold twilight… a very similar twilight as that of Twilight Princess, the Zelda installment. And it seems he is creating it with his cannons. Just a marvel.
Charizard has reached the celestial heavens, and perches up, looking down, blissfully unaware of his greatness, but aggressively proud and aiming for it as if he doesn’t have it. Venusaur glows with radiance, squatting like a cat, striking defensively, as if someone has entered his forest and threatened its stability and balance. He is a reluctant aggressor. He is the peacekeeper.
I also feel these are just about the most cohesive of the lovable trio, and belong wonderfully as a set, even with the odd artist in, they work so, so well together. I am so stoked to complete these. The holy trinity.
Just missing 3 for the incoming page that crosses off a huge collection goal I have been working towards. And what a page that will be!
23 Likes