Today is a fine day to showcase another great milestone in my slowbro trophies. I am really pleased to see so many of my people hit really tough goals and acquire some huge and beautiful cards (ahem, Jopo, ahem). I always figure things come best in three’s, so we can now say that my first slowbro update was part one of three, so here’s part two.
Now, onto the show, the newest captures since my first slow share. And it is fitting that this is the year anniversary. The shadow show has quite the array of beasts in the tent now! Amnesiacs!
Where to begin? Let’s zoom in.
Komiyaaaa! Alas, I had planned on having the trio hit the 9’s, but that grader decided these two were “better” than the same conditioned light slowbro, the best of them artistically–no, there’s no bias there. I know I will have him eventually. Komiya is a god, of course of course. And these are some of god’s best creations. That isn’t questioned anymore by anyone. And then of course there’s the unbelievable Hama Chan’s slowking! What a card. Without a doubt the most unique in the whole collection. I adore it so. It is mesmerizing, the dream of a child. And I was able to get a 9 of 'ole Playmat Slowpoke! What can I say, the 7 bugged me. This one was in the same condition, the top right old back corners do the trick, but I gotta admit the off number, saying that gross 7 no less, bothered me. I’m sure many relate.
I finally found the perfect Neo Slowking! One of my original childhood favorites. This thing is a beaut. Very clean, and with this card, particularly, I did want a perfect copy. I searched for this one for, well, you don’t wanna know. I even bought and sold 2 prior 9’s (after some dozen close-to-desired raws, always print lines bothering me). Yes, that’s right. This one was very well earned. And I now have the full set of Dark Slowbros. Had to. He is so enjoyable in the galaxy WOTC holofoil. No regrets there, a whole new way of looking at the card. I’ve always hated base set 2, but legendary collection has grown on me massively in the years. I love the reverses now too. Sabrina’s slowbro is a classic, an icon of a generation! Unseen Slowbro is glorious, a fine Harada piece, one of her finest to me.
Now… RR Dark Slowking! Wow. It is because of he that I was able to say, that’s it, it’s not just EX’s that are worth looking into, no, it is worth looking into the whole era! So this one is a very special sort of introductory card that got my excited about a new world. I am grateful to him for that. And talk about a perfect card. I mean, look at the thing. Every aspect of its layout is perfect. I love the purple accents in the text area. Dark and dank indeed. The illustration must have been utterly thrilling and stirring to bring to life. And speaking of new frontiers… when you look at Slowbro, an already perfect pokemon, and his family, you see just how amazing of treatment they got, through all of poke history. Looking at even newer eras I had found myself repeatedly thinking how amazing these are! And, in typical Japanese fashion, these JP releases are most often even better in appeal! The reverse L1 Slowbro is one such fine example. And a Kizuki Bazooka bomb! And the matching artworks with slowpoke (and another soon to be in…)? Ahh I love it when they do that. And then we get to the Slowbro EX, the one we never got in the old era. And surely nowhere near as cool. In fact, it’s hideous. So hideous only a mother (or a Brendan) could love. It is so hideous that it actually has some sort of odd appeal. I do actually like the overall design of the card, as some sort of bizarre, depraved novelty. So I thought it belonged in the shadow show. I love it.
Here we have some of the biggest prizes of the whole lot. It was in obtaining the Slowbro from Dan ketchumall just recently that I hit this milestone. I really changed a lot. I used to hate reverses. I really did. Of all varieties. But I can’t think of a more perfect way to slab a slow trophy, y’know? It is the ultimate respect and reverence to the artwork. It works splendidly. This set of reverse aquapolis slow’s define the entire set, the greatest WOTC set. They are reaaaally hot. And cool at the same time. I really look upon them as some of Kusube’s finest work. And that says so much, because she is basically top 5 in pokemon history, which is saying even more. I couldn’t help but get the web playmat poke. It is so dense, so saturated, so interesting. Very much a different art variant, not just card release or edition.
And here is Will’s Slowbro. Speaking of massive artists. A definitive Himeno classic. Must I always be a broken record about these illustrious illustrators? Yes. That style, that STYLE! It looks like she airspray brushed it to life. I’ve never seen such delicacy in pokemon art. And her color palette is unparalleled. Still need the king by his side, though. Firered Leafgreen reverses are such a good way of enjoying and encasing non holos as I’ve said just recently. They favor the background and don’t distract. Morii did such a good job in this era. Prime Slowking is the best prime card. Yes, I actually do like prime cards. I do not think they are gimmicky. Fight me. The next card is one of those pesky 10’s that I graded. 7’s aside, I’ve learned to not live too much with this mindset:
You grade enough of those zero demand cards that you couldn’t easily switcheroo the 9 and you eventually have to say meh, it’s fine. Mint is mint after all. That said, this one of the finest modern arts you can come by. In fact, there are two back to back here. Both amazing contemporary pokemon artists who’s works I look for and enjoy very thoroughly. I like the slowpoke even more.
Next, I finally got the correct artist credit Tanaka classic, the Slowpoke set debut. And why not get a matching og slowbro while I’m at it? These things are dirt cheap! The Topsuns are very exciting. They are blue and green backs, gorgeous little things. It is when I combine those, red, and my still unobtained green carddass bro that I can die happy, provided it is a slow death. We’re almost there. I think the '97 carddass slowbro is good in a 10, I’ll keep it, even though I could actually switch that one for a 9. Last but not least is L1 Slowking, for the Kizuki set. God I love them.
And before the family photo, here is another interesting thing. So I was trying to grade another vending slowbro, considering the two color variants. I submitted two. One got the 9, and one got the 10. Pictured here are the original, “light” vending slowbro (the first I got) and one of the two saturated. I was sure I was going to sell the 10, but, damnit, this is one of my favorite cards of all time. I hate the idea of doubles, but… ugh. I’ll have to hold onto this one for a while.
Geez, this picture does not portray just how different they are. The left is way more saturated than the pale boy. Ah well.
And now, the family in full, up to date!
I am very close to closing the history book on slowbro. It has been a fun, few-year ride since I decided to go the slab route with the slows. It’s a turn I didn’t expect I would have done, say, 5 years ago, but I am so glad I did. It is a very, very fun way to collect, and sometimes can be very fun when your current priority goal sees no progress for long periods at a time. There’s always some slow around to slab.
I’m so so happy you like the Golduck. I can’t think of a better home for it. I feel so grateful to have you as a friend, and now for one of my art pieces to be included in one of the best collection threads on efour! I need to get a nice graded copy of Misty’s Golduck as well. Would love if TPC printed a Golduck character rare. You da bomb, man. Great update!
