It was an absolute pleasure having you walk us through your slowdudes collection. Your appreciation for the little pink fellas and the art really shines through, and it doesn’t hurt that the slows have some pretty great cards! My favorite has to be the Aquapolis set of the three. And I can see now why you said a crochet of any of the slows would be great to see!
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What an awesome update my dude!! “…as some sort of bizarre, depraved novelty” really cracked me up aha. Definitely one of my favorite mons as well so this one really hit home. Also, how do you feel about the Komiya Galarian Slowking?
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Thanks Maxy =)
Komiya is always amazing. I love looking at that artwork, as I do all of his. It is especially a trip and fanstastical. I just don’t collect galarian mon’s even of the slow line, hence why you don’t see it here. Otherwise, it would definitely be sitting next to Komiya’s other glories in that picture.
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Today is the prelude collection goal to my biggest goal I’ll probably ever have. At least financially. I consider my collection of old back cards to be my post prized and accomplished binder achievement, but the goal to come will have left that in the dust with regards to the amount of time it has taken, the total amount I have had to dish out, and the challenge of finding them in mint condition.
This showcase today celebrates my favorite trainers of the E series era, being an adorer of trainers, and of beautiful energies, now expanding into art that is made after the great Kinebuchi. Most of it is English, some of it random JP favorites, and the rest is the remainder of my P promos. The trainer segment is slightly different from my normal comprehensive completion in that there are many trainers left in the catalogue of E series that I did not collect, but have no interest in, so I consider this complete for my collection. Though I wouldn’t mind tossing a reverse Buried Fossil into a reverse holo page somewhere in this massive binder, in the distant future.
This also completes, in entirety, my collection of all promos for the E series era (always outside of trophies), with the rest of them having been documented up to this point. This goal completed is my trainer and “p promo outsiders” subcollection!
I’ll start with the most colorful of pages, the one containing the final card obtained to complete this.
It took me forever and ever and ever to find 040/p, as I mentioned earlier in a flustered pwcc thread post wherein I exposited having paid more for that single card than the other 2 p energies featured in this page. But what I didn’t say, was that this card, in fact, cost me more than all the cards that follow below except two. That’s right, all the trainers I am showing. This one card cost more than all of it combined, save for 019 and 020/p (which still cost a lot less). It is an insane and a climactic end to this goal.
All these energies are cosmic and I find a lot of enjoyment in them. I never would have enjoyed them as a kid like I do now. Naturally, 039/p is mindbending.
This page was crafted just to feature the three exclusives. The Pokemon Center promos are unbelievably divine. I find them to be just about the finest trainer cards ever made. They compare equally to Kinebuchi’s greatest, no doubt. The detail is superb, the atmosphere is vivid and nostalgic, and they are simultaneously timeless. You can really get lost in a gaze inside of both of them. I couldn’t help but collect a few non exclusives to fill out the page and enhance it.
Now, for english. I will start with the most significant page.
Kinebuchi is a treasure to me. These are among his final designs before he left this world. Just like aqua grimer and voltorb, Switch 2 is among his best works he EVER did. He got better and better and better. Imagine what he would have come up with had he continued! Also, potion 2 is wildly mesmerizing. And for the keen surveyor, Strength Charm is in the binder, but on a reverse holo page. Sometimes I break my quirky rules of keeping artists together, even my favorite, when I don’t want to mix types of cards. I should just get the double for this page though.
Speaking of getting better, Sugi did the opposite unfortunately. But he did go out of E series with a bang, and I’m glad this perfect peak era saw his efforts be rigorous. I love these. Copycat is awesome. But I’d say Town Volunteers is the favorite here.
Now for some balls. Who doesn’t enjoy a good group of balls? Not much to say here, though. Eye candy is sufficient an explanation.
And these last two pages are jaw droppers to be sure.
This follows sugimor’s annoying 10 card section that has to cross over. Himeno Himeno Himeno. Wow. Mastery. And so unique! When did she ever do trainers?? Was Challenge the only other one up to that point? Impossible to pick a favorite. They are profound.
To end it off, these monumental works of art. Harada is far, far too much. Honestly some of the most remarkable art in pokemon, once again. E series really is the best by far. Undersea Ruins… masterpiece. It speaks to me greatly. The color variation and contrast between them all makes for one of the most dynamic pages one can come across.
The trainers overall make for such fulfilling binder gazing. What wonderful cards. I’m so glad I got over the border years ago. It feels like yesterday I was a fully grown adult, not long ago (relatively), still stubbornly hating them. One day I let it go, and they appreciated 10-fold and before I knew it, I loved them more than their value as a novelty. It became essential. It became something I wouldn’t have traded for anything. Thank you Pokemon.
Also… since this, while being an important moment for me—leaving me with only 2 really important goals left on my plate, and that massive one only being THREE cards away—it is nevertheless rather small in of itself. So, I also figured this is a great time to showcase a massive, massive, sentimental goal of mine that isn’t Pokemon, but equally important in my collecting life. My mint slabbed Yugioh secret rare monster OG set collection, and my other favorites caught along the way. This is the icing, or even the cherry, that tops off my finished classic yugioh binder set collection.
Nothing but joy in achieving this goal. I graded all but a few myself, including the rest of the cards to follow below. The most notable exception is Injection Fairy Lily.
About 6 months ago I obtained her, my final card for this. By FAR and away the hardest card to get for this set. It was even harder than the boost energy. No joke. For those who played or collect yugioh, Injection Fairy Lily was one of the most overpowered cards ever made at the time, and you would be hard pressed to find a copy that wasn’t played to death. Finding a mint copy was so, so hard, that I gave up and eventually bought a copy already graded. It was obscene looking for years. It was one of the few saved searches that I manually looked up every morning during my “morning newspaper” hour. It was a huge relief to get it over with. And this slabbed copy is as pack fresh as my personally graded cards. Jinzo was also one such card in difficulty, a meta trojan horse. Played in every deck.
Words aren’t enough for these cards. They are emblems of a wonderful childhood, and represent that innocence and attachment to the inner deep imaginings and losing oneself into those of artists like the creator of these fine games. And their artwork is as good as it gets for me. There is no favorite in this set, but my sentimental copy is the singular 10. It has nothing to do with the 10 grade. It’s that this was my copy I pulled in 2012, from my Magic Ruler box, the same year as when I bought base through fossil boxes and opened them. For years it sat until I dreamt up this little idea of slabbing mint copies of this set. Low and behold it happened to be a 10. I just can’t get rid of it for a 9. It’s my re-entry into the hobbies pull. And it’s toon blue eyes.
However, the following cards, I can certainly declare favorites. First I’d like to mention something special about that Thousand Dragon. He is a first print, a “faded” copy. That’s not sunfading. It’s how it looked for the first run of Metal Raiders, the 2nd expansion. This is like the shadowless of this era. I treasure it immeasurably. So I pictured it next to my single most sentimental childhood card. I was obsessed with Black Skull Dragon. And while Metal Raiders was my favorite set, which featured an ultra rare first printing of the card, my favorite version as a kid was the collector’s tin secret rare. It’s ridiculously hard to grade, notorious in the yugioh world. They threw the card in the tin plastic, with no wrapping, no sleeves, just laying bare scratching the hell out of the backs of them. This copy is perfect. And it’s mine.
Last but not least, the remainder of my favorites.
Another faded metal raiders card, Twin Headed Thunder Dragon. Exactly on par with Black Skull Dragon. I thought it seemed so menacingly powerful. I thought it was comparable in power to Blue eyes. But more dark and in my flair. Next to that is my favorite, most sentimental ADULT card. You see, I adored this card from the show as a kid. But I never knew, ever, that Yugioh itself also had secret sets. Yes I’m looking at you vending series. Their equivalent in yugioh was the tournament series packs. All art exclusives, very underground, not known to many players who didn’t compete on the official circuit. When I was about 20, 21, I discovered these sets. And there it was. The Fortress Whale. The single most beautiful illustration ever produced in yugioh. I bow in reverence. A true trophy.
And Time Wizard is Joey’s first card from Yugi, and a phenomenal artwork and concept, while Zoa always brings me back to my yugioh video games, something I adore greatly. I only wish they had made holos of my other favorite cards, bickuribox and other clown cards, which I may one day slab, though it seems a bit overkill. My binder copies should suffice, I need to keep telling myself. After all, I don’t want to grade much anymore, and no one would grade those but me.
I hope this share has been enjoyed this time, it has been a while since I reached a milestone in the collection, and I felt it was a good time to share my completed yugioh too!
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Whoah, slow down there, buddy. I didn’t even know you collected Yugioh cards at all, let alone my favorite category of them, the OG secret rares (if we ever talked about them I must’ve shamefully forgotten and I’m deeply sorry). Insanely cool collection! They look so, so good. Serpent Night Dragon has a special place in my heart for being a terribly mediocre card that just looks super sick.
I personally was never confident enough in my ability to differentiate between the original unlimited cards and the reprints. Even worse that PSA didn’t differentiate them either for the longest time. So I was always “stuck” on buying only 1st Ed, which are of course sooo much more expensive and left me abandon this goal for the time being. I still regret not getting into graded 1st Ed Yugioh more when most secret and ultra rare PSA 9s were around $200 or less.
Anyway, as always, I also loved what you had to say about Himeno’s and Harada’s Trainers! They really stand out amongst the e-Series, even if the overall quality is already tgrough the roof! Sugimori also reached his peak with the e- (and Neo-) Trainers and sadly never quite got back up there.
Lastly, it’s awesome to see you still rooting for Kinebuchi. His art isn’t exaclty a fan favorite, but his legacy and impact cannot be overstated. I’d like to imagine he’s cracking a smile when he watches you celebrate his work from the immortal realm of heroes he’s roaming now 
… and if this was only a prelude, I’m not sure if my faint heart even survives your actual biggest collection goal you’ll soon share with us lucky folks 
Anyway, huge congrats, thanks for sharing and cheers!
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It’s been a while since I looked at your collection, it was a lot of fun looking at what you’ve been collecting over the last few years. What makes it fun (and this goes for any collection thread) is how well you express your sentimentality for your cards. You have a fantastic collection!
I also have to say one of my favorite things to see on here are the Yu-Gi-Oh! collections since it is just as important to me as Pokemon is. I just opened up a box of each of the 25th anniversary sets and it was magical. I would love to see your binder set collection!
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Trainers, trainers everywhere! ＼(＾▽＾)／
Impressive collection update, even more so that it’s just an appetizer for the upcoming goal achievemt! I love trainers and Kinebuchi’s art too so I can only imagine how happy you must be after completing his e-series subsets.
As for the 019/p and 020/p, these two make me want to be there and look around the room. Just give me a 360-degree view, haha!
Beautiful cards and a beautiful collection as always. Thanks for showing some of the Yu-Gi-Oh! cards too. Having been collecting only Pokémon, it’s nice to broaden my horizons and discover other fantastic artworks that I would otherwise not have seen.
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Nice to see Yugioh
Just like you, I have a deep childhood connection to the anime and the card game. Thanks for sharing!
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Haha! No worries, @muk ! I’ve not specifically said so in our talks, but publicly I’ve mentioned a few times in the last few years that I collect them, just vaguely though. It’s funny, yugioh is the reason I probably didn’t complete these sort of collection goals much earlier, as the years of 2015-2018 if not longer I was building decks with my best pal and dueling, since we had landed in the same state of Arizona. I was not buying any pokemon during this time.
I know… poor Serpent! He was useless! But gorgeous art and a great reveal in the show, from Rex. When I was a kid and didn’t follow summoning rules we would play the likes of Serpent. Until one day we were like “Ah shit we have to tribute to summon this? Nah bring out Summoned Skull.”
I know man, some of those non holo reprints are super obnoxious and I hate that Konami did that. Thankfully I completed most those sets before any reprints existed. And thankfully I know how to spot them and was able to contact a seller with OGs and take them off their hands, in order to fill out the remainder of what I was missing when I decided to binder them all. I have good news for you, the Secret rares are very easy to identify. It’s all about the embossment of the title.
Reprint:
OG:
The reprint is imprinted, heavily debossed, where the original has only a slight texture to it. The original is soft and looks like textured (almost sandy) silver, the reprints are very shiny and polished like alloy, textureless cheap looking silver plates. When the original is shone under light, it has a soft, colored gradient tint. Usually one color at a time like viewing wavelengths. The reprints just shine a complete over the top rainbow. Trust me when I say if you held up a reprint to your Yata Garasu, you’d immediately see the difference. Especially in that debossed/imprinted texture.
And the reprint art looks unsaturated and dull (also less color contrast), which to me is an easy identifier. And even now, I still wouldn’t trust PSA to get it right 100%. Always rely on yourself over them! But you know that.
And agreed on all the rest! Like usual! Thanks man =D your comment about Kinebuchi brings my grin ear to ear. Three cards, amigo! Might takes months though, at this rate!
Thanks a lot @ascendedbidoof ! I know you love yugioh, glad you stopped by. Appreciate the look through! Y’know, I think I will show the binders a few updates from now, and I’ll be sure to tag you. Seems like my peeps love seeing the yugioh so I’ll do just that. Much obliged that you instilled the confidence to do so! Your reflections on the matter were a joy to read, part of the reward of posting!
Thanks @martin ! I know, feel the same way! What you say reminds me of how I feel when I see people’s sweet art from the original MTG era. Don’t collect it, but very much appreciate and enjoy the artwork and people’s reasoning for collecting them. (love the gif btw, cracked me up)
@pulpyfan ! Really glad to see you stop by pulp! It pleases me that this pleases you. I can’t say I am surprised that you enjoy more of the fine things that bring us all together! It all just makes too much sense. You are a man of culture, of great taste. Nothing new here. Cheers my friend!
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I’m once again late to the party but every time this thread has an update i want to get a peaceful moment to go through it thoroughly. Well i don’t have those any more but it was still very enjoyable to read, no matter how long it took. I love the way you arrange your pages and it makes me appreciate the trainers more, i really should go through my wotc trainer binder again and just appreciate the art since i really tend to forget what masterpieces there are. Also, i understand very little of yugioh but almost every time someone has a passion towards something it’s enjoyable to witness, and your passion towards your cards is so tangible it’s just a prime example of that! Really looking forward to your big updates when the time is right for them!
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Thanks Jopo =)
Your response is very characteristic of the slime man, and I love it. Yet another fine man I’m happy seeing stop by on this here collection and offer your welcome words my dude!
And yes, yes, yes. If at all any trainer showcase prompts my fellows to take a look at theirs or appreciate anything more, it adds to the satisfaction of sharing; I’ll emphasize that every time. Look forward to you seeing the next one on that last note! Maybe in a few months, we’ll see haha. Who ever knows?
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a little late to the party, but those yugioh slabs are 
so cool that you pulled and graded a blue eyes ten dragon!
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Hey no worries, the party never ends here 
Thanks so much, glad you enjoyed, appreciate you stopping by man!
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Seeing your Yugioh cards makes me tempted to get back into it and makes me almost regret selling a few of them… Congrats on getting the fairy! Love that you have so much love for the Thousand Eyes. My friends used to pass on the card but I loved the old-man dragon. And reading about your toon eyes reminds me that I wanted to collect all the toons when I was youngers but never had a single one. Maybe I’ll start. XD
Also I love the energy promos! Been tempted to grab the middle row of promos simply because I love the color scheme. They always looked mystical. Strangely enough they also kind of reminded me of Crush Card Virus:
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Haha thanks Devin! Oh the feeling of looking at collection threads and saying shit I need that now 
I see what you mean about crush card. Sick allusion that I’ve never thought of before. Hey man they ain’t like Pokemon! Dirt cheap by comparison. I mean I suppose a magic ruler toon dragon isn’t super cheap, but as you know LP yugioh cards are way better and appealing than those of Pokemon due to the card stock etc. All my binder cards are thankfully mint but it wouldn’t kill me to add one of the few expensive cards in LP or so if I had to to get a card that I otherwise loathed the price. The rest are seriously dirt cheap. I imagine you could get the binder set of all the SR’s and all the toons for under $100. Fair warning on the P promo energies, those are a sonofabitch to get haha. That blasted 040/p took me about a year to find and still wound up overpaying!
Also an aside, this is funny how seafoam bumped my thread after months and I am about to update it sometime in the next 48 hours or so with a new update, what are the odds =D
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I love seeing some Yu-Gi-Oh cards here! Congratulations on an awesome collection! While Pokemon was what I collected as a kid, I played Yu-Gi-Oh intensely and it is a different sort of nostalgia. I always loved the toon cards as well, so seeing that Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon is awesome!
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Those promo energies are beautiful! And really just that energy page overall—each of them just has so much character and, I guess, energy.
The trainer pages are also great! Outside of trophies/promos, I think trainers are often overlooked, but the ones you’ve showcased are really just beautiful. Himeno’s and Sugimori’s works in the E-series trainers are stunning. I only recently started to keep an eye out for trainer cards when I came upon some great looking ones by Kanako Eo and was introduced to the amazing Rare Candy art in the Japanese Reviving Legends set.
Can’t wait to see your forthcoming update!
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I started collecting pokemon for the first time since childhood in 2012. At that time and for a long time since, I had largely completed WOTC. I did spend times throughout the last years upgrading certain cards since my condition interest changed, but by and large this was something that I had considered complete. But there was something that was missing from that. E series was the era still within WOTC that I always disregarded due to those borders. I always really was drawn to a few of the arts, but man, I was stubborn. In the same way I couldn’t enjoy later eras like EX, due to the card design, I couldn’t get into this finale WOTC had to offer. I also didn’t collect it as a kid. I ended in 2002 with Southern Islands / Neo Destiny.
But one day I couldn’t deny it any longer. Below I will highlight the several cards that did me in, on their respective pages, but I finally purchased them. And when I held them in hand, I couldn’t look away. They glowed unlike any other pokemon cards I had ever seen before. Everything I love about WOTC card stock, the texture, the vibrance, the feeling in my hand, and the aesthetic’s glow it now presented before me, it changed me—but not immediately. I was acquiring the taste. But it wasn’t slow. After some dozen or so, and when I would hold them all together, I realized just how much I was falling in love with this E-border layout. I was finally beginning to understand I was beholding the greatest cards ever made in Pokemon. I already loved the art on so many—and was even in denial about in order to convince myself to not make the leap—but now… now I never felt the collecting itch quite like I had. At the time I was collecting all the Japanese old backs, so I couldn’t turn my full attention quite yet, but I knew the most exciting journey, at least equal to old back collecting, was to follow. I would even sneak a purchase in between old back pickups. By the time I joined E4 in 2020 I was pretty much in full swing, and by then the prices of these cards had started to rise to ridiculous prices. I had not purchased the big cards first. 
All the collection updates containing E series JP promos began after I dreamt this goal up. That’s how long this took. But I knew I would persevere. My love for these was in full swing, I was enjoying acquiring them wholeheartedly and with more conviction than I started with. I said this even as I was struggling to find these cards in the condition I needed them to be in. Mint condition.
This is a collecting goal of just over 4 years, now realized. Now complete. Now WOTC is truly complete for me. Something I had never considered 10 years ago, but that is now a reality. And I love these cards so much. Along with my oldbacks they are the crowning jewel of my collection. And it was the start of something entirely new, a symbolic start. I have E series to thank for getting me to embrace all new card designs, new and old. Sure, I have my favorites, but I am a lot different now. And even that wasn’t an immediate realization either, but E-Series opened that door of mind for me.
E series is the culmination in Pokemon. This is the high art period. The time when pokemon interest in the US was waning, going as fast as it came, and certainly a time in Japan where it had slowed as well. There has never been a time where every single artwork was mesmerizing, every single card was meticulous and artist controlled, creatively free. The profundity and overwhelming caliber presented in this era, the end of the classic period, is the best way to go out with the biggest bang ever done in trading card games. While WOTC is of course not the OG creator for these, the fact that they ended with E series is perfect. There is a certain mystique surrounding these cards. The end of an era. Really.
This is going to be my longest post ever on this thread, by the way. For those who don’t like reading overindulgent novels, feel free to enjoy the pictures! I took 4 damn years to amass these, two times longer than I had taken to acquire base through destiny 10 years ago, so I am going to do a lot of talking! And in a way it is perfect I finished this now, when my photography/editing and latest equipment is at a level I am proud of, so these pages will also be the best photographs in this thread.
Phew. Let’s begin with another one of my obvious, characteristic front pages to this binder. The same binder containing all my E series Japanese cards. It’s full by the way. Very full.
To mark the end of the best era, I wanted to really celebrate it in the best way I know. For this, and uniquely this collection alone, I sorted the artists chronologically, then sets chronologically, as faithfully I could, making a few arrangement changes and exceptions here and there to maximize page enjoyment. The biggest allowance I made was for artists having only one card entry (sorry Yoshida), they were put in the back in the “wildcard” section. The second, was that I wanted to see Morii with Misono. But I’d be damned if I didn’t start off with the starters anyway!
After that we have the Don, the master Kinebuchi. Yep. The real deal, the OG. While I have gone at length over him, being my favorite artist, I must say something important here. These two pieces of art are his magnum opuses. Voltorb… such a fitting 'mon along with grimer for him to finish with. And boy did he do it spectacularly. I have never before seen such textures in animation or video game design. My breath is taken away. And Grimer… I uphold Grimer as the one of the finest pieces of artwork pokemon has ever seen. If you really look deep into it, you will be lost in its world. I cannot actually believe how he created this work, how he made the air so dense and with such depth. The lurid haziness. To say it is anything short of visionary would be unjustified. It is reminiscent of a different, more magical time. He took world building to a whole 'nother level. He didn’t just create art, he invented. He didn’t just employ 3D textures, he innovated them. I have never been happier looking at a pokemon card than I do looking at his. Especially these. Kinebuchi, I’m sad I can’t collect any more of your artworks. Rest in peace, Don.
The next man to follow, the man the Don himself brought into pokemon, is no less a wizard himself, no less great. I never say enough about Arita. He’s really a goddamn artistic genius, with monumental talent and an unreal capacity to illustrate wonderful lifelike drawings. He has never slipped in quality, if anything has refined continuously, and has never stopped doing his thing the way he does it. An also all-too-unspoken sentiment about the man is his uncanny ability to give the pokemon original and depth of emotion. They long, they miss, they wonder. They are truly menacing, honestly benevolent, enjoying their life. All from the spectrum we have, he does this unparalleled. I don’t see anyone as devoted to pokemon as he. Picking a favorite in his section is a real challenge, but not as hard as others. It’s a tie between Seadra and Hypno. Hypno is more obvious, my psychadelic and taste for the darker side of things. But the depth of Seadra, the emotion, and paired with my most favorite of environments, and themed beautifully with its aquapolis, 'tis perfect.
Himeno my hero. She is the overarching light to brighten the foundation that is the origins. Yet another name whom I have gone on and on about over the years. Another master of her craft, mind-boggling work, work to be deeply appreciated and admired. And they gave the honor to her to do our first trinity evo line to drink in! Beloved by many, the dragonite line is something else. Isn’t her art just joyous and perfect? Wow. I fear I will just repeat myself and echo past sentiments with her, so I’ll stop here. Every single one of these works is the airbrush coagulant cocktail of dreams. Yet more work still among this era that leaves me speechless. And yet… I speak… a lot. So I say very little! While I am an extreme admirer of her little Ponyta and spend much time soaking it in, I find there to be another tie for favorite, which is also quite easy for me. Marowak and Sudowoodo. Sudowoodo is everything I want in illustrations, while Marowak is yet another one of those “best cards ever made” cards. I might even say it is one of her masterpieces, and considering her artwork spans literally 25 years, that’s saying a great deal.
Then came Tanaka. The creator of the god work that is Fossil Slowpoke. She too can do no wrong. She too has never stopped hitting home runs. Simple, elegant, childlike, quaint. I wouldn’t change it. Brings that 10th dimension to pokemon, know whatta mean?? Favorite is Smeargle, simple. Also petition for people to stop hating her Paras, it is beautiful. I love it, #stop the Paras hate.
(And if you think that is crazy, just wait for my hot take on one of the last pages)
The we lead into another queen of the original era. Man, I love chronological order.
Nishida’s next. Who doesn’t like her, I mean c’mon. Recognizable as always, true to her very original style. I would love to see how she starts some of these from scratch. I’ve thought it over and while I’ve never been a fanatic of hers, I really can’t get over the brilliance that is Hitmonlee. It’s so striking. However, from a more objective perspective I think the best work she did is Politoed. Would anyone disagree?
At the end of her section we get into one of my definite favorite artists, jumping at every opportunity to scream praise. Kusube! Who, by the way is at absolute PEAK of her game in this peak era. And what a way to start with that rock trio.
Going through this era you really realize just how various and diverse everything is. This is right before most artists started conceiving on the computer and additionally when pokemon had the most artists by quantity. So it yielded a perfect storm of results. There’s only one more thing to say of Kusube. She did my Slow’s their full justice. Got the trio, nailed them with jaw-dropping strokes of the brush, and mic dropped. Not only are they pretty much objectively the finest slow renderings in the game’s history, they might be the pinnacle of E series. No bias. Just facts. But also that Arcanine has me drooling every time I see it. He actually blurs off the frame.
Aoki’s a whacky character, but we’re glad to have him. Broken record, but even his work here is the best it has ever been, definitely coming from someone who wasn’t particularly keen on his work up to this point. Like the Kang and Aerodactyl. He really went all out on these.
I love the transition on this page to Kizuki.
Starts off small, then BAM. Full blown Kizuki in all her glory. We have landed on one of those pages that explodes. The Golduck, the Exeggutor, the Voltorb and Electrode, the DELIBIRD! What the hell. This is what we were blessed with here. Picking a favorite is impossible. Everything I named is superb. If you put a gun to my head I’d still stutter and say I can’t but when the hammer was pulled, I’d probably shout Delibird, then… golduck. She is one of many in which you cannot say what is best. All art is that way of course, but it’s fun to debate.
The heat is picking up. Koike leaves me standing at ocean’s shore gazing at the vast sea, or at the valcano’s rim—whatever sounds more dramatic because that is what Koike is. Drama. High art drama. I think only Koike ever seemed to do something similar to Kinebuchi and yet still do it distinctly and originally. Case in point the Porygon2, yet observe the Steelix. Which by the way is one of my favorite cards in the entire era. Yes, Steelix is one of the cards that began this whole journey. He wasn’t the first though, but he was one I was reeling over. Look at it. LOOK. You cannot tell me that is not one of the most impressive, dark, cerebral, sinister works ever seen in the TCG. Words fail me. Get sucked into the portal. Enjoy the ride!
Before we proceed to one of the greatest artists this world has ever known, I’ll address yet another piece for the HATERS. Yes, while Jolteon might seem underwhelming especially when you place it next to Steelix, it really is fine. And I mean fine like a farm is fine. Sustains life, is essential. Let it be. Sure I don’t jump for joy at it, but I’ve come to like it for the Koike catalogue. Koike would go on to be UNSTOPPABLE in the EX era, fresh off the back of Steelix. God I love it.
Oh you’ll have to let me ramble about Komiya the god. Please don’t try to stop me, is that okay? Ok. KOMIIIIIYYYYYAAAAAA!!!
The man is the true madhatter incarnate, a visionary, a genius, etc. etc. Every good thing I’ve ever said pasted here. Now, about these cards! While technically I could say every one of these served as compulsion towards E series, I want to be specific. Pidgeot. I could sing an ode to Pidgeot. It is the stuff beyond dreams. How does someone envision that, and create it? How did it’s original audience at pokemon not all die with joy? The power, the magnificence, the regality, the color. He’s like a mach 5 going supersonic speed. It’s depicted so well you could come up with 100 metaphors. Ok, breathe, man. Breathe. Charmeleon and Clefairy also did me in. But every single card I picked up for Komiya’s section, understand it was a joy unmatched in our beloved hobby. I mean, sure, it always is, but like I’ve outlined, the love for these cards was hitting ceilings at this point so the joy was twofold.
Yamashita is next at this page bottom.
And it leads to a top 10 card in the series. What is this porygon? A divine card is what it is. You could give me 100 casino porygons and I wouldn’t complain. Yamashita’s work is also elegant, colorful, and exact. The right kind of cartoony realism. When I was kid I was all about this kind of artwork, so it has timeless charm for me. All my favorites, porygon included, I picked up reverses for. The reverse colors are very different due to the holo layer. In the case of Porygon it was way less red and way more blue/purple. Shout out to spinarak too!
Okay. * rolls up sleeves * Speaking of cartoony, scratch the realism, add the dreams (and nightmares), and voila, ladies and gentlemen, Yukiko Baba, at the peak of her career.
Wow. Wowwwwwwwww. Mr. Mime, Exeggutor, Voltorb, Slugma, Girafarig. All cards when I first saw, and I mean when I first laid my eyes upon them… the quake began in my bones. I had to have them. So these are the items of the Baba contribution in the beginning. Her work is so wonderful. She ain’t in my top 5 for no reason. Look at the thematic tie ins to the sets! Look at the childlike musings! There is something about the charisma with these cards that just does it for me in inexplicable ways. I’m definitely transported. Her art is so fantastically whimsical and fun. But it also is in touch with my inner sensibilities.
Next up is the 2nd Yoshida, the serious one. Who’s Electrode is awesome.
While I can’t say much about Shin-Ichi’s work in particular, I appreciate it a lot. Not any less original and bizarre than anything else. They are like aliens. Dancing aliens, man. Electrode and Ampharos take the cake. I’m partial to Electrode’s frightening tone. Straight out of a comic.
And then the creator of all those wonderful post cards. Fukiyama is just fun. Every card is a holiday adventure with the family. So bright and happy. This person must just live with a permanent smile. I remember some of these being unusually expensive for commons. People really dig them. Psyduck and Nidoran won my heart in this section.
Ok, brace yourself. This is where it gets real hot. I warn you these pages are not for the faint of heart. The way they came together is planet-aligning. Does it just so happen that two of the best artists come back to back, with a third coming almost immediately after?
Pencil man! The fine stroker! Striker of fine art! I have so much I could say of his work I could fall over myself. Kimura is one of my all time favorites. This page is cosmic. It’s such dynamic action, such gorgeous, thoughtful detail… honestly, just so much passion. His work inspires me very, very much. It’s work like this that goes beyond pokemon. I could show someone who thinks little of pokemon this work and they’d say, ok wow that’s crazy. That’s how good it is. Naturally the Tyranitar, Vaporeon, Blissey, Sandshrew… ahh. Forget it. I was in love with all of them. All Kimura’s cards came early when I was still realizing I was collecting this whole darn era. As much as I bow to Tyranitar and Vaporeon… seriously… have you seen that Sandshrew? It’s fabulous. Fabulously otherworldly. And peaceful. And full of wonder. It’s his best. he probably patted himself on the shoulder after that one.
And so fittingly, right after Sandshrew comes something on a different planet. If that page was cosmic this one is a worm hole taking you to the holy palace. You are now traveling space. You are now not of this earth. We will be taking you back to earth in due time. Is this even Pokemon anymore? Where are we? * Gets violently rapid face slapped *
Ahem. Masago, the freak. The dark carny. My man. We talk of originality all the time in Pokemon. Masago does this better than all. We talk of artistic caliber, of talent, of vision. He does this at very least as good as the best if not better. If I had to pay a fortune for these cards, I would have. I mean, I pretty much did, but you know what I mean. Masago is such that there is no “best”. That’s a nonsensical concern. There is no best, no favorite. You’re dealing with true greatness here. I’m completely smitten with these cards. Ok, fine. Blastoise. No wait. Houndoom. Alakazam? No, I promised I can’t. When I pulled that pristine Houndoom out of the package my eyes lit up with utter satisfaction. Fun fact, I got the Mewtwo from an ex WOTC employee. When it happened, I was like yeah 'chokay that’s what everybody says. Then I looked at his ebay store. Shadowless booster boxes, E series boxes, several others, all listed casually on auction… several early era MTG boxes 10’s of thousands a piece. Ok. Might be the real deal. He threw the Mewtwo into a box and off it went. No harm came of it but I was a believer. The Mewtwo was small fish. But not to me! It actually was one of the mega steals that I got around the peak, 2021 I’d say. $80. Was shocked. It’s 4x that at the time. It’s cause he put zero effort into the listing and I took the chance at the time.
I’m terribly sorry, Sawayama, you’re being horribly upstaged. Your fate is lamentable. Your four cards are fun and innovative, I love them. (Go Charmander). But you’re between Masago and another god. Next we have David Bowie, my fine people. And within this section is the best page in this binder.
Kusajima is a god. He might actually be god, who knows. Sometimes I look at these pages and I think nothing else even comes close. A pantheon dweller. He’s painted high, low, light, dark. They are all wholly original, towering, enlightened, divine. Ok, so essentially every card on the perfect page (page #2 though I’d think that’d be obvious) was a card when I first really gave E series art a look that made me reconsider my life decisions. Funnily enough while I wrote them down among the first, Articuno was my 2nd to last card to obtain. I just got him a couple months ago. So Kusajima first, Kusajima last, like the greatest book. If you asked me what my single favorite pokemon card in this era was, I’d instantly say his Skyridge Magneton. This is so otherworldly and acidic that you have outer body experiences sometimes. it’s so jazzy you hear original music in your mind when your eyes fall upon it. It is so magical you feel you have temporarily been bestowed celestial powers for a short time, like you could fly. It’s also, while trippy and alien, hilarious and bizarre. Magneton is tripping man. And right next to him is the other card that started it all, Magcargo. I’m so delighted with this card. Another one of my all time favorites. Its pure power. But I mean honestly. Look at this page! It’s the best page pokemon has ever had to offer. I could die happy. It’s just overflowing with masterpieces. The muk (amirite Tobi? 
), the Arty, STARMIE? Houndoom! Steelix! Onix! Dark evil Omanyte! Celebrate! Rejoice! This is what the hobby is all about. This page! Phew. Do I seem a little overzealous?
The ride is barely slowing though. Umemoto brings me upmost joy as well. I think of Umemoto as a mathematician gone artist. Can’t help themselves with the geometry and precision, but never short with whimsy and creativity. Just when you think of a repetitious pattern or right angle, it mutates. And the color usage is boundless and if I haven’t made you sick knowing me for my love for that, maybe this time will do it for ya! I go back and forth with my favorite being water and fire. Flareon and Squirtle. But Arcanine and Cloyster, the other of the elemental entourage, are also very pleasing. But this really is indeed another artist where all are truly amazing and worth your eye time. It’s times like this where I could go on about each and every card. How much has been written now? 50k words? Have we reached the final chapter? I’ve never seen the page lag so badly from so much drafting.
Then we have these two little, yet big cards from one Matoba. They’re perfect. Look at the Bulbasaur. He’s having a good time, we’re all having a good time. But seriously love the paint job.
Nakamura is next.
Very striking, thick presentations here. Don’t look straight into their eyes. Machoke and zubat, salute.
So here’s the thing about Saitou. Normally he just doesn’t do it for me. Not bad, just a bit normal. But not in this era. These are fab. Love 'em. It seems no one really could do any wrong here. The very few underwhelming ones are only such that because they stand next to giants. They in themselves are still exquisite in their own right, truly. But for Saitou his art really gets serviced with some holo decor. The middle line is pretty ridiculous. There’s really something about that Dewgong that does it for me. And the Kabutops color scheme is just right. They nearly gave him all holos!
Y’know it’s easy to forget Harada began her journey here. These were her first. She came out of the gate running, already developed style. An amazing freshman album if I do say so myself. After all, the stadium cards she gave us in these sets are some of the best trainers ever. Cubone is my boy here.
We can begin our voyage back to earth now. Man I just love this page. So cards like that Typhlosion, the Venusaur… that other card… are cards that I would have very much disliked as a kid. Just those kind of weird CG iterations that are freaks. Not in the good way. My have things changed. And here’s that unpopular take. Are you ready friends? I LOVE THIS CHARIZARD. I LOVE IT, I LOVE IT. The more I look at it, the more I LOVE IT. It’s so hideous how can you not see its charm? Screw that, I don’t even think it’s hideous anymore. It’s awesome. Also tip of the hat to that wonderful Totodile.
There’s this odd character Misono after the one-off pieces. A similar vibe to Morii, but looks like play dough! It’s delightful. I’m glad artists like themselves and Morii made their way onto the stage.The hoothoot and Sentret are top notch.
And last but not least, we have Yuka Morii. People either love her or they hate her. Very polarizing artwork. But for those who love the work (like me), they put high emphasis on the cards, and so some of her singles are randomly very expensive. Like the Squirtle, which is an awesome card. But not quite the best.
It’s that bottom row of page 2. The majestic Lickitung and Chinchou. Her finest works, no doubt. Man that Chinchou. Wow. Though admittedly the Pikachu is also really good, which hilariously takes the prize as most expensive non holo in the who era! Congrats Morii!
And that’s it. I hope you’ve enjoyed these as I have. If you managed to read everything, I’m pleased. But at the very least hope you enjoyed the pictures from the pinnacle of Pokemon. The best it has to offer. I will say, that wave rides high through EX era…
You might be asking yourself—and I hope it doesn’t underwhelm the reader—where are the crystals? “You said WOTC was complete!” Well, dear friends, I enjoy those more in Japanese. You’ll have to wait until later to see those. And a few crystals from now I will have completed my entire vintage collection of pokemon. From that point onward, I will be in uncharted territory. I’m in no hurry to do so, though. It’s bittersweet. The chase is definitely part of the fun. It only becomes a headache when you can’t find a damn card for years!
Can’t believe this took longer obtaining these than I was into pokemon as a kid! 
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Loved the long post, I love when people talk about their cards like this.
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