I was recently able to obtain my number one non-TCG item, the Pokemon Center woodblock print titled Port of Vermilion City. I’ve had this for a few weeks now, and while I wanted to get it framed before sharing, that’s proving more difficult than I anticipated, so here we are:
While I’ve been looking for one for years, in recent times I’ve been slacking on my searches… Well, some of you know that, had I not been slacking, I would have been able to pick one up for a good bit less than what I ended up paying
Honestly though I’m just glad to have it. I often imagined having to make a WTB post with an outrageous offer to bring one out of the woodblock, so I’m glad it didn’t come to that.
As well, the print itself has been taped to the mount, on the front and back. I think the previous owner did that because it’s quite wonky and the tape job is pretty sloppy. As a result, it doesn’t quite fit in the frame I ordered, so I need to figure out how to realign everything.
That’s an awesome print! I wasn’t aware of it prior to you posting and I had a ton of fun just staring at it and picking up little details. I’m sure I missed many. Awesome pickup and huge congrats!
Absolutely gorgeous! Congratulations on the pickup. It is fun to see the depictions and I am sure there is a story behind all of the Pokémon which are illustrated. Your collection is phenomenal and I have really come to appreciate everything Pokemon puts out besides the cards. Thanks a lot for sharing.
Yes, the artist for the initial drawing was Hitoshi Ariga, but the carving and final print were done by… some other people (I think the company was UNSODO). Annoying Pokemon Center Japan has taken down the webpages for these (very recently, this is the first time the pages haven’t been able to load).
If you’re not familiar with how woodblock prints/ukiyo-e are made I highly recommend looking on youtube. It’s an incredible process.
To my knowledge this art was never released anywhere else, but it is based on one print from The 53 Stations of the Tokaido.
