I’ve been in LA the last few days hanging out with family there and and got back on Jan 2nd at 6 AM.
Checked that night to see if my gift box had come through, and it did!
Get ready for a very long opening journey gift and word count wise.
Preface - I started collecting Pokemon cards again in 2021 because of eevee heroes/evolving skies and the eeveeloution alt arts. Prior to that I collected from base set up to ex Sandstorm. I still kept up with newer gens of Pokemon as they were released. I have none of my original cards from childhood.
My household has no collectors in it. My niece and nephew were into Pokemon and the cards a few years ago but are growing out of it, and are almost fully out. I don’t ask for TCG or Pokemon items from my family for my birthday or Christmas because they don’t understand and think it’s stupid that shiny cardboard is worth anything more than a few cents or why I’m so into it.
Finding e4 has been so freaking cool. Connecting with people who are actual collectors first and foremost, and to be part of an actual community. Even though I still lurk way more than I post/respond.
After finding out about this event months ago I could not wait to join and went through years of SS picture thread posts. I also reached out to Fouthstar a while back with some proxy card gifting related questions.
It wasn’t even about getting things but more so being a curator for a fellow person who is passionate about the hobby and what makes them happy.
Seeing the reactions of people and the whole vibe is exactly what the holidays are and giving are all about.
That being said:
My Santa delivered so damn hard and so much I’m still in shock.
Everything was so well thought out and it shows.
I am glad I am not a person who makes videos because it would have been about half an hour long with a holy f**k, holy s**t, f*******k, or that’s f***ing sick about every minute.
And about 20 minutes of cut footage of me just quietly staring at some of these art pieces.
I got a big ol’ priority mail shipping box from a person I was not familiar with and correctly assumed it was my SS gift.
My secret santa was @A.P.Speeze
Inside my fat box was a smaller box and a wide flat package!
The mew box is very nice and has a very silky finish on it.
Definitely keeping that to put things in. Mew is also my favorite mythical.
The long horn wrapping on the ‘open last package’ got me wondering what they taste like and if they are leaner than angus.
@A.P.Speeze also wraps gifts with insane precision.
I am very impressed and jealous (not joking) of his skills.
The first thing I pulled out of Mew made me audibly go “Ha!”
Inside were some sweet things to kick off my ripping journey.
A nice silhouette of the best Pokemon ever designed in Christmas attire and a great written message.
Happy to know you’re a Kamonabe fan (now) and also enjoy Digimon Beatbreak! The way it’s going it may end up being my favorite Digimon season of all time.
No need to apologize for the wait! We were all on very tight time constraints and at the mercy of external vendors and shipping times.
There was another envelope in the Merry New Year one that had this baby.
As a 90’s kid I love lenticular things. However, I dislike Pokemon lenticular items because they are just lazy stock art images, or cgi art like the new lenticular jumbo cards in the Mega era or that lenticular Deoxys so many folks seem to love 
. This is the first time I had seen an exception to this.
This one not only has original classic Pokemon art, but seeing Pokemon interact like people doing things at at a Christmas party really sets the tone. Squirtle would be the one popping that 
The lenticular 3d effect is very strong at emphasizing spacing and what is in front of of or behind other subjects in the piece. I took a few minutes just to really look at this piece and appreciate it.
A new signature card of Kanda’s Absol doing the the ‘wussup’ handshake (with bonus doodle!) is a welcome addition in my signature card binder page that started at the e4 meetup last year.
Next up we have sacrifices!
Never mentioned it but am a lover of coffee and coffee flavored things and have a prominent sweet tooth. Never had those Hi Chew flavors either 
These sugar babies will likely not be making it to next weekend. RIP
There were 6 gifts in the Mew box with no numbers. So I used an online RNG to give me an order to open the goodies instead of doing my own selection process.
Gift 1 -
I’ve always loved Digimon and Pokemon and am a lifelong fan of both. I actually love Digimon more although the only one I collect is Pokemon cards but I’ve slowly been dipping my feet into collecting the Digimon tcg. Many monsters I love, much more affordable higher rarity cards (for the most part), and you get more art per card even on commons because of art area size! I did not specify any particular cards I wanted.
I was blown away seeing the illustration card contest pack. I know 2 different contest packs had come out and they had phenomenal arts although I wasn’t sure which booster had which cards (each has specific cards and aren’t randomized). Ripped that thing open right away.
All types of various art styles and Digimon greeted me.
The 3 below were my favorites.
Patamon chomping down on those apples in the intricate light and shadow of the trees.
Gammamon being given a peach- Japanese woodblock aesthetic combined with thick outlines
And Lilymon drawn in an art nouveau style with such saturated yet soft colorwork. The circular windows to the right of Lilymon from bottom to top are easter eggs of the evolution line that eventually turns into her. The three circles to her left are the 3 possible mega level Digimon she can turn into. Been wanting this card for a long time. Easily in my top 5 arts for the TCG.
The Charizard envelope holding the next set of cards is a solid work of art in itself and will be going on the art wall
Inside the envelope was a whole set of the main 8 Digimon partners from the first season. All are done by the same artist in a very cute style. They feature each mon with their crest worn as tags which is a very nice touch! (except Tentomon, (the red bug) his is isn’t visible due to him being sideways)
An Agumon and its prevos Koromon and Botamon around a Digimon vpet toy take center stage.
These make such a nice binder page 
Starting with this gift and the entire time after when I was opening everything I was teary eyed. I’m used to buying all my own collectibles (which I am not complaining about) and not really having anyone in my personal life who get it or are interested in what I collect and why, people just see it as a $$$ thing since Pokemon has been hot on and off for a good while now. So getting things is a whole new type of experience.
Gift 2.
A hefty card sized brick of a package.
You are right on the money with this card. I’m still working on the binder. This gift I was not expecting at all and it will make a solid dent in the Oops all Vaporeons binder.
This is the only Vaporeon card art I really liked in the SV era. Was really happy it got textured in Japanese to highlight the water it is standing in and the Cosmos holo in English. Both treatments are very well deserved.
Gift 3. Biggest package -
Opening this one I saw 2 Japanese new back cards and 3 more wrapped items.
In my excitement I forgot to take pics of the contents after removing the outer wrapping paper
The Japanese cards were the Psyduck and Golduck promos that I have been wanting since they were revealed, these look so good in person!
The other 3 wrapped items were all slabs!!!
The first was Leafeon - I have every Leafeon variant from Prismatic (all pulled by me) except the pokeball reverse. Not sure if it’s a coincidence or I mentioned it somewhere but now I can check this card off of my Kuroimori collection list! Love the texture on this!
The next one was this piece. Never seen this card (any variant/language) in person and damn is it something else. Can totally see why Yuu Nishida won the 2019 illustration contest (did not know this was how she got started in the tcg). I generally do not agree with the illustration contest winner(s) picks. The exceptions being Jiro Sasumo and now, Yuu Nishida.
The intense sun in front and muted colors behind Gardevoir darkening the saturated the pastel colors in the piece is masterfully executed. This one also got a few minutes of my undivided attention.
The next slab was Kariya’s Espeon in a textured Pokeball reverse. The Gold pristine slab is always a nice aesthetic touch to any card. This card gets elevated from texture so much since it breathes life into the fabrics Espeon is chilling on. I feel like I can touch that pillow.
Adding texture to commons was such a good move in Terrastal/Prismatic. They need to bring this back for all special sets!! (but without taking out ARs/IRs in the future)
Gift 4. The next gift was one of the smaller packages and had this note and another solid art envelope hiding surprises inside
I love this Espeon piece by Tika Matsuno and the cosmos treatment. I only had one copy of it before but now its got a tribe.
Vaporeon and Espeon were the most spoiled eeveeloutions of the swsh era. Every single one of their (non CG) cards was phenomenal.
Next up we’ve got a Gardevoir in mid attackby Ryota Murayama, this is what a real disco holo looks like people!
The Bye, Bye Butterfree holo Topps card caught me off guard. The Bye, Bye portion of the message totally went over my head.
This episode made me cry the most as a kid aka every time I watched it. Seeing this card really hit me in the feels. I’m guessing you saw my rewrite of the episode on the forum. If so, kudos to your snooping prowess!
Gift 5.
It is highly unlikely for people to ever share the opinion that a specific thing is the best.
Especially with something as long-living and expansive as Pokemon. On this one though, I wholeheartedly agree with you.
These stickers were made to celebrate the 5th year anniversary of Pokemon GO
Each one done by a different artist
I remember seeing 2 of these artworks on Pokemon’s X or Insta (the first 2 posted below) and loving them when they came out.
SUSHIO
Alaska Haru
Hirotaka Tanaka
TAO
Inio Asano
I was pissed they never released postcards or posters of these artworks. I never knew they had released anything of them at all.
The last 3 were all new to me.
@bbobrob the 4th sticker has Hoppip and the 5th has Jumpluff
The first and last ones are my favorites out of this group.
Every one of these is so detailed and cool, with varying amounts of Pokemon sprawling in every direction with the panorama viewpoint yet feeling deliberate and not overwhelming. You can hold it from any side and it looks correct.
I am going to frame these all together.
I saw the way people were drawn in the last one looked oddly familiar style wise. I looked it up I found the last one was done by Inio Asano who is the Mangaka who made Oyasumi PunPun, which is an incredible story (one of my favorite mangas) with highly detailed art to match.
While researching the Asano one I found out the only official larger copies released of the artworks were in the form of full page ads that had been put in newspapers in Japan in January of 2022 with 5 different areas in Japan getting 1 of the 5 artworks exclusively.
I was able to find and purchase my 2 favorite ones, the other 3 they are currently not on the net or somewhere I have not looked yet.
Gift 6.
Easily the best Chikorita card ever made in my eyes.
I have been digging these mirror foil reverses since they darken the rest of the card and really make the art window pop out. Had not bought the English reverses of these yet. I was going to buy a ton of these as well and you sent 19 my way, so it’s another card I can scratch off of my Kamonabe card list!
Open Last -
Dude. Holy [Insert 20 cuss words here]
Inside were 2 smaller packages. Once I saw that symbol I was expecting a WolfSkullJack cover.
The other item was nondescript.
I saved the variant cover for last and opened the simpler package first.
Wolfskulljack. She is an artist I have been following for years. Discovered her because of some sick Metallica concert posters she had made. Learned she draws for Magic as well.
so many things!
3 dope art prints, two sick stickers, and a signed card.
But wait!
it isn’t just a signed card it’s a freaking artist proof with Purging Stormbrood sketched out on the blank back!!
Then I opened up the sealed comic book to see this piece.
Such a gorgeous rendition of Ashiok, the melty effects on the front skeletons is so pretty.
I’m just in awe. I just sat there looking at everything for a while.
You went so far above and beyond, I would have happy with any single one of these gift packages on their own.
Thank you so much
You see a little bit of your own collection in someone else’s, even if the overall goals are very different.
Currently munching on a Charizard chocolate rice crispy snack as I type this (so good!)
Again, thank you so much, 
