The Girafarig (Kirinriki) Post
Hey yalls,
It’s been a while! I thought I would finally make a post for my Girafarig collection. There’s no real grandeur here, just a humble collection of a mon about which I’ve always felt passionate. Since I was a kid, I’ve loved Girafarig. Often misunderstood, Girafarig is still a mysterious and obscure mon that not much is known about. Fun fact! There were actually gender variants of Girafarig for the 4th and 5th generations! Take a look here, the female Girafarigs look to have less of the dark brown coverage on their backends. They have one less spot that is dark brown than males. I’m not entirely sure why this was dropped in later games, but it’s still a cool piece of trivia!
- male Girafarig (Gen 5)
- female Girafarig (Gen 5)
Stegosaurus was my favorite dinosaur as a kid, so as soon as I learned that Girafarig has a small brain in it’s hideous tail (much like fossils of Stegosaurus suggests it may have also had) I was in love. It’s name being a palindrome was always cool, and the typing is a very unique and useful one in the games. All around, I would say Girafarig is absolutely one of my all-time favorites, if not THE favorite. Anyway, lets get on to the collection.
Up first is my graded collection so far and a my251 sticker. I thought the figure was awesome, so made sure to pick it up.
I am going for a master set of all English and Japanese cards released. I know the 2001-2002 Tropical Mega Battle VS Will’s Girafarig is super duper rare, but maybe some day I’ll be able to get my hands on one. As far as I can tell, approximately 11 English copies were distributed as part of full sets to winners of the event. So there is hope! Here’s a pic if anyone is curious.
Anyway, on to the binder! Aside from the Tropical Mega Battle Giraffe, I have all other English cards released so far. For Japanese, I am currently missing only 3:
- Mirage Forest (EX Legend Maker) 044/086 non-holo 1st edition
- Bastiodon the Defender art variant non-holo unlimited #489
- Phantom Gate (Phantom Forces) 070/088 non-holo unlimited XY4
Here’s a better view of one of my favorites, and one of the more rare variants. This is the exclusive alternate art for the Bastiodon the Defender half deck, illustrated by the same artist, Midori Harada, as for the Secret of the Lakes release. You can literally only find this art variant in the Bastiodon the Defender half decks.
I love to always take a step back with my collection and think about how I got here. So here’s another story haha.
Nostalgia story-time:
It was the height of the Pokemon craze in my neighborhood. Everyone I knew was collecting Pokemon cards, watching the anime, and most of all, playing the games. My life-long obsession was blossoming, and Generation 2 had finally released in North America. My parents didn’t have much money when I was growing up, so I couldn’t get one of the new Silver or Gold versions at release. At school one day, I convinced a kid I knew to just trade me one new Pokemon from his Gold version into my Blue version after school. The school day was over, and I sprinted the mile home as fast as I could, grabbed my gameboy and link cable, hopped on my scooter, and frantically dashed to his house. When I got there, he was rather unenthusiastic and offered to trade me a Sunkern for one of my strongest Pokemon. Of course, I obliged. I was getting a brand new, never-before-seen Pokemon! We hooked up the link cable, and as he was scrolling through his party, I stopped him. The image before me was so intriguing, so whimsical, and so odd.
“That one, I want that one.” I was determined, and looked at him dead in the eyes as if revealing my plans to conquer the world. “Well,” he hesitantly said, “For Girafarig, I’ll need your Mewtwo.” “Done!” I exclaimed. I could catch another Mewtwo, but who knew when I would be able to get my hands on another Girafarig. We went to trade, and to my utter dismay, we discovered that Gen 2 Pokemon couldn’t be transferred to a Gen 1 game. Devastated, I scooted home and told my mom what happened. She could tell how upset I was, and just let me know that sometimes life is disappointing, and that the important thing was to not let our disappointments get the better of us. I nodded and accepted my situation. I dreamed about Girafarig later that night. Nights before I would go to bed, I used to lay awake, wishing that I would wake up in the Pokemon universe the next day, mainly so I could go out and catch a Girafarig. “I’ll get my Girafarig someday,” I promised myself.
A month later, my mom surprised me with a copy of Silver version!!! I could not contain myself. I sat right down on the floor, booted it up and played for hours. I made sure that I caught one of every single Pokemon species I could find in each area. Then, when I was walking around near the Ruins of Alph, what do I see?
I was ecstatic! I caught it immediately, and it remained on my team throughout all of Jhoto and Kanto. The moral of my story: Things have a way of falling into place, as long as you’re patient, diligent, and have clear set goals. In time, you’ll be able to catch your Girafarig.
All in all, Girafarig is amazing. Thank you so much for taking the time to give my thread a gander. I’ll leave you with a poem about my favorite Giraffe.
~ Ode to Kirinriki ~
Graceful, fierce, powerful, and free,
A misunderstood dichotomy.
A vigilant sentinel with razor teeth,
And a psychic power that lies beneath
The façade of a snapping, spiritless glare.
And none of the other mons should dare
Misjudge the force or will within
The sweet giraffe with spotted skin.