Muk's fine assortment of exquisite Japanese cards 2024/11/20

@azulryu Thank you my man! If you ever choose to go that (very rewarding) route, there is a Kusajima checklist ready and waiting for you in the Artist Collectors Thread :stuck_out_tongue: Nice to see you hanging around here a little more again, btw :slight_smile:

@Cerulean Thank you so much! Ultimately I just buy the stuff I like, but of course it’s even better when there’s a shared enjoyment in the community :slight_smile:

@oxidelake Thank you! That’s a very interesting question you’re asking. I’ll have to go into a bit of detail.

Huge wall of text incoming, but your question really struck a nerve with me so there you go :P

Funnily enough, I also have a Komiya binder. Matter of fact, it was my very first artist binder and my entry into the whole space. My inital motivation for this collection was obviously that I love Komiya, but also that I wanted a chill side collection to fall back into when I was too stressed out by my graded card goals (different market and different financial situation back then). This is why I simply took the cheapest available version of a given artwork, no matter if English or Japanese. I only restricted myself to straight-Japanese for the original era. I was very happy to complete this goal relatively easily, low effort and low cost. - However - now, quite some time after “finishing” the binder (of course always adding the new releases), I came to realize I only truly enjoy looking at the first few pages that are strictly Japanese. While artist collecting is ultimately about the art, I still learned that I personally need some consitency in language and layout to fully enjoy a cohesive collection. In my later artist binders, I always set myself stricter rules from the get-go and have never looked back.
Take the Kusajima binder for example. My rules may seem messy, but they’re pretty clear to me: as much holo as possible, otherwise only Japanese.
BUT if I do or do not go for ex stamped holos in a artist collection also depends on my very personal preference, if I like this specific illustrators art more as holo or maybe even better as non-holo - and if I’m willing to spend like 10x more for this era of this artist’s cards.
Going back to Komiya specifically, I personally wish I would’ve gone Japanese-only from the beginnig, because I personally don’t think the holo treatment adds a whole lot to his particular style and I value the possible language uniformity more. I guess at some point I’ll have to rework my Komiya binder because of that and make it all-Japanese. But your preferences might be different - just make sure you are sure about your preferences and build your collection so that you’re satisfied about it for the longest possible time. So, learn from my mistakes, really think about what you like most, choose the best option, not the easiest one and rather take a bit longer to achieve your goal, but be happier in the end. Good luck and lots of fun on your journey regardless of the way you choose to go :slight_smile:

@shoops Thank you! Go for it, it’s truly one of the best illustrators to collect due to his variety!

Damn, another wall of text incoming

Regarding your question, well, the literal last two cards I got my hands on were Kirlia 042/080 from Aqua vs. Magma (in English it was released in EX Sandstorm. The whole JPN/ENG ex era releasehistory is a terrible mess, but that’s a topic on it’s own) and Corphish 004/015 from the Piplup Half Deck inside the Dpt Gift Box. The third-to last-card was World Champions Pack Raichu, so that was at least a holo - the other two were as anticlimactic as it gets if you ask me. So yeah, those obscure mid-era Half Deck releases tend to be pretty pesky. All of the Japanese Delta Species holos are also suuuper hard to come by in good condition for whatever reason. Oh, and let’s not forget Milotc 034/100 from Beat of the Frontier - make that one a prioritized purchase as long as it still flies under the radar if you find one in decent condition! Other than those, it’s just a money game. But for as cheap as most vintage PSA 8-9s currently are, most of them are pretty easily obtainable.

@martin Hello my friend and and thank you! :slight_smile: Glad you mention the Weezing in particular, it’s a phenomenal card! Very menacing and mysterious. Most of the post e-series cards are still comparably cheap, there wouldn’t be any harm in giving it a go :wink:

@qwachansey Thank you! It’s great you have you in my thread - you have always been a very inspiring figure to me ever since I joined e4 :slight_smile:

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