The Emerging Trend of "Coloured" Charizard Arita Autographs

[pfm]

You’ve seen him with extra colour, but have you seen him with missing colour???

[smpratte]

This can’t be real?!

[Tapp]

Just popping in to say if you would like your own elusive “White Charizard” please dm me. I can get a dozen of them to you in 3 weeks with the help of my coworker, UV.

[Dyl]

[c0ll3ct0r]

Possibly the worst item description I’ve read about anything, ever.

[TheMarillFoundation]

Was this written by Ebays AI description tool?

[fourthstartcg]

Just getting my jokes in…

• It’s bathed in a lot more than “rarity and allure”

• That canvas is unadulterated in the same way adam22 is

[pfm]

Here’s my more accurate AI description

The “Bleached Charizard”
Behold, the crown jewel of our collection. Introducing an unparalleled relic of Pokémon lore—the Japanese Basic Set Charizard card, soaked not only in rarity but also quite literally in sunlight. This piece boasts an ethereal charm, as it eschews the garish spectrum of colors for a more refined, utterly colorless canvas. Imagine the audacity of transforming vibrant fire into a ghostly absence, truly a bold statement in the art of fading. Gracing this pallid masterpiece further, none other than Mitsuhiro Arita himself has lent his signature, the very artist who once brought this vivid Charizard to life—only for us to bravely suck the life right out of it. A mesmerizing blend of scarcity and questionable choices, this Charizard stands as a testament to the extraordinary lengths collectors will go to possess a truly unique—albeit bleached—piece of Pokémon history.

[thsigma]

Someone put that zard out of its misery

[bbobrob]

Make way for the true Ghost Charizards

[Quuador]

Greetz,
Quuador

[azulryu]

Share this in Pokemon Cringe because this kind of takes the crown currently. Who wrote this?

[danielw]

Just met Mitsuhiro Arita, he signed two of my cards and confirmed that he does not alter the original artwork. Also he openly scolded a bunch of fellas from china who bought 20 signing tickets and TOLD him to get em all signed in one go..his reply was go back to the line for each ticket honestly it seems like he was kinda fed up with most scalping types by day 2 of the event. He did however appreciate a lot of those who brought lesser known cards or rarer ones..also to anyone who reads this post: Go early as he will cancel mid event if he gets tired or sick, and he uses his own pens so dont bother bringing any..his usual options are gold, silver or black, he was kind enough to do white for me especially, i just asked and he nodded and said “whito daijobu des”. So i think you just gotta ask politely..all in all any card that has ink on the actual pokemon is BS..

[Kijamon]

Good for him for sending them to the back of the queue. It’s frustrating when people can’t play by fairly simple rules.

He’s a normal person. I went back in January in England and it was 95% Charizards so it must be pretty boring after a while. I think he was letting you bring your own pen but I guess I’m not surprised that’s been shut off.

I wouldn’t say he was particularly chatty or that interactive but you’re not there to take the guy for a drink, you’re there to get a sketch done and say something short and sweet. I was delighted with my two sketches and even if I got rid of every Pokemon object I own, I’d keep them.

When I saw he was doing random sketches as long as it wasn’t IP protected (i.e. Pokemon), I got him to draw my son for me. It’s a pretty cute little sketch I’ll keep for him in case he gets in to Pokemon later on.

I remember one guy kicking off because Arita hadn’t followed the full instructions. He was moaning next to me while I queued then he stormed back to the front and kicked off. In the end I think he got a refund for the signing but it was all a bit over the top.

I think entitlement is the Pokemon community word of 2025 (or the decade).

[danielw]

Thats nice man, i hardly doubt he will be doing it for long based on his level of pissed-off ness will keep everyone updated if he comes again next year

[bule]

@fourthstartcg

I think the disdain towards these cards is coming from the position that they’re nothing like these MTG alters. Instead of representing a unique take on the art or a new artistic piece on the card (similar to an intricate Pokemon sketch, which some artists do), it’s literally just some black scribbles to try to make the Charizard appear “shiny” and therefore worth more money.

I highly doubt it was Arita’s idea to color in these Charizards. The original person who did this has been hawking it for years as some kind of priceless 1/1 grail, always talking about its perceived monetary value. From the start, it wasn’t about some unique new art piece, it was about money.

the self proclamation of “holy grail” item black Charizards getting more and more bizzare now that we know that it’s not Arita-san who colour in the Zard body, instead it’s a card alteration job done by some random guy.

[BANKS]

These alters are revisionist history at its finest. Before 2002 Charizard’s shiny sprite was purple.

[Dyl]

I can see why they would want to stray away from purple, as this was also Blastoise’s shiny color.

Interestingly enough, they incorporated these purple and green/teal colors in two forms of Charizard.

[c0ll3ct0r]

[pikachutcg]

@danielw

and confirmed that he does not alter the original artwork.

I’m confused, were you referencing the Charizard specifically, or just speaking in general? I ask because @charizardespana recently shared an altered artwork card

@charizardespana

Was very common back then tbh. Loads of people copied me, lol.

This one is my favorite though!

I’m not personally into signature cards (they’re way out of my budget), but I’m definitely interested in their authenticity. I share the same concerns as others in this thread regarding the zard.