🔗 Share this article

The Pokémon Company introduced collectors to the trading card game DP edition in the year 2007, featuring the Bonsly illustration. Within this depiction, the fourth generation rock-type is portrayed by illustrator Harada-san in a, shall we say, compromising position. In the image, this pre-evolution is depicted knocked over and weeping. However, don't mistake this, however. Similar to its attack Fake Tears suggests, the little creature attempts to sway the foe's feelings with the goal of decreasing their offensive power. Iconic piece, right? Electroacoustic harpist Emily Hopkins certainly thinks so. She owns a collection book containing over 300 Bonsly illustrations as evidence.

Her Complete Set and Its Highlights

However, that's not everything she has either. She has acquired 20 holo reverse copies of this particular card, showing the tyke with shiny foil everywhere but the main image. The crown jewel, however, proves to be the PSA 6-graded holo reverse of Bonsly. Sure, it's far from a top-graded Charizard illustration. Yet, do you possess an amusing, close to mint card of Bonsly preserved in its eternal glory? I didn't think so.

The Start of the Obsession

Emily dedicated most of the current year gathering every 2007 Bonsly card available on the market. She first heard about the out-of-print card in recent months, during a discussion the most cursed cards in the compendium with an employee at her favorite card shop. Crying Omanyte was in the running, just like Cubone by itself in an amusement park. Yet it was The sobbing Bonsly, aka Bonsly #17, that grabbed her interest.

The Design and Inspiration

Bonsly draws clear inspiration by bonsai plants, which are typically planted in planters that have drainage holes. They are designed to aid growth, in fact fans advise one another to drill holes into their pots if holes are missing. Bonsai can also be placed in shallow containers without holes, referred to as suiban, and the retained water could aid caretakers style their trees to look like natural landscapes. Bonsly represents the first type, which explains the hole.

The Infamous Hole Card

Although this makes sense, though, Pokémon's creators looks a bit excessively attentive with Bonsly's hole. Even merchandise including stuffed Bonsly always incorporate a cavity at the bottom of Bonsly. Regardless if the illustration of the Pokémon is crying or calm: It will display the hole. This hole represents an intrinsic part in Bonsly's appearance. Bonsly #71 turned into an internet joke among fans thanks to the famous hole, as well as its unique position. For years before, the card was the only version featuring Bonsly included in the series where numerous creatures are typically depicted in multiple editions. For sixteen years, if you wanted a card of Bonsly, you needed to accept with the hole version.

Emily's Dedication

"When I discovered Bonsly in the list of oddball cards, I realized I discovered the one for me," Hopkins shares over email, adding that it was unexpected to have never seen it before. She'll be the first to inform you her fondness for this particular card serves no practical purpose, yet that didn't stop her. The appreciation turned into a major fixation, with Emily purchasing every Bonsly #71 card available to her. She adopted a habit of stopping by the nearby card store every week, and was dubbed by workers as the Bonsly collector. They started putting any new copies of Bonsly #71 they obtained aside just for Hopkins. Typically, these cards cost between $1 and $3, she notes, approximating she's spent somewhere around $400 just on the binder alone.

Rising Prices

These days, mint-condition this Bonsly card may reach prices of $14.99. Although that is expensive, standard versions are often priced at four dollars or more. That price increase more or less coincides with her starting point building her set, although there are probably several factors at play. While it's true that Bonsly #71 is well-known in the community, her online content regarding the card have received countless views. As awareness of its existence expands further among more people, there's a chance their market price might increase even more. Regardless, investors note that card market costs are soaring this year in general.

Unstoppable Determination

Emily remains undeterred, though.

"The amazing thing is that certain fans and fans from her channel have shipped their own Bonsly cards to me to add to my collection, and I am keeping these cards protected always," Hopkins says. Instead of being put off, the audience are amazed and encouraged by her collection.

"For years, I wished to try this," an observer mentions. "Buy up all of a common card|every copy of a common card