The Quagsire Exhibit (Page 2)
This is the truth. This is Quagsire
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Cool Trainer Allyson (A018) & Sis & Bro Kat & Kitt (A020) - Pokemon Battle-e (Blue Subset)
Two Blastoise cards? Nah turn that thin around and find THREE Quagsire’s swarming and overtaking your heart. Not only is Quagsire owned by the coolest of trainers, but it’s also a great Pokemon for families! These modest Quagsire ooze class, waltzing with confidence and (surprising) speed.
Amongst the most niche of Pokemon cards, the Battle e series was comprised of five Japanese exclusive sets released for compatibility with the generation three Pokemon GBA games. The Battle-e sets were special releases to utilize Nintendo’s e-Reader accessory for the GBA. The e-Reader’s uses stemmed from scanning/swiping cards in the device to unlock items and other data like extra events or mini-games. Perhaps the most well-known use of the e-Reader comes in the form of the Eon Ticket event for R/S/E.
The Battle-e sets of cards were meant for exactly what they sound like, battling. When scanned, a trainer would replace default trainers in the battle tower and spawn a designated team to battle against. You could scan up to eight cards at a time to create your very own gauntlet to challenge yourself with. These cards were released in Japan only but they do still have virtually the same function when scanning and spawning the trainers into the game itself with minor differences across English and Japanese copies of the game. One major difference in the Firered Leafgreen set of Battle-e when comparing the English and Japanese teams is in Shiny Pokemon. In Japanese versions of FR/LG, certain Battle-e cards will spawn in trainers with scripted Shiny Pokemon, making it one of very few times when trainers will use a Shiny Pokemon on their team in the main line games. Unfortunately, Quagsire is not one of those Pokemon.
Now then, what do these Quagsire have to offer? Well, that’s a really stupid question because we know the answer is everything. If you’re looking for a slightly more in-depth answer I guess I’ll try and help. Cool Trainer Allyson goes with the classic Resto-Chesto strategy, making this Quagsire one bulky gal! As for the siblings Kat & Kitt, they go for a much more bold strategy, the Quick Claw Quag. With this, Quagsire has a 50% chance of becoming the fastest Pokemon ever known or seen in the Pokemon world, obliterating (peacefully) your well-trained Pokemon before you even have time to react. What’s even scarier is Kat & Kitt have a chance to double up on Quagsire, truly an intimidating prospect to look at on the other side of the battlefield.
These Quagsire may sit hidden on the back of the Battle-e cards, behind the facade of a much less cool Blastoise but, it’s important to learn and realize, when you are faced with fighting a Quagsire (or two), you best watch your back.
Quagsire Kraft Mac & Cheese Token
A gourmet meal is normally identified in two ways. Would Quagsire approve? Is Quagsire nearby? Kraft Macaroni & Cheese normally wouldn’t find itself in this category for a variety of reasons but, on this day, you’d be wrong.
As we all know well, Pokemon-themed food has proven to be just about the most stable piece of Pokemon merchandise. From popsicles, gummies, and yes, even beef curry, the limits of what can be created out of a Pokemon are obviously limitless. Even here at the Acquire the Sire pop up we’ve consistently pumped out a wide range of Quagsire themed treats.
In January of 2000, Kraft released six different Pokemon-covered macaroni & cheese boxes featuring Pikachu, Meowth, Jigglypuff, Charmander, Squirtle and yep you guessed it, Poliwhirl. Each box had horribly deformed (to put it lightly) Pokemon-shaped noodles as well as eight different cut-out tokens you could obtain after you either threw out the noodles or begrudgingly accepted them before running away from home before dinner. That all changed the following year. The boxes were reprinted in 2001 and featured an additional forty-six tokens to give more of the Kanto Pokemon their own token as well as to promote some of the newly released Johto Pokemon. Quagsire successfully made the cut to appear on its very own token.
Kraft, being one of the largest food companies in the world, seemed primed to continue making Pokemon “shaped” noodles after its initial partnership with Pokemon, however, after these Gold & Silver reprint boxes we would not see another collaboration with macaroni & cheese for another eight years. In 2009, another six-box set was released with Sinnoh Pokemon to promote the Diamond and Pearl anime.
Thankfully we have not seen any sort of Kraft Pokemon noodles since and better yet we’re happy to have assisted this Quagsire in escaping the clutches of the trap that is the back of the box.
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Quagsire & Ash Ketchum #48 - Illustrated by Team Ota (Animation Director - Yūsaku Takeda) - Carddass Gold & Silver Anime Collection Series 2
What is more powerful? Quagsire or the almighty, mysterious (possible) holder of the strongest time traveler in all of Pokemon in Celebi, the GS Ball? Quagsire silly. This power becomes relevant in episode 127 of the anime “Once in a Blue Moon”, as we see Quagsire calling and controlling all the shots while the GS Ball sits and does nothing. We could chalk that up as just another boring non-answer episode about the supposed “greatest smith” ball but there is a Quagsire here so that argument becomes very irrelevant. But we’re not here to talk about that, we’re here to talk about the main protagonist of the Pokemon anime who sports a very emotive reaction, Ash Ketchum. I’m just kidding, we’re here to talk about Quagsire (the previous sentence still applies minus the Ash Ketchum)!
Yet another niche series of cards, the Carddass Anime Collection was composed of 11 Japanese 45-card sets released from 1998-2000. These sets were composed of various collage type artwork conveying important/significant moments in the first few seasons of Ash’s journey. Quagsire is featured on 3 cards in the second series of the Gold/Silver sets, all of which being from the “Once in a Blue Moon” episode.
The animation director for the episode was Yūsaku Takeda. Takeda held this position on over 80 episodes of the series (including 1 unaired) from the earliest days up until 2011. As for “Once in a Blue Moon”, it actually gives a lot of very valuable insight into the psyche and energy of the Quagsire. As we can see on the front of the card Quagsire is very excited to obtain a new round object (just like the rest of us), we can also see on the back of the card that the people of Cherrygrove city treat Quagsire as royalty (as do we). Quagsire is said to be a sign of the cleanest water and bring great luck to those who respect its grace. The preservation restrictions laid out in this episode are very close in relation to the conservation efforts behind the Japanese Giant Salamander which are now, just like Quagsire, a special natural monument.
Quagsire Banpresto Soft Touch Mascot Figure
There is a certain fragility behind curiosity. Not the kind of curiosity that has an end point, rather one that remains open ended, one that despite your best efforts leaves you in the same position you were in when you started. Well I’ve finally done it. I’ve finally found a Quagsire item that I know next to nothing about. Not because I haven’t dug deep but, perhaps the info may just be too deep to find right now. Thankfully, I know about what matters the most and that is Quagsire.
This is the Banpresto Soft Touch Mascot Quagsire Figure from part 2 of the series that acted as gashapon prizes in 2000. Quagsire was a figure alongside Pikachu, Chikorita, Cyndaquil, Totodile and Heracross in the part 2 set. At the time of writing this, I am unaware of what figures came before or after in these sets. These figures have a similar form factor to the Kanto Plakoto figures made by Bandai a few years prior. These soft and very squishy figures were not game pieces, rather prizes (just like all Quagsire) that felt destined to be a finger puppet. These figures are not to be confused with the more mainstream vinyl figures that Bandai produces that are often called finger puppets. The Soft Touch Mascots are about ⅓ of the size of the Bandai figures leading to a much smaller entry way for the finger (get your mind out of the gutter).
Banpresto was amongst the very biggest manufacturers of Pokemon goods up until the mid 2000’s. Originally an arcade developer and publisher, Banpresto proved itself a formidable force in a budding industry in the 1980s. This caught the attention of Bandai who acquired Banpresto in 1989. Banpresto continued to create games, toys and more under Bandai until 2008 when after restructuring and merges, Banpresto ceased game development and was spun off as a name brand for toys and gashapon machines. Today Banpresto is no longer its own entity and is mostly used as a legacy name on products, many high-end figures in the Bandai Spirits division will still use the name.
There is one thing we can see that's survived and stayed relevant through business politics, mergers, nostalgia pandering and buyouts. Squishy Quagsire.
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