The Quagsire Exhibit

This is the truth. This is Quagsire

  • Quagsire illustrated by Atsuko Nishida - Neo Genesis 45/111 / Gold, Silver, to a New World... No. 195

    Quagsire's first appearance in the English TCG was brought to life by veteran illustrator Atsuko Nishida in 2000. On full display is Quagsire's carefree and versatile nature, a nature that, if provoked, can create earthquakes just by floating underwater. Nothing stands, floats, or swims in its way; flight is to be determined but not disregarded.

    Atsuko Nishida is perhaps the unsung forerunner of the Pokémon franchise. She is credited with designing the franchise's most iconic characters, including; Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle, Vaporeon, Umbreon, Espeon, Leafeon, Glaceon, Slyveon, Charizard, and the face of the franchise Pikachu. Resumes don't get much more significant than Atsuko Nishida, so it's no wonder that Quagsires first appeared in such good hands.

    Her first foray into the TCG was right after its conception. Starting from Team Rocket, Nishida drew the iconic commons Squirtle, Eevee, Meowth, Ponyta, and Rattata. Since then, she has given us nearly 450 different cards, with the most sought-after being both of her holo Espeon cards from Neo Discovery and Neo Destiny, as well as her holo Umbreon from the iconic Skyridge.

    Thankfully Nishida shows no signs of slowing down. She's remained a prominent voice in every block of the TCG. A notable favorite is Shiny Drifloon from Stormfront. Even today, centerpiece cards are still being created by her, the exclusive Japanese scream Eevee promo being a prime example. Her most recent work can be found in the new set Scarlet & Violet where she drew the Vivillon card.

    She also drew another Quagsire, but, that's a story for another day.

Quagsire Coin Purse

Have you ever had so many coins in your pocket that they just overflow and fall out? Missing that one quarter for parking or laundry? Losing coins in the couch cushion? Not looking stylish because you don't have a coin purse? Well, perhaps it's time to invest in a little extra protection with a coin purse. Thankfully, this Quagsire coin purse may be just for you! Banpresto crafted this rubber keychain purse in 2000 as a UFO Catcher prize (commonly called Claw Machines here in the US) for Japanese audiences. This voluptuous Quagsire can happily protect at least $5 worth of coins with ease and probably up to $20 CAD! Of course, you never know when your coins will be needed, and you never know when your coins will be invaluable. What you can know is this, Quagsire will give your coins reliable protection.

  • Quagsire illustrated by Yuka Morii - Neo Revelation 48/64 / Awakening Legends No. 195

    The one and only Yuka Morii sculpted the second appearance of our beloved and rapturous friend Quagsire in the TCG. Looking fresh and suave on a day at the beach, Quagsire gives us a big smile and proper posture on full display. What we have here isn't some blank stare — it's a true and complete state of relaxation, one who takes in all of their surroundings and bares the enjoyment of the outdoors with no hint of embarrassment.

    Arguably one of the most iconic and recognizable illustrators in the history of Pokemon, Yuka Morii's clay models have been gracing the TCG for over 20 years. Her first cards include Shuckle, Corsola, Omanyte, Kabuto, and Caterpie from Neo Discovery, and since then, her clay models have made an appearance in nearly every single set. With nearly 200 models crafted, Morii has stayed tried, true, and wild — finding the most enjoyment in delicate imperfections. Her work is the loudest, most straightforward, and most tranquil way to put a Pokemon in real-world environments.

    While creating very few cards that are a challenge to find (the exception being an English Bruno's Hitmonchan) Morii's work has continued to be in a golden era, some personal favorites being the alternate art Venusaur & Snivy GX, which was released as a promo here in the US in a Tag Team tin and in Remix Bout in Japanese, as well as one of her more recent cards like the Ducklett from Lost Origin. Her latest work can be found in Triplet Beat with her Larvesta card.

    Morii, thankfully has saved all her clay creations, and many still live to this day, including one of her first, the Omanyte, which was on display at an exhibit in Tokyo in 2021.

    It is unknown where the clay Quagsire resides. Perhaps that is a question best unanswered, but the beach is forever brighter.

Quagsire Onemuri Makura

This is the time of year for dress-up. As the nights approach, the costumes come out as the leaves fall. The night also comes with a particular outfit, universal and cozy — the pajamas. This Quagsire is dressed for success, whether that be a night of candy hunting or a night tucked in. Banpresto created this as a part of their Onemuri Makura (Sleepy Pillow) collection in the year 2000. The Onemuri collection started as a UFO Catcher prize but eventually branched out to its own line in subsequent years until around 2007 before the launch of Diamond & Pearl, with Pikachu, Piplup, and Munchlax being some of the last produced. Flaffy, Pichu, Meowth, Teddiursa, Wobbofett, Wooper & Quagsire were all a part of the first like produced from 2000-2002. Despite their burrito-esque shape, we don't recommend eating them, but we do recommend eating alongside them. What is evident here is Quagsire's readiness for a good time. Out of all the Onemuri's produced, Quagsire is the only one with its eyes open, proving once and for all, if you can rock the drip right, there's no need for sleep.

  • Misty’s Quagsire illustrated by Satoshi Ohta - Pokemon VS 58/141

    Illustrated by Satoshi Ohta, this Japanese exclusive Quagsire is perhaps the most potent piece of evidence that even a reflection of Quagsire can bring immeasurable bliss. Despite Quagsire being enveloped in a gorgeous orange-hued sunset, we can’t help but focus on what truly matters. Joy. The likelihood of this Quagsire retaining this expression throughout the entire day is high. From the moment the sun rose to reveal said reflection to the sunset we see here, Quagisre still is able to find beauty within itself.

    Ohta’s time as an illustrator in the TCG was short-lived. Having only illustrated ten cards in total, many of his cards have remained covered and unseen. His first cards were seen in the Japanese VS set, where he crafted Misty’s Lapras and Quagsire. Following this, Ohta created his most iconic card in the Pikachu holo from the McDonald’s e-Minimum Pack. This was a part of one of the first McDonald’s Pokemon Promotions (also a Japanese exclusive). While Ohta’s final card was Carnivine from Supreme Victors in 2009, his work as a conceptual artist on a number of the feature-length films tied to the anime, as well as his monster design on the original generation of the series, has left a mark on many.

    Otha has since shifted focus to leading his animation studio OLM, which, to this day, still creates the animation vast majority of the Pokemon films and anime series, operating under the Team Ota moniker until 2006 and currently using the Team Kato name in credits. After being a lead on over 1,000 episodes or films, Otha doesn’t have much he needs to prove.

    The Pokemon franchise is an untapped behemoth. Constant roads, ravines, and rivers are just begging to be discovered as each branch leads to another forest. As for Quagsire, the proof is displayed in its gleeful wonder. The ocean is vast and unexplored, but without fail, you can always come to the surface and see something just as beautiful as any mystery. You.
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Quagsire Party Plates

Regardless of your beliefs, a good party is irresistible. The key to the undeniable allure of your party is personality and decor. In many cases, finding a solid balance between the two can be tough, but if or when you do, the energy is palpable. Allow me to introduce to you the Quagsire party plates (made for delicious desserts), the key to said balance. Created by American Greetings' DesignWare division in 2000, these party plates were made with the support of Togepi, Donphan, and Ledyba, but we all know who is front and center. If you can't read well, it Quagsire, the name displayed and posed on these convenient circles to be larger than your dessert itself. Not only does Quagsire impose on your meal itself, but it also will likely contain and enjoy the final remaining crumbs of your very own dessert.

While it's not fully known the extent of products that were made for the Johto line of party products, some of the others included Slowking gift bags, Napkins featuring Chikorita, Meganium, Gligar, and Igglybuff, as well as Togepi medallion blowouts. What is known is that these Quagsire plates seem to be the only logical option for all ages and have outlived the DesignWare brand. In conclusion, give your guests a reason to be thankful, don't waste your time inviting people to your party if you're not going to whip out the Quagsire fine china to feed them on.

  • Quagsire illustrated & signed by Mitsuhiro Arita - Aquapolis 30/147 / The Town on No Map 028/092

    With this card, I’ve found myself in a bit of a pickle. It’s without question the most difficult card that I’ve written about thus far. And yes, mostly that is because my words begin to fumble when writing or seeing Quagsire, but we are also talking about arguably the most crucial figure in all of the Pokemon’s TCG history. Mitsuhiro Arita.

    Arita has displayed this suave Quagsire indulging in city life, ready to take it from top to bottom. We see Quagsire admiring the beautiful architecture in the city (however, it’s also possible Quagsire saw its reflection, and frankly, that’s the same thing); curious and brisk, Quagsire is more adapted to rural life, yet it is, without hesitation, able to open the book of aspirational possibilities.

    Mitsuhiro Arita’s resume is a behemoth of versatility in class and character. Being a completely self-taught artist, Arita has done work for more than just Pokemon, huge franchises in Japan such as Shin Megami Tensei, Monster Hunter, and even an eleven-year stint working on Final Fantasy XI. Arita also loves traveling and creating his own sketches, paintings, and other pieces, a style he dubs “Mobile Painting”. Arita signed this card you see here at the Toronto Pokemon Regional Championships.

    For Pokemon, he began in 1996 before even Red & Green were released. Creating original illustrations during the prototype design phase of the TCG. So yes, Arita has been involved since the beginning and still to this day does a wide range of illustrations for new cards. He currently has over 700 cards under his name. His most recent work can be found in Silver Tempest with the regular Lugia V and Boss’s Orders from VStar Universe. His earliest work can be found in the original Base Set with cards like Charizard, Venusaur, Gyrados, Pikachu, Weedle, and so much more. It’s very, very, very difficult just to pick one favorite of Airta’s cards since his catalog is just so varied and seemly endless, but I do always find myself drifting toward the Ursaring from Skyridge, shamelessly at ease.

    Just like Arita, Quagsire shows no signs of slowing down and will continue to impress and bring out the curiosity of many generations to come long after we are gone. Quagsire’s attack, Slam, could very easily crumble the entire city on a flip of the coin. Still, Quagsire has control and would not want anyone to suffer the consequences of such power. This is because Quagsire is a friend.
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Quagsire Holiday Ornament

The holidays are here, and time shows no bounds. We all go out of our way to connect with family during these times, and the joys and gifts from and due to their presence is palpable. While it’s true many of the joys and gifts come on the inside, there is no denying the power of seeing, hearing, and feeling this festive Quagsire piece.

As Quagsire is getting gleefully wrapped for the holiday season by its friend Squirtle, it can’t help but create a snapshot of bliss, one that only a Quagsire could make. This ornament was made for the 2001 holiday season by Carlton Cards. This line also included ornaments for Jigglypuff & Meganium (Pokemon Stocking Fun) as well as Pikachu & Gligar (Pokemon Snow Fun) in support of the release of Pokemon Crystal earlier that year. Carlton Cards was mostly known to work with Pokemon in the early days on party favors and stickers, but after these ornaments, collaborations slowed and have not continued.

What has continued and cannot be stopped is the jubilation for the 2001 holiday season that Quagsire forever remains a part of. This holiday season, I challenge you to get wrapped by family or friends and try to prevent a smile. Luck will not be on your side. Whether it be 2005, 2022, or especially 2001, we hope your holiday season brings you and your loved ones a Quagsire to enjoy alongside the company.

  • Quagsire illustrated by Ken Sugimori - Jack of Clubs Pokemon Gold Deck

    This card is the first non-TCG card I am showing you. Why? Well, the answer is quite clear when you look at the card. It’s Quagsire. We actually won’t be talking about the illustrator today, as Mr. Sugimori will be getting a spotlight at a later date. Needless to say, if you’ve seen or know anything Pokemon, it’s impossible to avoid Sugimori’s penmanship.

    For those who don’t know, Pokemon has always had more cardstock on the market before, and alongside the set-based TCG, we are all very familiar with. One avenue that seems to have been cast into the abyss is the standard playing card. Nintendo has playing cards in its veins since the late 1880s, and as their longest-running product, it seems all too obvious that Pokemon would get the treatment from the get-go. That turned out to be the case, and as soon as Pokemon Red and Green were released in 1996, playing card decks followed suit. While there is no certainty on the release date since they were released shortly after the game in February of 1996, this likely makes them the very first Pokemon cards ever produced.

    Despite this, the Pokemon playing card market is muted and surprisingly still going strong to this day. Pokemon continued to produce a deck of cards for every single mainline RPG game up until Sun & Moon. Playing card decks are now centralized around the anime or special Pokemon Center Japan collections like the Old Maid deck fully illustrated by fan-favorite OOYAMA.

    Like most of the playing cards, Sugimori’s art allows Quagsire to be put on a blank canvas. No distraction, full beauty, all power, jack of all trades. In Tarot cards, the Jack of Clubs is described as a sincere friend and over—someone who will defend you in times of need. Quagsire does just that. Whether it be for a calming game of Rummy or a territorial game of Go Fish, with the newfound discovery that the Jack of Clubs contains Quagsire, it seems your deck of 60 cards really only needs to be 1.

Quagsire Shogakukan Stamp

Some things stick to you, with you, or even on you. Today I am here to show you something that can do all of the above WHILE ALSO retaining the ability to travel across the globe. If you guessed what I was describing was a Quagsire postage stamp, then you’d be right. Quagsire’s stable pose should leave any worry that your mail won’t arrive safely in the swamps.

This stamp was included Lugia stamp sheet in the 2000 run of Shogakukan stamps to coincide with the release of Gold and Silver. Shogakukan has been in business for over a hundred years and is mostly known as a multimedia publisher. For Pokemon, Shogakukan is famous for publishing the Pokemon Adventures manga throughout the world as well as the popular Japanese magazine CoroCoro. While it’s impossible to list everything Shogakukan has assisted Pokemon with, we can take a look at this small two-year blip of work they did. A large number of stamps were produced from 1998-2000 to primarily promote the video game series, including Pokemon Yellow, Pokemon Snap, Pokemon Stadium, and the source of this stamp Pokemon Gold. Nearly all the stamps included artwork by Ken Sugimori, with the exception of the Stadium and Snap stamps, which were action shots from each game, respectively. Also not containing Sugimori’s art was the run of the iconic Flying and Surfing Pikachu stamps done by Toshinao Aoki.

Shogakukan has now stopped producing Pokemon stamps. Yet, we still have the opportunity to see this Quagsire. This Quagsire can send holiday joys, provide a happy birthday, or even an invitation to a wedding. Quagsire can do it all. When you finally do receive whatever letter or package this Quagsire stamp is connected to, you might think twice about not collecting stamps.

  • Quagsire illustrated by Miki Tanaka - Team Rocket Returns 26/109

    Nope, Quagsire is not sleeping. What we see here is a tactic/behavior we in the industry call "vibing". Illustrator Miki Tanaka has Quagsire saturating in solace in the corals, its mind as clear as the water. As is common with Quagsire, a simple smile takes center stage, unflinching with the ability to control its own path. Fearless without shame, Quagsire has nothing else to prove to itself or its surroundings. It has reached a moment of zen that is unbreakable

    Miki Tanaka has a knack for conveying a Pokemon in its purest and most simple form. Focusing on a style that complements the whimsy of artwork in children's books, striking comfort and innocence in a way very few illustrators have done before in the TCG and none for as long. Tanaka has been creating artwork for the TCG nearly since its inception, starting in Fossil with the iconic Slowpoke in the field. While this Slowpoke is a personal favorite of mine, perhaps my favorite Tanaka card is also her most sought-after while also still being a Slowpoke card! That card would be the Slowpoke & Psyduck GX alternate art from Unified Minds (Miracle Twin in Japan). Tanaka still, to this day, illustrates cards. Her most recent work is the Ditto and Luvdisc cards in Crown Zenith, and in Japanese, she brings the art rare of Paldean Wooper in the Triplet Beat set.

    Tanaka strives when illustrating simple Pokemon, and it's no wonder why the gravity of Quagsire pulled her in. It's a privilege to witness something so powerfully pure that it forces you back to that moment when you couldn't read, and all you could do is admire the pictures. The sight of Pokemon is what made us fall in love with it originally. Now we look at Quagsire with its eyes closed BECAUSE QUAGSIRE DOESN'T NEED ANY PETTY SENSES TO FALL IN LOVE QUAGSIRE IS BUILT DIFFERENT.

Quagsire Sofubi Figure

As days and nights, weeks and months, years and lives come and go, a list of necessities always remains close by. Now part of that list is individual, the other part of that list is required. Food, water, clean air, and finally, vibes. These are the table legs of human life, remove one, remove all. Today the vibes of Quagsire are on full display with this sofubi gashapon Quagsire figure.

Being one of the newest Quagsire items produced, this will (hopefully) be the only very round, very blue, very happy, and very firm thing in your life! Produced directly by Pokemon for their gashapon machines (toy vending machines here in the US) in Pokemon Center Japan locations in the back half of 2022. This Quagsire came as 1 of 5 figures in this set; the others you could have obtained were Munchlax, Slowpoke, Psyduck, and Goomy. A hearty bunch indeed! Sofubi (Japanese for soft vinyl toys) are most often manufactured by Tomy to make a wide range of figures, and these are not to be confused with a similar type of sofubi figure made by Bandai which can be best described as finger puppets.

Sofubi figures are perhaps one of the most extensive and endless paths when it comes to Pokemon merchandise. It’s virtually impossible to keep up with the production while also finding a possible starting point when collecting these figures. The market is small, and many of these figures are region exclusives. Some of the most sought-after sofubi figures are the shiny versions of a wide range of Pokemon, including starter lines and legendaries. These figures made by Bandai are very rare and drive a high price as such.

It’s best to stick with Quagsire; it doesn’t care about exclusivity or expense. It’s here for you.

Quagsire Hasbro Plush

The one truth.

More Quagsire!

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