🔗 Share this article

Pokémon creators unveiled fans to the trading card game Diamond and Pearl edition in the year 2007, featuring a Bonsly trading card. In this card, the Gen 4 Rock Pokémon appears by illustrator the talented Harada in a somewhat awkward situation. In the image, Bonsly, which evolves into Sudowoodo can be seen toppled and shedding tears. But don't misunderstand, however. As its move the move Fake Tears, the little creature aims to sway the foe's feelings with the goal of reducing their attack. Unforgettable artwork, right? Musician and harpist Emily certainly thinks so. She possesses a collection book containing over 300 Bonsly illustrations as evidence.

Her Complete Set and Its Highlights

But that isn't the whole collection as well. She has acquired twenty reverse foil versions of the Bonsly card, showing the little guy in reflective foil covering everything except the main image. The most valuable item, yet, is the PSA 6-graded holo reverse of Bonsly. Sure, it's not a mint-condition original Charizard card. Yet, do you possess a quirky, almost perfect card of Bonsly maintained forever immortalized? Probably not.

Origins of the Collection

Emily dedicated much of 2025 accumulating each Bonsly card from 2007 she can possibly find. She first heard about the out-of-print card at the start of the year, while talking about the notoriously odd cards in the Pokémon TCG with a worker at a local shop. The weeping Omanyte was in the running, as was the lonely Cubone at the theme park. Yet it was The sobbing Bonsly, also known as the seventeenth card, that grabbed her interest.

The Concept of Bonsly

Bonsly draws clear inspiration on bonsai trees, which are typically planted in containers with holes at the bottom. They are designed to support healthy development, so much so that growers advise one another to add holes in their containers if they don't already have one. Additionally, bonsai may sit in shallow containers hole-free, referred to as suiban, and the retained water can help enthusiasts style their trees to look like outdoor scenes. Bonsly represents the first type, thus the hole exists.

A Memorable and Notorious Card

Even with this reasonable background, however, Pokémon's creators seems almost excessively attentive about the drainage feature. Even merchandise including stuffed Bonsly always incorporate a cavity on the underside of the tree-like Pokémon. Regardless whether the portrayal of the Pokémon is crying or at ease: It's going to show the hole. This hole represents a key element of how Bonsly looks. This specific Bonsly card turned into an internet joke within the community both due to the famous hole, as well as its rarity. Until recently, the card remained the sole iteration of Bonsly card released in the TCG in which most Pokémon usually appear in various forms. For sixteen years, if you wanted a Bonsly card, you had to settle with the hole version.

A Growing Obsession

"When I saw this card on the list of infamous cards, I realized I discovered my new favorite," she explains in a message, mentioning how she was surprised to have missed it until then. She'll be the first to inform you her fondness for the Bonsly card has no real value, yet that didn't stop her. The liking turned into an all-consuming hobby, with Emily purchasing every Bonsly #71 card she could possibly find. She soon developed a routine of stopping by her local card shop every week, and earned the nickname to the employees as the Bonsly fan. They started putting any new Bonsly #71 cards that came in exclusively for Emily. Typically, these cards go for a few dollars, she says, calculating that her total expenditure is about $400 for the collection book.

The Financial Side

Currently, pristine the card might be valued at $14.99. While that's on the higher end, run-of-the-mill versions usually go for four dollars or more. The upward trend roughly aligns with her starting point building her set, but it's possible that multiple reasons. Even though the card is notorious among collectors, Hopkins's posts about it have attracted countless views. As news regarding Bonsly #71 continues to spread to new fans, it's possible that the value of these cards could keep rising. If nothing else, investors say that trading card game values are climbing this year in general.

Unstoppable Determination

Nothing can halt her, however.

"The wonderful part is certain fans and fans on social media have shipped their own Bonsly cards to Emily for her album, and I am keeping these cards protected always," Hopkins says. Rather than recoil in horror, viewers are impressed and inspired by this project.

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