🔗 Share this article

Pokémon creators introduced fans to the trading card game DP edition during 2007, including the Bonsly card. On this artwork, the fourth generation Rock Pokémon is shown by artist Harada-san in a somewhat awkward pose. Here, this pre-evolution is depicted fallen and weeping. Don't be fooled, yet. As its move Fake Tears suggests, the little creature attempts to influence their opponent's emotions with the goal of reducing their offensive power. Memorable card, right? Harp player Emily Hopkins certainly thinks so. And she's got a collection book filled with 305 Bonsly cards to prove it.

Her Complete Set with Key Pieces

However, that's not everything she has as well. She has acquired twenty holo reverse versions of the Bonsly card, which depicts the little guy in reflective foil covering everything except the primary illustration. The crown jewel, though, is the professionally graded PSA 6 holo reverse Bonsly edition. Sure, it isn't a top-graded Charizard from the base set. Yet, do you possess an amusing, almost perfect card of Bonsly preserved in all its splendor? I didn't think so.

Origins of the Collection

Emily dedicated much of 2025 stockpiling all available Bonsly cards from that year that she could locate. She first heard regarding this discontinued card earlier this year, while debating the notoriously odd cards in the compendium with a staff member at her favorite card shop. The weeping Omanyte was considered, along with the lonely Cubone on a park ride. However, the one that Bonsly crying, aka the seventeenth card, which captured her interest.

The Design and Inspiration

Bonsly is obviously influenced on bonsai trees, which are often grown in containers with holes at the bottom. These are meant to aid growth, so much so that fans suggest to peers to add holes into their pots if holes are missing. They can also be positioned in shallow containers lacking drainage, called suiban, and the collected moisture could aid caretakers arrange their bonsai to resemble natural landscapes. Bonsly fits the initial category, hence the hole.

A Memorable and Notorious Card

Although this makes sense, yet, Pokémon's creators appears somewhat excessively attentive with Bonsly's hole. Even merchandise like Bonsly plushes ensure they feature a cavity on the underside of Bonsly. Regardless if the depiction of the Pokémon is weeping or calm: It's going to show hole. This hole represents an intrinsic part in Bonsly's appearance. Bonsly #71 became a meme within the community because of its distinctive hole, and also because of its status. Until recently, Bonsly #71 was the single type of Bonsly available included in the series where numerous creatures are typically depicted in various forms. For 16 years, if you wanted this Pokémon card, you needed to accept for hole Bonsly.

The Collector's Passion

"Upon noticing Bonsly in the list of these cursed cards, I knew I had found my new favorite," Emily states over email, noting that it was unexpected to have missed it until then. She is quick to inform you her passion for the Bonsly card serves no practical purpose, yet that didn't stop her. The initial interest evolved into a full-blown obsession, as she acquired every Bonsly #71 card available to her. She soon developed a routine of stopping by her favorite shop on a weekly basis, and was dubbed to the employees as the Bonsly collector. The store began putting any new copies of Bonsly #71 they obtained only for her. Most of these cards are priced at one to three dollars, she notes, approximating she has invested about $400 for the collection book.

Rising Prices

These days, mint-condition the card can cost up to $14.99. While that's on the higher end, ordinary versions usually go for four dollars or more. The upward trend roughly aligns with when Hopkins started building her set, though there are likely multiple reasons. Although Bonsly #71 is well-known with enthusiasts, Hopkins's posts regarding the card have received a huge audience. As news of its existence continues to spread to new fans, it's possible that the price of Bonsly #71 cards could keep rising. At the very least, collectors mention how trading card game values are climbing this year overall.

Unstoppable Determination

Nothing can halt her, however.

"The amazing thing is certain fans and viewers from her channel have mailed copies of Bonsly to Emily for her album, and she is preserving these Bonsly safe forever," Emily states. Rather than recoil in horror, fans feel admiration and motivation by this project.

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