History of the Pokemon Art Academy Competition
When Pokemon Art Academy had first been released, there was a lot of buzz in the Pokemon community about a competition. The winners of this competition would be selected to have their artwork transformed into a Pokemon card, a desirable outcome for collectors, players, artists and any members of the community. Individuals would design their cards on the game and follow one of two categories – Cosplay Pikachu or ‘Your Favourite Pokemon’.
The Japanese competition had begun first. It ranged from December 13th 2014 until February 1st 2015. A panel of judges would determine the top illustrations, and from that would make a decision on the best illustrations. In early March 2015, the top 5 winners of each category had been congratulated on a job well done. Each of the winners would receive 100 copies of the card with their illustrations.
In early 2015, the Pokemon Company had announced that there would be additional competitions running from February 18th until March 29th for North America and Oceania/Europe geographic regions. The North American competition included Canada, USA and Mexico, whereas Oceania/Europe was open to residents of Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, and Russia (Italy is specifically excluded) [source]. On June 8th 2015, winners from these regions were also contacted. In autumn 2015, these cards were distributed to the respective winners.
Interestingly enough, the North American competition valued the winning prize at $40. This began quite the conversation. Collectors were ecstatic about the winning entries and thus began a huge discussion on the accurate value of these cards. Some interesting individuals tried to purchase complete sets for large pools of funds, whereas others focused solely at completing their collections.
For further discussion on the topic, check out this thread: Pokemon Art Academy Illustration Contest Discussion Thread
Descriptions of the Winning Cards
Here’s a complete image selection from Bulbapedia. [source]
Japanese Winners
Dress-Up Pikachu winning entries
Your Favorite Pokémon winning entries
North American Winners
Dress-Up Pikachu winning entries
Your Favorite Pokémon winning entries
Oceania/European Winners
Dress-Up Pikachu winning entries
Your Favorite Pokémon winning entries
Buying/Selling/Trading
Over the past few years, being an avid collector of these cards myself, I know that generally individuals would like a bit more information about the release, winners, etc. While this article is not going to be a phonebook to contact these winners, I will try to provide at least some insight into what I’ve seen, heard and personally experienced. If you are interested in collecting these cards, you’d be surprised what a quick google search can pull up! I’ve searched high and low for these winners, but it all starts with a paper trail. Some of the artists don’t post directly onto forums, but have their own pages set up, profiles etc. It’s all about where you are looking and what sort of information you are after.
I’m going to just state whether or not there are these cards on the market or not. There were whispers that there was an individual at Worlds in 2016 with a complete set. At the time of writing this individual is the only one with a complete set. Perhaps they know someone at TPCI or they simply did somehow network with all the winners.
Japanese Winners
gogotake - None on the market.
pikamania - None on the market.
Mame Akimaru - Some are floating around.
Y. Fujishima - This is our forum’s very own @noodles ’ son!
Sayaka Maruyama - Some are floating around.
Mio Muroi - Has sold a few on Y!J.
iwaiya - Only giving to close friends.
rina - Some are floating around.
Daisuke Ochiai - None on the market.
Ginga - None on the market.
North American Winners
Note: since the time this post first went up, copies of all the non-Japanese winners made it onto the market in the form of extra copies sold through CollectorsCache by an ex-employee.
Xime - Some are floating around.
Ashley - None on the market.
Me! - None on the market.
Mireil - There are rumours that this individual won’t be selling their cards.
Gosha - Some are floating around.
Gabi - Some are floating around.
Oceania/Europe Winners
Note: since the time this post first went up, copies of all the non-Japanese winners made it onto the market in the form of extra copies sold through CollectorsCache by an ex-employee.
Lily-Chan - Some are floating around.
Rhivern - Some are floating around.
Meli - Some are floating around.
Phanpy - None on the market.
Scarlett* - Some are floating around.
Peegeray - Some are floating around.
Question & Answer
I have been fortunate enough to sit down and interview quite a number of these winners about their cards and experiences. Similar to Charlies’s interview: Q & A with Two 3DS Art Academy Winners. I’ve reached out to a number of winners for their inputs. I’ll hide them under spoilers to not clog up the entirety of this post.
Gabi (North America) - Chespin Winner
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How did Pokemon contact you after winning?
I received an email from TPCi a few months after I submitted the drawing, and I think I had to fill out a form giving my permission for them to make the card. -
Were you surprised with the results?
I was beyond surprised to hear I was a winner!! (I still can’t really believe it; there were so many fantastic entries)! -
Why did you draw that pokemon?
I chose Chespin because I feel I relate strongly to that pokemon from the TV anime. Also I really like its color scheme. -
How does it feel to have your drawing on a pokemon card?
It feels awesome! I love having my own name in my pokemon collection! -
Did you try and find the other winners?
The other winners found me! I haven’t actively searched for them, but I guess they found me from their social media and by word of mouth. -
When you sold/traded your cards, how was your experience?
I sold a few, and I mean having some extra money was definitely nice. I think the best part was honestly just knowing that people wanted a card designed by me. I thought I was overcharging tbh. I hate asking for money, but some other people and friends were telling me I was charging too little, and I shouldn’t feel bad because I have a card of which only 100 are known to exist! -
What was your favourite experience about these cards? Was it winning, meeting collectors, etc.
My favorite part of the whole thing was seeing the commentary on my drawing from the judges: “The theme that depicts the trust between pokemon and humans is wonderful”. I thought that was really sweet!! -
Have you tried collecting the entire set of these cards?
I haven’t tried collecting the others, but when they contact me, I’m happy to trade!!
Peegeray (Oceania/Europe) - Delphox Winner
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How did Pokemon contact you after winning?
I was contacted via email and given a form to fill out so my card could be printed and sent to me. -
Were you surprised with the results?
Yes! I saw one artist on Twitter say they won the competition almost a month before I was contacted so it was certainly a shock when I got an email from The Pokemon Company in my inbox. -
Why did you draw that pokemon?
Well, the category I entered was to draw your favourite Pokemon. Delphox isn’t actually my favourite… but I do like drawing it! I really enjoy drawing fire too so I thought I’d play to my strengths for the contest. -
How does it feel to have your drawing on a pokemon card?
Feels really awesome, though I really wish TPCI would improve the quality of their card stock as edge wear issues from recent Pokemon sets are still prevalent on these winning cards! -
Did you try and find the other winners?
Yeah I tried searching for people through their Miiverse usernames as that’s all we have to go by, though I found some of them through Twitter without trying as people were posting their winning card photos online and they showed up on my timeline. -
When you sold/traded your cards, how was your experience?
Mostly positive, though when I first posted a picture of my card on Facebook I got an overwhelming amount of messages and some people were being pushy or trying to haggle. Trading with other artists has been great though. -
What was your favourite experience about these cards? Was it winning, meeting collectors, etc.
Definitely trading with other artists, they have all been nice and sent a piece of art along with their card which makes it even more fun to trade. I’ve also enjoyed being acknowledged as an artist by the Pokemon community as well! -
Did you have any negative experiences resulting from these cards?
Yeah, people buying my card to simply flip it for profit (Not that they aren’t allowed to resell it, it just felt like I was being taken advantage of by selling it at a reasonable price). I also had an instance with someone claiming a card was damaged but only ever gave me poor quality photos as proof, which was just frustrating and a waste of my time. -
Have you tried collecting the entire set of these cards?
I’ve only been trading for cards I liked the most, since getting a whole set is extremely difficult and some artists aren’t even interested in trading.
Meli (Oceania/Europe) – Cosplay Pikachu Winner
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How did Pokemon contact you after winning?
They emailed me! -
Were you surprised with the results?
Very surprised as there was such a large pool of people to choose from being both the Europe and oceanic places. -
Why did you draw that pokemon?
I won the pika dress up competition, so I had to draw pika, haha! -
How does it feel to have your drawing on a pokemon card?
It feels surreal. It’s been a year or so and I still can’t believe my art is actually on officially printed cards. I’ve loved Pokemon since the anime came to the UK and have collected cards seriously for a few years now. To be able to say my art is on a Pokemon card is VERY cool. -
Did you try and find the other winners?
I’m not too bothered about finding other winners, really. It’s been other people coming to me and giving me the other winners details, haha. -
When you sold/traded your cards, how was your experience?
I thought I was over selling my cards. But then I was told how much other people were selling theirs for and turns out I was underselling the whole time! -
What was your favourite experience about these cards? Was it winning, meeting collectors, etc.
My favourite part about it all was opening that box to 100 of the cards. Like the Pokemon company has given me a huge amazing present! -
Did you have any negative experiences resulting from these cards?
I’ve had some negative experiences of people telling me my cards aren’t worth it and such and that they’re over priced. But luckily the serious collectors are nothing but polite! -
Have you tried collecting the entire set of these cards?
No chance. The entire set of these cards would cost enough for a dang house deposit haha. I’m not at that point in my life where I can spend so much on this sort of stuff. Maybe if I was older and settled I would have tried! -
Any other thoughts?
As for other thoughts, thank you to everyone who has purchased one, you have no idea how much it’s helped me just to live and progress in life.
Scarlett* (Oceania/Europe) - Kecleon Winner
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How did Pokemon contact you after winning?
I received an email. I think it was the best email of my life ! -
Were you surprised with the results?
I was very happy and surprised to win, as there was a lot of others wonderfully drawn illustrations who didn’t win. -
Why did you draw that pokemon?
Kecleon isn’t really my favorite Pokémon, but it’s a Pokémon I used to love since Gen 3. Pokémon Sapphire is my favorite Pokémon game ever, maybe because I got the game when I was 8 years old, and videogames felt so magical back then. Plus my favorite color is green, and I love reptiles and lizards. I also wanted to draw the Pokémon in a nice environment, so I thought Kecleon in a dense jungle would look nice. -
How does it feel to have your drawing on a pokemon card?
My 8 years old self would be very, very proud of me. -
Did you try and find the other winners?
Yes, with the help of some Pokémon cards collectors, I managed to trade cards with other winners. -
When you sold/traded your cards, how was your experience?
Trading cards is very nice, because you got to talk with other artists from all over the world. At first I didn’t want to sell my cards because they have a very high sentimental value for me. I did sell some, not much, and only to some collectors who are very passionate about cards and who managed to gain my trust. Again, it’s nice because I got to talk with people from all over the world. I can practice my english language that way ! -
What was your favourite experience about these cards? Was it winning, meeting collectors, etc.
Everything, really. The whole process of the contest was very nice. I enjoyed drawing the illustration too. -
Did you have any negative experiences resulting from these cards?
Not a single one. -
Have you tried collecting the entire set of these cards?
Not really, I am not a collector, but if I have the occasion to trade other winner cards I don’t have I will definitely do it. -
Any other thoughts/questions?
I look forward to other Pokémon drawing contests. I participated in the Uniqlo x Nintendo t-shirt design contest recently, and I would love to have my art on a Uniqlo t-shirt as I love the brand, but yeah, I’m not quite sure to win this time !
Rina (Japan) - Gourgeist Winner
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How did Pokemon contact you after winning?
Pokémon official emailed me that I won the prize. -
Were you surprised with the results?
Yes indeed. There was a lot of other fantastic illustrators who should have won. -
Why did you draw that pokemon?
At the first I was drawing a picture for Halloween but I couldn’t finish it because I was busy.
I kept on working, then got an information about the competition and decided to apply for it.
There weren’t so many Pokémon originally but I added the rest of ghost Pokémon because I love all of them. -
How does it feel to have your drawing on a pokemon card?
It’s like a dream still now -
Did you try and find the other winners?
Yes, I’ve found some of winners and traded cards. Other winners and collectors helped me a lot. -
When you sold/traded your cards, how was your experience?
It was my first experience sending an international mail. I was a little nervous but it was exciting to exchange cards and emails with other illustrators and collectors. -
What was your favourite experience about these cards? Was it winning, meeting collectors, etc.
Receiving words of congratulation from friends and followers of Miiverse, comments from judges of the competition, having my art as a real Pokémon card and meeting other illustrators and collectors. -
Did you have any negative experiences resulting from these cards?
I was very disappointed when a man resold a card we traded. -
Have you tried collecting the entire set of these cards?
I’m collecting cards from only illustrators who were willing to trade. Some of winners don’t want to do so but I respect their decision. -
Any other thoughts/questions?
I’d love to really thank all people I met through the competition and Pokémon.
I love Pokémon and painting forever.
Concluding Thoughts
I hope that I’ve been able to shed some light into the mysterious scope that is the Art Academy Competition Cards! I’ll leave a quick photo of my current collection here. I am thankful to have 13 of these amazing cards all in one collection. I’m always on the lookout for more though! I always try to help where I am able, just sometimes I need to respect the privacy of the winners. If at any time the information in this article does become out of date, please let me know and I’ll be happy to edit it!
Thanks so much for taking the time to read this far, and I hope you learned something new!
I have gotten a hold of the spanish winner aswell so im hoping I can work out a deal there soon but I need to save up some money since these are not cheap haha
