Undisclosed winners, rule violations, there was more to this contest than you might think!
In a recent video released by Matt Matoba, the founder of MATOBA DESIGN, the enigmatic details surrounding the Wizards of the Coast Black Star Promo Create-A-Snorlax Pokemon Card Contest are finally brought to light. This captivating contest, which distributed entry forms through Pokémon League and determined the top 10 favorites via online votes, has an intriguing history that has remained largely undisclosed.
Matt sits down with Craig Turvey, the illustrator behind the first non-Japanese Illustration Contest and the sole artist whose creation became an actual Wizards Pokemon card. Together, they explore the fascinating journey of this contest, discussing its captivating past, Turvey's prizes, and the reactions of Wizards themselves.
The revelations shared in the video extend to the astonishing circumstances surrounding the winner, Craig Turvey, who discovered his victory purely by chance at E3, as he was never officially notified. An investigation into the contest brought to light the disturbing fact that voters exceeded the allowed limit of one vote per person/email address, while shocking evidence emerged that Wizards of the Coast employees themselves had participated in the competition, blatantly violating the contest rules.
The controversies surrounding the card game art contest are also illuminated in the video, exposing a web of deceit. The promised winner notification through mail or phone turned out to be a complete fabrication, leaving Turvey in the dark. Furthermore, the value of the prize fell short of expectations, leaving a sense of dissatisfaction among participants.
Wizards of the Coast cunningly safeguarded themselves with legal clauses, further exacerbating the growing concerns over the transparency of the contest. To add to the intrigue, the video reveals the unexpected discovery of other finalist cards' artwork after two decades, raising questions about the authenticity and fairness of the entire competition.
Intriguingly, the article delves into the financial aspect of Turvey's artwork, unveiling the astonishing prices it commanded on the market. Some of his pieces fetched a staggering $2000, and the proceeds from these sales played a significant role in helping a friend realize their dream of purchasing a new house. Additionally, the article offers an insightful analysis of the design and features found in specific Pokémon cards, while speculating on the motives and actions of the card creators, adding an extra layer of depth to the discussion.
Artwork of 5 of the other finalists have also been discovered by Matt Matoba, you can check them out here.
Five additional artworks featuring Snorlax have been discovered, submitted as entries alongside the finalists. These artworks were shared with Matt to us by an entrant known as "Gym Leader Khym," who had a notable presence in the Pokemon TCG community.
Of particular interest is the fact that Gym Leader Khym co-managed a Pokemon fan blog alongside power user Chrisbo, who serves as the primary source of archived chatlogs, even from the past. Notably, we were told by Matt that Chrisbo now works officially with The Pokémon Company International and actively participates in organizing events (like SDCC).
In simple terms, these five artworks didn't make it to the finals. But the artist who created them later became officially connected to Wizards. This shows that people recognized and appreciated their talent and hard work!
Here are the five entries by Gym Leader Khym:
Overall, the article provides an in-depth analysis of the controversies surrounding the Wizards of the Coast Black Star #49 promo contest and sheds light on the design features of Pokemon cards.
The video is available below, and we highly recommend checking it both out. Overall, this is an interesting video and resource for anyone interested in the Pokemon TCG surrounding this Wizards of the Coast contest.
Disclaimer: The images in this article were supplied by MATOBA DESIGN. We would like to inform our readers that certain cards showcased in this article are fan mock-ups and should not be considered official cards. The only real content from the card mock-ups are the artworks from the contest submitted as entries. Please take this into consideration while reading the article.
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it makes you wonder, who really should have won? At this point we'll never truly know.