Grading
Overall 9.5 GEM MINT
Centering 9.5
Corners 9.5
Edges 9.5
Surface 10
This particular example officially grades a BGS 9.5 quad+. The centering score is a bit generous leaning, as it is a cusp 9/9.5 centering with some left-right misalignment. Irrespective, this Alpha Tropical Island is a beautiful example that survived the game's history with crisp corners, edges and flawless surface.
Rarity & Collectability
This was the last Alpha dual land obtained to round out the set, which demands higher premiums due to being a blue dual land. Tropical Island has a relatively high population count at 35 graded copies at BGS 9.5. Of those 35 copies, 10 are graded at quad or higher, with only 2 of them being basic quads. Despite the higher population count, this card is strangely graded with some copies being obviously overgraded.
Impressions & Artwork
One easy way to determine that this is an Alpha edition is the misattributed artist Mark Poole. The artist was actually Jesper Myfors who stated that he painted himself with a Western duster and cowboy hat in the middle of the painting (source) but I've never been able to see it. Can you find him?
Mark Poole painted the Birds of Paradise card, which was originally meant for Tropical Island or a basic island (source), but was later changed due to the bird being too prominent in the painting. I love both card arts and adore that the Alpha cards have so much history and lore behind them.
Birds of Paradise by Mark Poole was intended for the original Tropical Island or Island.
Usage & Gameplay
My favorite homebrew deck in the 90's was primarily a green blue deck featuring a playset of revised Tropical Islands. In retrospect, this deck was terrible and it was no wonder I always got pwned at local tournaments to sweaty men frequenting comic book stores.
I do remember using playsets of Erhnam Djinn's (1 badly marker inked Arabian Nights edition to make the card look less worn), Birds of Paradise (Unlimited), Mana Drain (Italian legends), and Psionic Blast (Unlimited). I must have put those cards together because of how much I liked each individual card, but it clearly had no consideration into gameplay synergy. I guess that was how it was before the advent of "net decking".
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