With the 30th anniversary of Pokémon coming up, many collectors have been very eager to see what the Pokémon Company had in store for the brand to celebrate the milestone. It was inevitable that fans would be able to enjoy all sorts of promotions across the Pokémon catalog, including games, merchandise, and yes...cards. However, what we didn't know was exactly what that would look like until Monday.
Now, we have our answer. On June 1, Pokémon announced that they are indeed releasing a 30th anniversary set, predictably called 30th Celebration, that includes all foil cards (which is great) as well as some set exclusives that are going to be highly sought after.
However, at first glance, it also feels like Pokémon may be missing some opportunities here.
Get hype for the #PokemonTCG: 30th Celebration with ALL foil cards, 30 Pikachu illustrations, and a new card rarity: Futuristic rare! 🎉
— Pokémon TCG (@PokemonTCG) June 1, 2026
Out worldwide September 16! pic.twitter.com/yyGNXMufsq
Pokémon 30th anniversary set announcement is kind of underwhelming in some ways
Now, no one should have been thinking that they were going to go full Legendary Collection in terms of design and price point, although that would have been fun in some ways. Using the blueprint that the 25th anniversary Celebration did makes a lot of sense, given how popular that set was, and making all the cards foil is a nice touch. Add a bunch of new Pikachu cards and a new rarity (of unknown odds) in Futuristic Rare, with the Mew and Mewtwo versions looking great, and you have a product that is a mortal lock to sell out pretty much as soon as it becomes available.
However, like the 25th anniversary release, it does feel like Pokémon is falling into a similar trap of relying on uninspiring reprints to bolster the product, which is a little underwhelming in some ways. This isn't a problem with the cards actually being reprinted, per se, although there does seem to be a number of very recent illustration rares in the set, which isn't ideal. It was a mortal lock that the original Charizard was going to be included, and there are some iconic cards in the set. However, just reprinting the card and slapping a Pikachu logo on it with a few sparkles just seems a little lazy.
Again, we aren't asking for the Legendary Collection reverse-foil design here, although that would have been very cool. However, if you are already making every card foil, it just feels like they could have done more than adding a mini diamond look to some cards and a bigger Pikachu logo on the set's 30 Pikachus. Would it have been so bad to have a jazzed-up version of the foiling we see with the Poke Ball and Master Ball parallels? It is the 30th anniversary. Go all out.
There are minor gripes at the end of the day, and we don't actually know a ton of details about the set yet. It is entirely possible that Pokémon still has some tricks up their sleeves with the new set that we are just not aware of. Regardless of what happens, this is a set that collectors are going to be clamoring for this coming September, and pre-order prices on the secondary market are going to be absolutely crazy.
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