Excuse the phone ringing in my mind, but I can already hear my bank calling to ask if my card has been stolen after I spent hundreds with The Pokémon Company. At the Europe International Championships in London late last week, some new products for the 30th Anniversary were shown off, celebrating the opening of Pokémon Red and Blue.
And whether you're a competitive Pokémon TCG player or a simple collector like myself, if you've been a Pokémon fan for a large portion of that 30 years, you'll soon feel nostalgia taking hold of you, too.
We all knew that The Pokémon Company would go all in on nostalgia for this milestone. I mean, they've had this massive franchise for three decades, now is prime time to capitalize and make some money, and in all honesty, I'd be doing the same thing.
While we have yet to receive any details on the upcoming Pokémon TCG set for the 30th Anniversary, which will likely launch later this year, there's still plenty of products the company can (and will) release to remind us all of our childhoods.
As shared by PokéBeach, a selection of products focusing on the intro battle of Pokémon Red and Blue were spotted at EUIC, featuring Gengar and Nidorino squaring off against each other in that famous scene.
In all honesty, I'm happy just to see some other Pokémon take the spotlight for once, no Pikach- well, I spoke too soon, there's a golden Pikachu plush holding a Pokéball with '30th' embroidered on it, but at least there's some other 'mon getting focus here. At least there's no Charizard.
The Opening Scene line is getting a playmat, a double deck box, a special pin, card sleeves, and a neat hat, all sporting a golden version of the iconic moment. It's hard not to be a little emotional over it all. None of us knew, no matter what age you are right now, how big a franchise Pokémon would be, and those opening selection of pixels set the stage for generations of children to fall in love with animals captured and forced to fight each other.
Okay, maybe that last part isn't so sweet, but at least they're all adorable little creatures. Besides, they like battling. Honest!
There's currently no release date for this line of products, but I'd expect them to be on sale at the Pokémon Center and potentially some other retailers eventually. I'd also expect them to sell out fairly fast, especially the adorable Pikachu plush. So keep an eye on the following retailers to potentially get your hands on some of this Opening Scene merch:
- Walmart (US)
- Sam's Club (US)
- Magic Madhouse (UK)
Does seeing the iconic opening plastered over various products give you a bite from the old nostalgia bug? Well, make sure to join our Wargamer Discord and chat with other Pokémon trainers and collectors about your favorite memories of the franchise. Or, perhaps you want to rant about the lack of any stock of TCG sets. Either way, we're happy to have you.