Pokemon's Chinese TCG Just Got Its Best New Product Ever
Pokemon's Chinese TCG Is Getting Exclusive Charizard And Pikachu Box Sets
Since 2020, Sam has written over 2,500 articles and specializes in telling the stories of the people behind the games. He’s interviewed the biggest game directors, some of the industry’s top talents, told the stories of how indie games came to be, and spoken to players about what really makes them tick. He’s also interviewed some of the world’s biggest musical artists to find out how the medium has inspired their work, and TV and Film actors about their roles in video game adaptations. He even hosted a PAX panel in 2021 and made a documentary in 2024 surrounding the creation of a Disney game.
Alongside this, Sam focuses on breaking news. He got the scoop on Perfect Dark’s cancellation, got context around some AI drama, and revealed how Lady Dimitrescu’s actress would love to step back into the character’s giant shoes. These articles have been picked up by the biggest gaming sites, including IGN, GameSpot, and PC Gamer. He also loves to dive into the numbers behind the games.
Sam’s journey in games journalism has taken him all over the world. He’s covered Gamescom in Germany, Summer Game Fest in Los Angeles, and Tokyo Game Show in Japan, each on more than one occasion.
He’s been learning Japanese since 2024 with the intention of identifying and translating Japanese-language news and bringing it to English-language audiences first, something he’s done countless times.
Sam’s first review was 2020’s Battletoads reboot, and he’s since reviewed games in The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario, and Pokemon franchises.
Since its launch in 2022, the Chinese version of the Pokemon Trading Card Game has been a sleeper hit. It has contained dozens of cards exclusive to the region, including fan favorites like Pikachu, Gengar, Mew, and Cubone. Some of these Chinese-language cards are already worth upwards of $15,000.
Those in the West, myself included, are now coming to realize just how good some of these China-exclusive cards are, and the pipeline continues to get better and better.
The latest of these products have just been announced for the region's TCG, and it looks like, once again, the West is missing out.
Chinese Pokemon TCG Figure Collections Have Been Announced, And They Look Fantastic
Today, The Pokemon Company China revealed a range of 30th-anniversary figurine sets. Releasing on September 16, alongside a range of the TCG's other 30th anniversary products, these feature a range of Pikachu figures that correspond to Pikachu cards found in the expansion. Each card is designed in the card's artist's style.
The product will include 12 figures, based on art by legendary artists such as Shinji Kanda, Tomokazu Komiya, Sowsow, Okacheke, and Yuu Nishida. No Ken Sugimori figure has been revealed yet, but that would undoubtedly be the most popular, with Pokemon's original character designer creating a card for this new expansion.
Alongside the Pikachu collection, the 30th Anniversary Celebration Collector's Edition Charizard Figure Gift Box was revealed. This box will come with a Charizard figure, inspired by its original base set card, an extra-large Charizard card, and 15 30th Anniversary Celebration booster packs.
The Pikachu collections will set collectors back 88 Yuan ($13), while the Charizard Gift Box will be 780 Yuan ($116).
It's now highly likely at this point that these products will be exclusive to the Chinese TCG. The Western version of the TCG revealed its product line-up back in June, and this was nowhere to be seen.
Instead, it will be receiving two figure collections of its own, featuring Mew and Mewtwo. These collections come with a figure of either of the Pokemon, alongside four booster packs, and two cards featuring the creatures — one jumbo and one regular-sized. This is in addition to a range of other SKUs, including Elite Trainer Boxes, Ultra Premium Collections, Battle Decks, Booster Bundles, and Sticker Collections.