It's safe to say that Pokemon fans have plenty to look forward to today! Earlier this year, about two months ago, The Pokemon Company announced that a new TCG set would release internationally, which had ties to the hit mobile game, Pokemon GO. After the initial news however, we didn't seem to get any new information or announcements. Today that all changes! We have plenty of news to look at, and even more to be excited and hopeful about. Whether you're a Pokemon GO fan or not, if you enjoy collecting Pokemon cards, then you're bound to love this new set!
Principally, let’s paint an outline about this set, beyond its products. To begin with, the information everyone wants to know, this set will be released for purchase on July 1st. What’s interesting about this set however, is that it’s products will be staggered over time. Through the course of over a month, droves of these products will slowly spew into store shelves. This is to say, don’t expect to be able to complete your collection until a few weeks after this set's initial release date. The Pokemon GO set is going to be this year's main holiday set, following off the heels of shining fates. Similar to all other holiday sets, the only way to acquire packs and cards of this set is through the products specific to it, meaning that you won’t have the standard array of options if opening packs is your bread and butter. We can expect this set to not have a booster box, nor will it have individual sleeved boosters on shelves, rather we’ll more than likely see it with plenty of boxes and tins. Now, let’s analyze those cards and products!
There is much to go over, and even more to analyze in terms of the cards and products we will be seeing. It appears as if Mewtwo and Melmetal will be the two most prominently featured Pokemon of this set, and this is with good reason too. Mewtwo will be the star Pokemon; it is slapped on the face of the ETB of this set in front of a peculiar blue backdrop. Both Mewtwo and Melmetal will be featured in V Battle Decks. It’s interesting to see that this set is going to have this type of product personally, but I don’t think anyone can complain about seeing additional products. Circling back to the main subject of this paragraph, we are going to have an interesting elite trainer box to look forward too. It will feature ten packs of the Pokemon GO set, along with a holofoil promotional card featuring Mewtwo. The ETB will seemingly be like a typical holiday one, with all the standard stuff inside, and will likely MSRP at $50.
Unfortunately, while much of what’s to come has been shown to us, even more of it has yet to be unveiled, and we must rely on text to fuel our imaginations. Cards that we know are coming, yet haven’t been seen are arguably much more interesting than what’s been revealed. Dragonite VSTAR is set to make a debut in this set, right next to Melmetal VMAX, as well as Mewtwo VSTAR (which has been shown, and will be pictured below). Overall, while both VSTAR and VMAX cards are Interesting, the most unique cards that we know of so far in this set are a part of its radiant collection! Radiant Blastoise, Venasaur, and everyone’s favorite, Charizard will be making an appearance as radiant cards, along with an already revealed radiant Eevee.
Upcoming Products
Now then, I don't know about you folk, but I certainly want to get to the products that have been unveiled! We already talked about the Elite Trainer Box above, and hinted at some battle decks, so naturally now we need to look at the really fun products! For the sake of your time, and more importantly my own, let's dive right in!
The Radiant Eevee collection is what I wanted to start out with, because to me this is the most interesting item on the list. It peaked my interest when it was said that each box will come with a unique code card, more than likely to be used for Pokemon GO itself. Other then this code, this product will contain eight Pokemon GO packs, a special Radiant Eevee pin, a Radiant Eevee promotional card, and a playmat!
We're going to be seeing the classic hexagonal tin make a return with The Pokemon GO TCG set! These tins are set to all include a Pikachu promotional card, and then another promotional card depending on whichever tin you purchase. In addition to those cards, you will receive a sticker sheet, and then four packs inside.
Not only are we seeing normal tins, but also their smaller counterparts too! Mini tins are going to be seen for this set. As always, they will contain a coin, two packs, and then a collectable picture card depicting the exterior of the tin. These are always a joy to see in stores, so personally I'm really glad to see them myself.
Next up, who could forget the all time classic! Who doesn't love these Pokeball tins? Again, we see another classic type of product make a return; however, with a brand new twist! These Pokeballs will contain the standard three packs they are typically carrying, except now instead of a coin you will get two sticker sheets. While I'm a sucker for collecting Pokemon coins, these sticker sheets deserve a chance as well.
Here we see a lovely addition to the roster, Alolan Exeggutor! These boxes (as you can see above) will have four packs, and two of the same promotional card. Luckily for those of you who have those 25th anniversary binders, one of those two promotional palm trees is a jumbo card! Hooray for collecting!
Finally, I wanted to save the best for last. Special collection boxes, featuring all three of the teams in Pokemon GO will be up for sale, each with their respective leader on the front. I went ahead and put up the one with the best team for you all to see, but rest assured that you inferior Mystic and Instinct fans will also have something fun to collect. These special collection boxes are going to house a full art promotional trainer card as well as a special pin (both of which correlating to whichever team the box represents), as well as six booster packs!
Conclusion
After seeing all of these products, I can't blame you if you're wanting to download the infamous app of 2016 back onto your phone. Back six whole years ago, Pokemon GO took off, taking the world by storm, and now over half a decade later it's going to finally be brought to the forefront of the TCG realm. Personally speaking, Pokemon GO has been my most played mobile game for several years now, and it never fails to entertain. I certainly can say that I've grown attached to my favorite Pokemon on it, including but not limited to: Loan Shark the Garchomp and CRISPY the Dialga. Like I said at the beginning of this article, you really don't need to be a fan of the app though to find joy in this new set. Whether you enjoy Pokemon GO or not, at the end of the day we're all Pokemon fans, and we love to see new content put forth. This set is going to be a first for the franchise, and personally, I couldn't be more excited! If you're wanting to stay in the loop about this, or any other Pokemon news, you should definitely sign up for our newsletter to have the latest information at your disposal. If you do, you'll even get 5% off of your next purchase, whether you save that discount for this upcoming set is up to you!
