Pokémon TCG 30th Celebration: Prices, Chase Cards & Release Waves

30th Celebration is the Pokémon TCG’s anniversary set — and the first Pokémon card product ever released worldwide on the same day, September 16, 2026. Every card is foil, 30 artists drew 30 different Pikachu, and classic cards like Base Set Charizard came back as reprints. Here is what the cards actually sell for, when each product lands, and the price crash every buyer should know about.

What makes the set different

According to The Pokémon Company, every card is foil (Basic Energy included), a new Futuristic rarity features Mew and Mewtwo drawn by YOSHIROTTEN, 30 Pikachu cards come from 30 different artists, and a Classic collection reprints favourites such as Base Set Charizard (pokemon.com). The English set lists 199 cards including the Classic collection and 8 Basic Energy (Vice). In Japan the set is sold as 30th CELEBRATION (M6a) at ¥360 a pack, 6 cards per pack with a guaranteed Pikachu (Pokémon Card Game official site).

English release waves

The English products roll out in five waves (pokemon.com, Rare Candy):

• September 16 — Elite Trainer Box (9 packs), Pokémon Center ETB (11 packs), Sylveon ex and Greninja ex boxes, Poster, Tech Sticker and Knock Out collections.
• October 2 — Booster Bundle (6 packs) and Mini Tins (10 designs, 2 packs each).
• October 30 — Espeon ex and Umbreon ex Battle Decks.
• November 6 — Ultra-Premium Collection “Day & Night”, Ditto Premium Collection, Mew and Mewtwo Figure Collections.
• December 4 — Binder Collection.

The Pikachu ex price crash

The first week was a lesson in launch pricing. The Night version of the Pikachu ex Special Illustration Rare had sold for as much as $1,250 in pre-release sales, then fell roughly tenfold to about $120 within days of the worldwide release, as supply arrived (Sports Illustrated). Futuristic cards that sold for around $3,000 before launch also came down to the low hundreds (Kotaku).

What 30th Celebration cards sell for now

Japanese 30th CELEBRATION cards, median ungraded sale over the last 30 days, with the number of sales behind each price:

The top of the set is flat: Mew ex, Mewtwo ex, both Pikachu ex and the Classic Charizard and Lugia all trade between about $70 and $105 ungraded. With 1,700+ sales recorded across the set in its first month, these are real market levels, not guesses — follow them live on the 30th CELEBRATION (JP) page and the English 30th Celebration page, which fills in as English sales are recorded.

October 20: the TCG’s real birthday

The video games turned 30 on February 27, 2026, but the card game launched in Japan on October 20, 1996, so the TCG itself turns 30 on October 20, 2026 (Pokémon Card Game official site). In Japan the anniversary line continues with nine starter-trio card sets on October 16, one per generation, at ¥1,200 each (official 30th site). The cards that started it all are covered in our guides to the No Rarity Base Set and the biggest Pokémon card sales.