Pokémon TCG: Celebrations Products Launching October 2021

Pokémon has been on a roll lately with announcing new Pokémon TCG sets in advance, and the newest to add to this growing list is a special set called Celebrations that brings back some nostalgic cards and gameplay mechanics across the entire Pokémon TCG series, along with introducing special new cards that incorporate some of these past mechanics.

UPDATE (Oct. 8, 2021): This post has been updated to include updated product shots of the Celebrations products, now that they have been released, as well as the Pokémon Center Elite Trainer Box. If you want to see more of the cards in the set, check out the newer update post (linked) talking about the set’s release.

Some of the gameplay mechanics returning are Dark and Light Pokémon (introduced in Team Rocket and Neo Destiny respectively), Pokémon Prime (introduced in HeartGold & SoulSilver), Pokémon Star (☆) (from the Ruby & Sapphire era), Delta Species (δ) Pokémon (from the late third Generation era), Pokémon LV.X (from the Diamond & Pearl era), and Pokémon SP (from the Platinum era), as well as Pokémon-GX from the more recent Sun & Moon era of cards.

As this is a special set, akin to sets like Hidden Fates and Shining Fates, it won’t have standalone booster packs or booster packs like standard sets; instead, a range of products—each with various promos for the special set—will contain special 4-card Celebrations booster packs, in addition to the other contents of the products, which will include other Pokémon TCG packs, promo cards, and more, depending on what you buy.

These products will begin to become available throughout the month of October, with the first products launching October 8, 2021 and with more launching later in the month. You can keep reading to take a look at some of the upcoming products in the Celebrations line.

Contents of Celebrations

The Celebrations expansion contains 4 Pokémon V, 2 Pokémon VMAX, more than 45 cards altogether, and 25 classic Pokémon TCGs that have been reprinted.

Each of the cards in the Celebrations booster packs will be foil and include a special 25th anniversary logo on them. Cards that they’ve confirmed will be in it include Pikachu, Zamazenta, and even Professor Oak.

There’s also a special subset containing 25 cards that are “close remakes of iconic cards” which include Base Set Charizard, Umbreon ☆, and Tapu Lele-GX.

It’s unclear whether the following cards will be part of the “close remakes” subset or part of the newer cards, but the official website does also mention a “joyous parade of Legendary, Mythical, and other beloved Pokémon” will be in the set, including Mew, Ho-Oh, Zamazenta, Flying Pikachu, and Surfing Pikachu, so you can expect to see those included in some form in the set as well when it releases in October.

Products in the Celebration Collection Line

Below are the revealed products that will be in the Pokémon TCG: Celebrations collection, along with pictures and suggested MSRP (in USD).

Unfortunately, images of the cards themselves were not made available in English, although you can see Portuguese versions on the Brazilian Portuguese press release if you’re curious.

Dragapult Prime

Release Date: October 8, 2021
MSRP: $14.99 USD
Contents: Contains one foil promo card of Dragapult Prime along with an oversized version of Dragapult Prime. Has 2 Celebrations booster packs, 1 additional booster pack, 1 large anniversary-themed coin, and a really nice, small four-card pocket binder for storing cards in.

Lance’s Charizard V and Dark Sylveon V

Release Date: October 8, 2021
MSRP: $19.99 USD
Contents: Both contain 4 Celebrations booster packs and 2 additional booster packs. The Lance’s Charizard V collection comes with a promo card of Lance’s Charizard V along with an oversized version; the Dark Sylveon V collection comes with a promo card of Dark Sylveon V along with an oversized version instead.

It seems that a small, tin version of these is also available, which contains the same contents except stored inside of a tin and without the jumbo card. This tin is not as tall as previous tins that look like this, and cards do not fit inside if positioned on their side, so keep that in mind!

Deluxe Pin Collection

Release Date: October 8, 2021
MSRP: $19.99 USD
Contents: Contains one foil promo card of Zacian LV. X, an enamel pin featuring Surfing Pikachu and Flying Pikachu (it is interchangeable, so you can toggle between its two modes), 4 Celebrations booster packs, and 2 additional booster packs.

Elite Trainer Box

Release Date: October 8, 2021
MSRP: $49.99 USD
Contents: Contains a special foil card of Greninja ☆, 10 Celebrations booster packs, and 5 additional booster packs. Also contains the usual Elite Trainer Box contents: 65 card sleeves (anniversary-themed), 45 Energy cards, six damage-counter dice, one competition-legal coin-flip die, and two acrylic Special Condition markers, as well as a rulebook and a special Celebrations Player’s Guide showing all of the cards in the special set. There is also an alternate version available exclusive on the Pokémon Center website, shown below—this version is the regular version.

Pokémon Center Elite Trainer Box

Release Date: October 8, 2021
MSRP: $64.99 USD
Contents: Contains a special foil card of Greninja ☆, 10 13 Celebrations booster packs, and 5 6 additional booster packs (striked out text indicates the non-Pokémon Center amounts). Also contains 65 card sleeves (anniversary-themed), 45 Energy cards, six stamped aluminum damage-counter dice, one metal Pokémon coin, a deck box, and two acrylic Special Condition markers, as well as a rulebook and a special Celebrations Player’s Guide showing all of the cards in the special set. (Bolded items are different from the base version of the Elite Trainer Box.)

This version is intended to be exclusive to the Pokémon Center website.

Mini Tins

Release Date: October 8, 2021
MSRP: $8.99 USD each
Contents: Each contain 2 Celebrations booster packs, 1 additional booster pack, and an anniversary-themed coin. Each also contain a “Pokémon art card showing the art from the Mini Tin”—whether that’s an actual Pokémon TCG card or just something else to collect is currently unclear (assuming the latter), but it is confirmed that there are eight versions that can be collected and combined.

Special Collection—Pikachu V-UNION

Release Date: October 8, 2021
MSRP: $29.99 USD
Contents: Contains four promo foil cards that, when combined, make a special 4-card Pikachu V-UNION (from a new V-UNION mechanic that is not yet released). It also contains an oversized version of the combined 4-cards for a single-card (oversized version is non-playable) Pikachu V-UNION. This collection also includes 4 Celebrations booster packs, 2 additional booster packs, and a promo Supporter card featuring Professor Burnett that allows you to search your deck and discard any 2 cards inside, making getting the Pikachu V-UNION cards into your discard pile an easy task.

Premium Figure Collection—Pikachu VMAX

Release Date: October 22, 2021
MSRP: $49.99 USD
Contents: Contains a special etched foil promo card featuring Pikachu VMAX, a normal foil promo of Pikachu V, a supersize figure of Gigantamax Pikachu, 8 Celebrations booster packs, and 3 additional booster packs.

The supersize figure is actually really cool. It’s quite big and even has the swirly red Gigantamax clouds above it!

Ultra-Premium Collection

Release Date: October 22, 2021
MSRP: $119.99 USD
Contents: Contains two commemorative metal cards featuring Base Set Pikachu and Base Set Charizard, a special gold version of Pikachu V, a special gold version of Poké Ball, a Charizard and Pikachu enamel pin, an anniversary-themed metal coin, and a Player’s Guide. As for booster packs, it also contains a massive 17 Celebrations booster packs and 8 additional booster packs.

Collector Chest

Release Date: October 2021
MSRP: $24.99 USD
Contents: Contains one foil promo card of Mimikyu δ (Delta Species), one foil promo card of Light Toxtricity, and one foil promo card of Hydreigon C (Iris’ Hydreigon), as well as four sticker sheets, and mini portfolio for storing cards, a Pokémon coin, and a Pokémon notepad. Also contains 6 Celebrations booster packs, and 2 additional booster packs.

Celebrations Booster Pack Price Analysis

As these four-card Celebrations booster packs are not sold loose (at least, not officially), you’ll need to buy them as a part of one of the items above. Not only do the products above offer Celebrations booster packs inside of them, but they also include other, non-Celebrations booster packs.

This price analysis will assume each of those non-Celebrations booster packs has a value of $4.00 USD and will disregard any extra contents of the product to help you figure out which the best products are to purchase if you are solely looking for Celebrations booster packs (although since all of these have cool promos, if you’re planning on getting a lot of packs, you’ll probably want to start with getting one of each rather than optimizing).

* The Dragapult Prime Collection comes with a really nice 4-card-per-page mini binder and costs only $14.99 (US, MSRP), so despite it costing more per pack, the binder makes it a nice value.

** The Premium Figure Collection comes with a massive Gigantamax Pikachu figure. It feels like it could be worth $20–25 on its own, possibly even more, as it is quite heavy and looks really cool. Although that cuts into the value per pack, it is a great value if you like large figures like that.