The Pokemon Company unveils ‘Pokemon Trading Card Game Classic’

Hmmm, how much money is this going to make?

Today at the Pokemon Presents presentation, The Pokemon Company revealed a new set for the trading card game called “Pokemon Trading Card Game Classic.” Wow, this thing is probably going to make so much money! The intent seems to be to recreate the look and feel of the game’s inaugural set, complete with classic cards like Charizard and Professor Oak. A special board-like arena and tokens are also teased as a commemorative set of sorts.

Billed as a “premium set that will last a lifetime,” this is a joint venture between Nendo, Creatures, and The Pokemon Company. The Pokemon World Championship (held later this year in Yokohama, Japan) will provide further details on the set. For now, we just have the above teaser image. This website (which is not live at the time of publication) is also going to provide some info when it’s ready.

[Update: The Pokemon Classic landing site is good to go, and provides a ton of new info on what this release entails. Info on the aforementioned physical playset is as follows: “Pokemon Trading Card Game Classic features a foldable, portable two-player game board complete with card placement zones for your Active Pokemon, Benched Pokemon, deck, discard pile, and Prize cards. Since this board features a compartment at the center, it can also hold up to three decks and a toolbox featuring accessories you need for battling. Inside the toolbox, you’ll find stackable damage counters that clearly indicate how much damage a Pokémon has taken, three-dimensional Poison and Burn markers, and metal orbs that take the place of Pokémon coins. At the center of the toolbox, you’ll be able to roll these metal orbs down a small chute—if the orb lands in a white-bordered hole, it’s treated as heads, and if it lands in a black-bordered hole, it’s treated as tails. When playing with Pokémon Trading Card Game Classic, you’ll never need to scrounge for dice or coins.” Yeah that sounds neat.

Constructed decks for Venusaur, Charizard, and Blastoise are all coming, with “newly printed cards” on top of classic choices. These decks are not legal in tournament play, The Pokemon Company notes explicitly (which is common in many reprint releases, including some Magic: The Gathering sets). Of course, it’s coming in “late 2023,” giving scalpers and bots plenty of room to pounce.]