Guides
New releases
- Pokemon 30th Anniversary Cards: 30th Celebration Guide (2026)The 2026 anniversary expansion explained: what it celebrates, how it differs from Celebrations (2021), the 30 Pikachu rares, the Futuristic rares, the Classic Collection reprints, every announced product and its release wave, and how to tell the right printing apart when you buy.
- All 30 Pikachu Cards in 30th Celebration: Visual ChecklistEvery one of the thirty Pikachu rare cards from 023/128 to 052/128, shown in printed order and linked to its own page, plus the Pikachu cards in the release that do not count towards the run.
- Best Pikachu Artwork in 30th Celebration: Our PicksOur editorial pick of the best-looking Pikachu cards in the anniversary set, with the criteria we used - a selection based on the illustrations, not on value, rarity or pull rates.
- 30th Celebration Classic Collection: Reprint or Original?Classic Collection cards keep their original set numbers, so a 2026 reprint and a 1999 card can both read 4/102. How to tell them apart, and the thirty reprints we track.
- 30th Celebration Elite Trainer Box vs Pokemon Center ETBThe standard Elite Trainer Box and the Pokemon Center version compared line by line from their official contents lists: two extra packs, a second Nidorina promo, and nothing else.
- 30th Celebration Promo Cards: Which Product Has WhichEvery guaranteed promo card in the anniversary lineup and the product it ships in, from the official showcase - and why a promo is never something you can pull from a booster pack.
- 30th Celebration Release Dates: UK and US SchedulesThe expansion released worldwide on 16 September 2026, but the products did not. The official UK and US schedules side by side, including the two products they disagree on.
- Mew and Mewtwo in 30th Celebration: The Futuristic RaresThe set's brand-new rarity is a Mewtwo ex and a Mew ex designed by YOSHIROTTEN. What a Futuristic rare is, and all six Mew and Mewtwo cards in the release - four of which share a name.
- The Best 30th Celebration Cards Beyond PikachuOur editorial pick of the illustration rares, special illustration rares and ex cards worth chasing in the anniversary set, with the criteria we used. Not a value or rarity ranking.
- How to Organise a 30th Celebration CollectionThe set splits into five groups that need handling differently, and there is no official definition of a master set. How to structure a collection and decide what finished means.
Identify your card
- How to Find a Pokemon Card's Set and NumberWhere the collector number is printed, how to read it, and the cases that trip people up — Pokedex numbers, numbers above the printed total, and zero-padding. The number helps identify the card, not which printing you have.
- Base Set Shadowless vs Unlimited vs 1st Edition: How to TellThe 1999 Base Set was printed three ways, and three of the four Base Set printings share a collector number. The tells that separate them - the art-frame shadow, the HP weight, the copyright line, the stamp - checked against our own scans.
- Pokemon Promo Card Numbers Explained: SWSH, SVP, BW, XYHow promo numbering works era by era - black star, DP, HGSS, BW, XY, SM, SWSH, SVP - with a real card from each, plus the three kinds of promo that keep a set number instead.
- Vintage vs. Modern Pokemon CardsRough eras from the 1999 Base Set to today, what drives value differently in each, and where the buying risks are.
Understand its price
- How Much Is My Pokemon Card Worth? A Working MethodThe six things to read off a card - number, set, printing, language, condition, graded or raw - and how each one changes which market reference applies, so you price the card you are actually holding.
- How Pokemon Card Prices Are DeterminedSupply, demand, and sold comps — plus the four card-specific things (condition, grade, edition, printing) that split one card into many prices.
- Raw vs. Graded Pokemon CardsWhy the same card can cost several times more in a graded slab, what grading costs and takes, and when it's worth doing.
Check condition and grade
- Pokemon Card Condition & Grading ExplainedThe Near Mint-to-Damaged scale used for raw cards, and what a PSA, CGC, BGS, SGC, ACE or TAG number actually means.
- How to Check a Pokemon Card's ConditionA practical way to inspect centering, corners, edges and surface before you buy a raw card or send one for grading — and what to photograph. No visible check guarantees a grade.
- The Pokemon Card Grading Scale, 1 to 10What each grade from 1 to 10 means, what usually separates a 7, 8, 9 and 10, and how the PSA, CGC and BGS scales differ. The grading company makes the final call.
Research
Dated studies and market summaries. Each states its own sample and limits.
- 30-Day Reference-Price ChangesA dated study of 150 sampled product records: how many moved, and why a product summary differs from its individual condition and printing variants.Sample window 12 August - 11 September 2026
- Market DataThe live market pages: most valuable cards, the most-listed cards we are tracking, and how card values are distributed across the catalogue.Updated from the current catalogue