The Story of the Pokémon Card

Thirty years of cardboard, playground trades, and record-breaking sales — told in eight chapters.

1996 — It begins in Japan.

On October 20, 1996, the first Pokémon Trading Card Game packs went on sale in Japan, published by Media Factory. The game was designed by Kouichi Ooyama and Akihiko Miura, with artwork from Mitsuhiro Arita and Keiji Kinebuchi — names collectors still chase today. Nobody knew it yet, but the little pocket monsters were about to become the best-selling trading card game on Earth.

1999 — The playground years.

Wizards of the Coast — the makers of Magic: The Gathering — brought the game west, and the Base Set launched in North America in January 1999. 102 cards. One Charizard (#4/102) that every kid wanted and almost nobody pulled. Lunch tables became trading floors. Teachers confiscated binders. A generation learned about rarity, value, and the heartbreak of a holographic you almost had.

2000–2003 — The Wizards era.

Jungle. Fossil. Team Rocket — the first set that let you play the villain. The Gym sets. Then the Neo series, which introduced Darkness and Metal types and took the game to Johto. Print runs were enormous by today's standards, which is exactly why a mint Base Set Charizard still commands a premium: everyone had the cards, almost nobody kept them pristine.

2003 — Nintendo takes the wheel.

When Wizards' license ended, The Pokémon Company International took over publishing. The EX era began, then Diamond & Pearl, HeartGold & SoulSilver, Black & White, and XY — which gave us Mega Evolution cards with full-art treatments that still look stunning. The game kept evolving; the cardboard kept its magic.

2016–2019 — Sun, Moon, and a new spotlight.

The Sun & Moon era introduced GX cards and rainbow rares, and the collector side of the hobby started outpacing the player side. Sealed product from this era is now some of the most sought-after on the market.

2020 — The boom.

The pandemic sent the whole hobby stratospheric. In 2022, a Pikachu Illustrator card — a 1998 contest prize with only a few dozen in existence — sold for $5,275,000, a Guinness World Record for a trading card. Suddenly everyone was checking their childhood binders.

2023–2026 — Scarlet & Violet and 30 years.

The Scarlet & Violet era brought back the classic “ex” with stunning special illustration rares, and in 2026 the Pokémon franchise turns 30 — with a special celebration release where every card comes foil. Thirty years after those first Japanese packs, the game has never been bigger.

Today — Holo Lane.

We price every card against the real daily market, keep our inventory honest (one copy of nearly everything, so what you see is what's actually here), and archive every sale. No hype, no invented stories — just the cards, priced fairly, from a shop that loves them as much as you do.