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So really... what is Pokémon Celebrations? Here are the facts:
Set Size: 50+ in the US, at least 28+ in Japan.
This is less of a set but more of a promo set, in the same way an EP is a smaller album to an LP. ...is that reference too old? OK, well, more like 2018's Dragon Majesty was relative to normal Sun/Moon sets. For the English set, when I say there are "50+ cards", it's because there are:
- 25 "normal" cards; as in, cards which are numbered X/25. These are absolutely 100% new cards.
- 25 "bonus" cards; which are special non-tounament legal reprints from throughout the Pokémon TCG's entire history, including the Wizards of the Coast years (1999-2003)
- a few extra promo cards based on and/or using old Pokémon TCG concepts and card templates, like "Dark Sylveon" and "Light Toxtricity"... pretty neat, huh?!
Set Order: ??? set in the Japan, ??? in the US.
This isn't technically part of the main TCG set release schedule. Enjoy the birthday gift to all Pokémon TCG fans!
Release Date: October 22, 2021 in Japan, October 8, 2021 in the US.
Other Goodies:
• The set is being released in Japan as the "25th Anniversary Collection".
• The release date of mid-October 2021 was specifically chosen as it was the 25th anniversary of the original Japanese release of the Pok&éacute TCG (specifically Base Set), which was on October 20th, 1996. He
• This is the first proper set—not counting promos or other one-offs—released during the Nintendo-era which uses and references the card templates from the Wizards-era. Not even the previous "XY Evolutions" set, which was a "reimagination" of the original Base Set, used Wizards' card layout. In fact, this set is the first time many of these cards—like Base Venusaur and Blastoise—were reprinted since the Wizards-era.
• This is also the first re-appearance of certain card types of the Pokémon TCG on new cards since their original releases. Dark/Light Pokémon, Owner's Pokémon (DPP-era style), Pokémon Prime, and Delta Species all appear on new cards and on Pokémon specifically released AFTER those respective card types ran their course in the TCG. Well, maybe except for Lance's Charizard V.
• Unfortunately, however, all of these reprints and new "Old" cards (Light Toxtricity, et al) are not tournament legal. This is a serious bummer, but whatever. I just wish they would bring back stuff like Light/Dark Pokémon and all the rest!
• That said, any references to "Wizards of the Coast" or "Wizards", like in the copyrights of the reprinted cards, were removed from the reprints. Makes sense, seeing as Wizards was technically a "work for hire" and were not involved in the reprint process. Don't want to make people think that they actually participated in this! Still tho, it's nice to see the Nintendo-era of the Pokémon TCG reference Wizards, seeing as pretty much all references of the Pokémon TCG prior to the whole "Pokémon 25" event mysteriously starts at EX Ruby & Sapphire... if one didn't know any better, they might think the TCG actually started with EX:RS...
Symbol:
The symbol for Celebrations in the US uses kanji for the numbers "two/2" (二) and "five/5" (五), implying "twenty-five/25" (二五)... although if they really wanted it to mean "twenty-five/25", they should've used "二十五". Instead, it just means "two,five/2,5". To use a Roman numeral equivilent, they didn't write "twenty-five/25" as "XXV" but as "IIV".
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