Posted in: Card Games, Games, Pokémon TCG, Tabletop | Tagged: kadabra, pokemon, pokemon cards, Pokemon Company INternational, Pokemon TCG

Free At Last: The Banned Kadabra Can Now Be Used In Pokémon TCG

The long-held ban on Kadabra cards within the Pokémon Trading Card Game has been lifted thanks to the man who started it to begin with: Uri Gellar. The 73-year-old illusionist has had a career spanning multiple decades of entertainment, but Pokémon fans will know him best as the man who sued Nintendo over Kadabra, a species that Gellar felt was derivative of him and his spoon-bending performances. Kadabra was, as a result of these claims, not to be used in the Pokémon TCG until an agreement was reached. Now, twenty years after the claims were issues, Gellar has withdrawn his complaint and apologized for his role in the sidelining of this Generation One Psychic-type Pokémon.

Uri Gellar took to social media to, in the same tweet, apologize to a generation of Kadabra-deprived fans while also doing what Twitter uses do best. Self-promotion. Gellar tweeted:

I am truly sorry for what I did 20 years ago. Kids and grownups I am releasing the ban. It's now all up to #Nintendo to bring my #kadabra #pokemon card back. It will probably be one of the rarest cards now! Much energy and love to all! http://urigellermuseum.com

Jokes about self-promotion aside, as a Pokémon fan it's nice to see Gellar change his tune. Not only was he originally infuriated that Kadabra had, in his words, "stolen his identity," but he also claimed that Pokémon were "violent characters" and that Kadabra's forehead had references to Nazism.

The Kadabra and Uri Gellar beef has come to its end twenty years later, but what does this mean for fans of the Pokémon TCG? Funny enough, there's an Alakazam V Box, which has a promo card featuring the evolved form of Kadabra, but that's unrelated to this resolved case. We are likely still a good while off from seeing a Kadabra card, but still… it's nice to see the Pokémon released from the proverbial magician's handcuffs.

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