Posted in: Card Games, Games, Pokémon TCG, Tabletop | Tagged: Celebrations, P25, pokemon, pokemon cards, Pokemon TCG

Pokémon TCG: Celebrations Opening: Pikachu V-UNION Collection

The Pokémon TCG has released its landmark 25th Anniversary expansion, Celebrations. Celebrations pays homage to 25 years of this incredible hobby with 25 all holo cards featuring iconic Pokémon from the past and present of the franchise. This set also features the Classic Collection subset, which consists of 25 reprints of iconic cards from every time period of the Pokémon TCG, including cards from Base Set all the way up to the Sun & Moon era. I am thrilled to tell you that the Pokémon Company reached out to me with a celebratory box for the occasion in exchange for an honest review of the set. Starting today, I will open every product sent and give you my take. The final product I opened was the Pokémon TCG: Celebrations Collection: Pikachu V-UNION.

It's always bittersweet to get to the end! I'm always so grateful when the Pokémon TCG, or anyone really, sends product and content to review. As I opened the final box, which I saved for last on purpose, I was left feeling gracious for the chance to do this and excited at what I'd seen from the set so far. I've loved Pokémon ever since I was a kid and I had high expectations for this 25th-Anniversary set. My initial reaction to some of the leaks, which I didn't report because I think that the information we saw through theft of cards was egregious, was middling. I'm telling you — seeing these cards, particularly the Classic Collection cards, in-person is what makes this set so special. I remember theorizing about what this set could be and crossing my fingers that we wouldn't see reprints. What we got, though, was a reprint subset inside of a stellar main set, and the reprints are rendered in intense, delicate texture, essentially giving them the premium Full Art treatment. I never could've guessed that would be the direction the Pokémon TCG took Celebrations and as a genuine, life-long fan, I can tell you that I not only feel they did the classic cards justice, but they also made the set feel like something new.

Now, the Pokémon TCG: Celebrations Collection: Pikachu V-UNION box. It includes:

• a Pikachu V-UNION consisting of four promo cards that make up one image
• 1 Professor Juniper Black Star promo (the same one that comes in previous V-UNION boxes)
• a jumbo card that renders the V-UNION in a single image
• 4 Celebrations packs
• 1 Battle Styles
• 1 Darkness Ablaze

This is the most creative of all the SWSH Black Star Promos in Celebrations products. It is essentially a swarm of Pikachu drawn in different styles from many different artists who have contributed to the Pokémon TCG over the last quarter-century. It's a true Pika-tribute.

I ended up pulling yet another Base Set Blastoise reprint from the Classic Collection, which truly speaks to the monstrous pull rate of Celebrations. Outside of this, I pulled a Flying Pikachu V. Overall, this was one of my less successful boxes with only one Classic pull and one Ultra Rare pull, but the fact that that is a less successful opening shows just how strong this set is.

This doesn't mark the end of my Pokémon TCG: Celebrations coverage. It's just the end of this stage of openings. I'll be back with more spotlights, openings, and information which you can follow at Bleeding Cool's Celebrations tag.

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