I have to admit, I initially started looking into the Chinese Pokemon 30th Celebration set because it has similarities to the First Partner Collection. More specifically, both sets allow collectors to acquire full art cards of specific starter Pokemon. However, market dynamics forced me in one specific direction over the other.
Why I Picked the Chinese Pokemon 30th Celebration Boxes
As someone who grew up with the iconic trio of Charmander – Squirtle – Bulbasaur, the First Partner Collection took my interest. Unfortunately, it was almost impossible to source from local card shops, unless at heavily marked-up pricing. Looking on the secondary market didn’t help much, as there was primarily French, Italian, and Spanish stock, with English options often making my local card shops seem cheap.
Thankfully, some research put me on the path of the Chinese Pokemon 30th Celebration boxes. They provide access to the same 9 starters, the artwork is the same, but the language differs.
More importantly, they are a LOT more accessible and affordable. Even in stores, these boxes sell for 15 euro a piece or less. Online , I found 1 seller with over 100 in stock at 10.99 euro each. Buying 10 of them – and only paying shipping once – was a very straightforward decision.
The First Impression
Like any Pokemon product opening, the first impression matters a lot. Chinese products often have the reputation of being cheap and feeling like it too. That isn’t the case with the Pokemon 30th Celebration boxes, though. They come in a nice white cardboard box, with lonely artwork all around.
You might wonder why these would be individual cardboard boxes, as there is only 1 card inside each? The reason for that is twofold:
- Each box comes with a sturdy stand to place the starter Pokemon card in (including a kickstand)
- There is a five-pack booster pack inside every cardboard box. The pack is of the Brilliant Illusions set.
As such, you get a booster pack, a stand, and the starter pokemon card for a very affordable price. There is no reason to forego this product – in my opinion – if you are chasing cards from this set or just want an affordable and fun Pokemon product opening experience.
Starter Pokemon Card Distribution
As one would expect when ordering 10 of these Chinese Pokemon 30th Celebration boxes, chances of getting duplicate starters is pretty high. During my openings, I acquired SIX unique cards (Litten. Poplio, Rowlet, Charmander, Squirtle, and Piplup). A pretty good haul, as I really wanted the Piplup, I do like Rowlet and Charmander, and Squirtle, and Litten is pretty cute!
On the other hand, I got a total of 3 Poplio cards, and a Squirtle AND Litten duplicate. so a 40% duplicate is quite steep, but thankfully, the overall outcome was still in my favor. Hitting 3 duplicates in the first 6 boxes did not feel great, though, but this is always a possibility.
Would I buy Chinese Pokemon 30th Celebration products again?
Honestly, yes and no. No, because I do not need any of the other 3 cards badly enough to warrant hitting another handful of duplicates (or more) before getting one of those cards. Yes, because it is a very fun product to open, and if they add more starters – or do a series 2 of the Chinese Pokemon 30th Celebration product, I would take my chances.
The addition of the booster pack makes this opening more fun, even if you hit a duplicate starter Pokemon card. There are five other cards you get, which means five new artworks. Curiously, I only got 1 EX card from the 10 booster packs. However, I did acquire a handful of pokeball-stamped cards, including a very cute Horsea.
To the best of my knowledge, those Pokeball-stamped versions are NOT unique to China’s Brilliant Illusions set. But they were so frequent it always felt like you were getting a little bonus from these packs.
Value-wise, I can’t knock the Chinese Pokemon 30th Anniversary product. Even at local store prices, it is more than worth the money, as these cards hold a value between 6-30 euro each. Even if you hit a low-value card, there is the added booster pack to recover some value.
But more importantly, you get a lot of fun and a lot of art with these boxes. That is what matters most to me.
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