Celebrate 30 Years of Pokemon with the “First Partner Illustration Collection”
I’m starting to get the feeling that the Pokemon Company really wasn’t joking when they said that its 30th anniversary year in 2026 would be its biggest yet. The excitement is already quite high. First, I leaked the news of a Pokemon 30th anniversary collaboration between Pokemon and McDonald’s. Next, Pokemon released an intriguing new logo via an animated video that hinted at big things to come for the entire Pokemon franchise in 2026. Now, and most recently, the Pokemon TCG community is once again on high alert thanks to the leaked images of an upcoming special “First Partner Illustration Collection” that will release throughout 2026, beginning in March of 2026.
First Partner Illustration Collection features starters from Kanto, Sinnoh, and Alola
Not to be confused with the First Partners Deluxe Pin Collection which is a product that will be released as part of the Ascended Hereos set, the First Partner Illustration Collection is decidedly part of this growing line of products specifically to do with Pokemon’s 30th. Comprised of two Pokemon TCG booster packs, one sticker sheet for the kiddos, and the real money item which is the special “First Partner Illustration Collection” series one booster pack which contains three of nine yet-to-be-revealed promo cards.
Although we don’t know what these cards will look like, the Illustration Collection implies that each of the cards featuring the nine starters from Kanto, Sinnoh, and Alola will be Illustration Rare grade, similar to the kind of artwork quality we saw in recent sets like the Black Bolt/White Flare Victini Illustration Collection.
While “Series 1” will release in the first quarter of 2026, additional series are rumored to be releasing later in the year featuring the remaining generations.
As fun as all of this sounds, the real draw for these products that will likely lead to some pretty incredible demand in their early days will be their potential value.
25th Anniversary “First Partner Packs” are worth some serious cash
More hardened Pokemon TCG collectors won’t have missed the fact that – despite the jumbo cards themselves not being worth much – the very similarly themed “First partner Packs” released during the Pokemon TCG’s 25th anniversary celebrations today are worth a lot of money so long as they are sealed.
The 25th anniversary “First Partner Packs” go for around $40 on TCGPlayer
Indeed, I remember these packs well as Celebrations is one of my personal favorite Pokemon TCG sets to date. Indeed, I have both the jumbo cards from these “First Partner Packs” as well as the complete Celebrations master set comprised of every single card released as part of the set.
A behind the scenes look into my personal Pokemon TCG: Celebrations master set.
As crazy as it might seem, the 25th anniversary’s “First Partner” packs fetch a very high value on the secondary card market: currently $40 per pack. That’s an insanely high number that no doubt is being drive to new heights given all the current hype around the Pokemon TCG 30th anniversary.
Yet, the “First Partner Illustration Collection” packs have potential to be worth even more than that given those cards include standard-size Pokemon TCG promos to collect – something which will be a clear advantage over their 25th anniversary predecessors. After all, most collectors prefer standard Pokemon cards with jumbo cards seen as fun but more niche.
Clearly the Pokemon Company is pulling out all the stops for their TCG products in 2026. Rumors are even circulating about a potential 30th Celebrations set coming to Japan in 2026. This would be very similar to the Pokemon TCG Celebrations set that released back in 2021 and contained such hits as legendary cards from the Pokemon TCG base set like Charizard, reprinted with the very cute 25th anniversary Pikachu logo.
Pokemon 25th Anniversary Celebrations set featured reprints from the base set
I would love to see a special set similar to 2021’s Celebrations released in 2026. Although part of me trembles just a little as I speculate on how epic such a set would be given just how extraordinary the Pokemon TCG has been as of late.
