It’s that time of year again! Time to take a dive into this year’s Pokemon TCG advent calendar. In this review, we’ll be looking at what’s inside, and reviewing it based on how good of a purchase it is for you.

And although I review the Pokemon TCG Holiday Calendar every year, this year I had the added advantage of opening this with my son – which means I have the added benefit of getting a kid’s reaction to some of the stuff included in this set that is clearly aimed at younger Pokemon TCG collectors as well.

What’s included in the 2025 Pokemon TCG Advent Calendar?

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There’s quite a bit to get excited about in this year’s calendar. You can see all of the contents via the gallery below.

The Pokémon TCG: Holiday Calendar includes 25 surprises to discover:
• 8 foil Pokémon TCG cards with a festive stamp
• 6 Pokémon TCG booster packs
• 7 Pokémon TCG 3-card fun packs
• 2 Pokémon coins
• 2 Pokémon sticker sheets
• Plus, find a code card for Pokémon TCG Live!

Of course, the real fun about the Pokemon TCG advent calendar is opening up a different surprise and seeing what the day brings!

What’s changed since last year?

A couple of things have changed in this year’s calendar – one positive change and one negative change.

On the one hand, this year’s calendar includes two alternate art Illustration Rare cards as promos. This is a fantastic add and really ups the value you get out of the promos. It doesn’t hurt that both the Crabominable and the Vanillish alts are particularly gorgeous ones.

However, this year we did not get the cool Pokemon keychain we’re used to getting. I’m not sure what the reason for this change was, but I actually really liked that keychain and would have liked to see one included this year.

Pokemon TCG Advent Calendar Highlights

Apart from the fun of opening up a different surprise every day, the best thing about this year’s advent calendar are the assortment of five booster packs from the latest and greatest Pokemon sets like Destined Rivals and Journey Together (although Prismatic Evolutions is noticeably absent). If you buy the advent calendar on TCGPlayer, those five packs themselves are almost worth what you’ll pay for them. And that’s not counting the extra things you get like the promos and the unforgettable experience of a Pokemon advent countdown.

Assuming you buy this year’s advent calendar at TCGPlayer market price, then it’s certainly worth the money.

The Pokemon TCG Advent Calendar has gorgeous promos

Speaking of those promos, this year has some really gorgeous Pokemon promo cards, with the inclusion of two Illustration Rare alternate art cards that are otherwise very rare to pull from packs.

The Glaceon ex stamped promo is also a nice touch given it is from the acclaimed Prismatic Evolutions pack. However, it would have been nice if we’d gotten even just one Prismatic Evolutions booster included (although doing so might have caused too much scalping for these Holiday Calendars.

Did I pull anything good?

Yes! I pulled several solid cards from my Holiday Calendar, but the best was the Metagros IR from Temporal Forces (worth around $20).

The stickers were a big hit

Lastly, not only did my son love the experience of opening the Holiday Calendar slots and finding the prizes inside, he also thoroughly enjoyed the stickers we got with it – and started using them to decorate the gorgeous calendar itself with them. So even though we hardened and fully grown TCG collectors may not have a ton of use for these stickers, they’re a great fit for our younger trainers.

Pokemon TCG Advent Calendar Lowlights

That being said, it’s not like the advent calendar is the ultimate Pokemon TCG product. There are better products out there you could buy for a similar price. However, nothing celebrates the Christmas season quite like the Pokemon TCG advent calendars, which is why they remain immensely popular year after year.

Fun packs remain the biggest low for this product

If I could highlight one particular lowlight it would be the plethora of “Fun Packs” included in this product. If you don’t know what a “fun pack” is, they are basically packs filled with only reverse holo rare Pokemon at best.

While reverse holos can be cool, part of the fun of opening Pokemon booster packs is having the chance (no matter how slim) of pulling a valuable chase card. Fun packs totally remove that from the equation.

And before you can say “yeah but kids love ‘em!” – my son really wasn’t very into the fun packs either because even a small child like him can tell the difference between an exciting pull and the kind of stuff you get from these packs.

Perhaps some day the number of “fun packs” in this will diminish, or maybe even be replaced with something more enticing altogether.

The verdict

The verdict for the 2025 Pokemon TCG Advent Calendar is this – it’s a fantastic product especially if you plan on opening it with your kids. This product remains ideal for younger Pokemon collectors looking for a fun daily surprise as well as die-hard Pokemon fans who aren’t overly interested in opening packs for value but just want a fun Christmas-themed Pokemon TCG experience.

Meanwhile, hardened Pokemon collectors will undoubtedly be better served by one of the many other fantastic Pokemon TCG products out there.

Pokemon TCG Advent Calendar 2025 Review – Is It Worth It?