When did Pokemon Cards come out? (Pokemon TCG History)

Pokemon cards have been a global phenomenon for decades now. Starting in Japan and making Its way to the USA and beyond, these trading cards have been a source of entertainment for millions of people with over 52.9 billion cards sold to date. This is a guide to the history of Pokemon cards and when Pokemon cards came out.

Contents

• Milestones

• TCG Championship

• Peak in Popularity

• Release date

• Early History

• How many are there?

• Early Versions

When did Pokemon cards come out?

Pokemon cards came out on the 20th of October 1996 in Japan. The first set was named the 1st Starter & Expansion base set. Due to the previous success of the first Pocket Monster game which debuted on the 27th February 1996 for the Gameboy, the cards were a massive hit. In the USA the first introduction of Pokemon cards was in 1998 with the Pokemon Demo Game Plastic Pack. This came to the USA before the 1st Starter & Expansion Set did.

History of Pokemon Cards

After the success of the First Set. The Jungle Set, Fossil Set, Base Set 2 and Team Rocket Set were all early Pokemon sets released between June 16, 1999 and April 24, 2000. The release of Team Rocket concluded the first series named the Base Set Series. After the first series, the Pokemon TCG released Topps Chrome Series, Gym Heroes Series, Neo Genesis Series, e-Card series, EX Ruby & Sapphire Series and many more which are now worth unbelievable sums of money. Fast Forward to today, the newest series is Scarlet & Violet with sets like Paradox Rift, Obsidian Flames, Scarlet & Violet-151 and Paldea evolved.

How many Pokemon cards are there?

Since the release of Pokemon cards in 1996 with the first set having only 102 cards in both the English and Japanese versions there has been an unbelievable amount of love for these Pocket monsters. Now there are approximately 98 Pokemon Cards Sets and over 15,000 Pokemon Trading cards.

Early Types of Pokemon Cards

The main rarities of Pokemon cards were and still are common cards, uncommon cards, rare cards, ultra rare cards and Secret Rare cards. In the earliest sets the rarest cards were called Holo cards which had a shiny foil on the image of the Pokemon. Then in 2002, Legendary Collection introduced reverse holo cards. These cards have a shiny foil everywhere but the main Pokemon image. Then in the EX Ruby & Sapphire Series EX cards were introduced. Then in later sets some prominent versions and subsets of rarities that were introduced were ex, Gx, Pokemon Legend, LV.X, Pokemon Prime, Pokemon Star, Gold rare, Mega Ex, Rainbow rare, V, Vmax and Vstar Pokemon cards.

Pokemon Milestones

The Pokemon franchise has had many accomplishments and milestones. These include the introduction of the Pokemon series in 1997 which now has over 1000 episodes. And the beginning of Pokemon Go (a mobile game where players can walk with their devices to collect and battle Pokemon).

However, the Pokemon card franchise has achieved many milestones too. In 2021, the Pokemon TCG celebrated the 25th anniversary of the trading card game.

In 2022, the most expensive Pokemon card (Pikachu Illustrator) was sold at an auction for $6,000,000. Nearly 2 decades ago the first Pokemon World Championship was held and it's still more competitive than ever even in 2023. Lastly, this year the Pokemon TCG surpassed 50 Billion Cards!

Pokemon TCG Championships

The first Pokemon World Championship was organised in 2004 in Orlando, Florida. Organised by the Wizard of the Coast there were over 100 participants invited from across the world.

To enter, participants had to compete in local and regional tournaments to collect championship points. Since then there have been Championships held every year in countries like the UK, USA, Canada and Japan. With the most recent 2023 tournament being held in Yokohama, Japan.

When were Pokemon Cards most popular?

It’s hard to say when Pokemon Cards were the most popular due to the lack of concrete figures before 2017.

However, we do know that from March 2022 to March 2023 9.7 billion Pokemon cards were produced and sold. This is a massive amount and is the largest amount in at least 7 years. So It’s safe to say Pokemon cards are as popular as ever and will continue to grow in popularity going into 2024.

Conclusion

To conclude, Pokemon cards have evolved and grown in popularity since the first set in 1996! In over 25 years we’ve seen many new Pokemon, types of cards and way too many Charizard cards that are worth hundreds. The Pokemon TCG’s fanbase is growing and more cards will be sold going into 2024 following the record years of 2022 and 2023.

Want more?

This blog is a dedicated guide to all things Pokemon cards. From product reviews to the best and most expensive Pokemon cards, we've got you covered. My goal is to Introduce people to the amazing world of collecting Pokemon Cards. So feel free to check out some of our other posts below!