The Expensive Detail You Missed In Pokemon's 25 Years Of Memories
As part of the series' 25th anniversary, The Official Pokemon YouTube channel released an absolutely adorable "25 Years of Memories" video celebrating many of the series' achievements over the years. The footage featured a Rube Goldberg machine that had a Poke Ball causing a series of chain reactions in order to activate different parts of the machine. After the Poke Ball knocked over a domino row of Game Boy Color cartridges of Pokemon Red, Blue and Yellow, it caused another Poke Ball to land on a platform that revealed a brand new Pokemon Card that's being released for the series' 25th anniversary.
The new card is a shiny version of Charizard VMAX, an already existing card in the Pokemon Trading Card Game, with the card's stats and moves translated into English. The original Charizard VMAX was released as a part of the Darkness Ablaze expansion in mid 2020, alongside a Rainbow Rare version that made its debut not too long after. In Dec. 2020, a shiny variation of the card was produced and released exclusively in Japan. This is the same card that was featured in the trailer, and fans are already taking notice.
However, many might not realize just how rare and expensive this card has already become in Japan. The original Japanese shiny version of Charizard VMAX ranges from $300-$750 on Card Mavin, a website dedicated to the selling and trading of cards from various franchises. Only time will tell whether the North American version will eventually command such prices.
Ultra expensive Pokemon cards aren't out of the ordinary. Just last year, a YouTuber named Leonheart spent thousands of dollars on a Wizards of the Coast 1st Edition Base Set pack, and managed to pull an extremely rare card. The card was a 1st edition holographic Charizard, which has previously been sold at an astounding $55,000. However, he faced tragedy when he mailed his card out to get graded, and USPS claimed it had gone missing. Not to worry, he was eventually reunited with his card. Hopefully fans who purchase card packs that contain the shiny version of Charizard VMAX won't have a traumatic experience like Leonheart.
There hasn't been any confirmation as to when North America can expect the shiny Charizard VMAX to be distributed, and just how many cards will actually be made available. Even once the card releases, you might have better luck finding an actual shiny Pokemon. Regardless, fans of the Pokemon series who aren't willing to possibly dish out hundreds of dollars on a card can definitely look forward to other exciting Pokemon celebrations this year.