{"id":262111,"date":"2024-05-23T17:30:26","date_gmt":"2024-05-23T09:30:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/snkrdunk.com\/en\/magazine\/?p=262111"},"modified":"2024-05-23T17:30:27","modified_gmt":"2024-05-23T09:30:27","slug":"peak-pokemania-pokemon-and-the-pokemon-tcg-in-the-1st-generation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/snkrdunk.com\/en\/magazine\/2024\/05\/23\/peak-pokemania-pokemon-and-the-pokemon-tcg-in-the-1st-generation\/","title":{"rendered":"Peak Pok\u00e9mania: Pok\u00e9mon and the Pok\u00e9mon TCG in the 1st Generation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In June 2023, Creatures Inc. released Pok\u00e9mon TCG set Pok\u00e9mon Card 151 [SV2a]<\/a>, the first set in the history of the Pok\u00e9mon TCG to contain every single Pok\u00e9mon from its first generation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The set\u2019s popularity went through the roof\u2014even as subsequent sets continued to be released, none even came close to the buzz surrounding Pok\u00e9mon Card 151 [SV2a]. Such was the status of this set among the Pok\u00e9mon TCG that when it was announced that a reprint of Pok\u00e9mon Card 151 [SV2a]<\/a> would be on its way in May 2024 (eventually arriving ahead of schedule in April 2024), that announcement overshadowed just about everything before it or since.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Demand for cards from Pok\u00e9mon Card 151 [SV2a] hasn\u2019t stopped. It\u2019s clear that this is a truly special set\u2014one which has captured the nostalgia of more than a quarter of a century ago and used it to reach a level of appeal that has almost never been seen with any Pok\u00e9mon TCG set ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than that, actually\u2014what are \u201ctruly special\u201d are the original 151 first-generation \u2018mons and the place within Pok\u00e9mon\u2019s fanbase that they occupy. \u201cBut why?\u201d you may ask. \u201cThere are over a thousand Pok\u00e9mon today\u2014what is it about the Gen 1 Pok\u00e9mon that none of the others have?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pok\u00e9mon in the Gen 1 Days<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Pok\u00e9mon<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Well, to answer that question, we\u2019re going to have to go all the way back to the years 1996 to 1999\u2014the Gen 1 era of the Pok\u00e9mon franchise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the Pok\u00e9mon Red and Green video games were first released in Japan all the way back in 1996, almost no one could have foreseen the phenomenon that would spawn from them. Pok\u00e9mon mania swept Japan and subsequently the world in almost no time at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the mid- to late \u201890s, Pok\u00e9mon was so much more than just a video game, anime, TCG, or manga franchise. It was an inescapable cultural phenomenon. Just about everyone had some level of interest in Pok\u00e9mon due to its unmatched cultural impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Pok\u00e9mon<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For example, when walking into any public area, one would almost be guaranteed to see someone playing one of the Pok\u00e9mon video games, wearing Pok\u00e9mon clothing, or even buying Pok\u00e9mon-related merchandise\u2014even unofficial ones or outright knock-offs made purely to capitalize on the buzz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To put into perspective just how massive Pok\u00e9mania was during the Gen 1 days, think about how truly massive the entire Pok\u00e9mon franchise is today, then realize that even all of this is after a steep decline in sheer hype and general popularity compared to the peak years of back then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pok\u00e9mon\u2019s cultural impact even extended to fan theories. Even today, people still speak fondly of their memories of trying to catch Missingno or Pikablu in the video games, for example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Part of the reason why Pok\u00e9mon could have the impact that it did during those years was the fact that it was before the social media era. Although social media has enabled lesser-known brands and franchises to advertise themselves and establish a foothold in the public consciousness, it\u2019s now much more difficult for the big names to dominate in the way they once did because social media allows for personal curation of media that interests the user in question, thus splintering the pop culture landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, since there was no social media in the Gen 1 era, Pok\u00e9mon\u2019s early success was able to rapidly snowball and become an all-conquering pop culture behemoth\u2014and that\u2019s another major reason why the Gen 1 days are associated with so much nostalgia today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Pok\u00e9mon TCG in the Gen 1 Days<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Pok\u00e9mon<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This, of course, meant that conditions were ideal for the Pok\u00e9mon TCG to make an enormous impact upon its launch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arriving less than a year after the debut of the smash-hit video games, the Pok\u00e9mon TCG debuted with a set simply known as \u201cExpansion Pack\u201d in October 1996. Containing 102 cards in total, Expansion Pack was a resounding success right from the jump. Boxes, decks, booster packs, and single cards flew off shelves at an incredible pace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Five more sets would follow before the end of the first generation: Pok\u00e9mon Jungle in March 1997, Mystery of the Fossils in June 1997, Rocket Gang in November 1997, Leaders\u2019 Stadium in October 1998, and Challenge from the Darkness in June 1999. As was expected, every single one of those sets launched to much fanfare\u2014after all, Pok\u00e9mon mania in all its facets (including the TCG) was in full swing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Pok\u00e9mon<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As new sets came in and more cards were printed, the first wave of Pok\u00e9mon TCG collectors started to develop their albums. Back in the Gen 1 days, there were generally only four card rarities: Common, Uncommon, Rare, and Holographic Rare. However, there was exactly one card in the entire generation with a rarity that was literally off the scale: the Here Comes Team Rocket card from Rocket Gang which came in the rarity of Holographic Super Rare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That being said, from a financial perspective, so iconic were countless other cards from the first generation that the Holographic Super Rare Here Comes Team Rocket card doesn\u2019t even come close to breaking the top tier in terms of card cost. Almost all the highest-value cards from Gen 1 come from the original Expansion Pack\u2014understandable given the set\u2019s pioneering status. Peak-condition versions of Expansion Pack\u2019s Chansey (~US$550), Zapdos (~US$560), Blastoise (~US$580), Mewtwo (~US$600), Venusaur (~US$749), and of course, Charizard (~US$1,126) top the rankings and still figure among the most valuable and iconic Pok\u00e9mon TCG cards almost three decades later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s interesting about Pok\u00e9mon TCG during the Gen 1 days is the fact that it wasn\u2019t until almost the end of the generation\u2014in February 1999\u2014when the Pok\u00e9mon TCG was finally officially released internationally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Somewhat ironically, this delay augmented its status in many fans\u2019 eyes. For more than two years, rumors about the cards abounded. Remember, this was pre-social media, so for many who had never been to Japan and seen the cards in person, the Gen 1 Pok\u00e9mon TCG was shrouded in mystery for more than two years. Thus, when it was finally released abroad, the hype was at an all-time fever pitch, catapulting the popularity of the already booming Pok\u00e9mon franchise into the stratosphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taking all of this information into account, it\u2019s completely understandable as to why Pok\u00e9mon Card 151 [SV2a] became the massive hit that it did. It\u2019s more than nostalgia alone\u2014the Gen 1 era was truly a special time in the history of Pok\u00e9mon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While it\u2019s true that newer Pok\u00e9mon fans may deride so-called \u201cGenwunners\u201d who prop up the first generation at the expense of all others after it, there are reasons why subsequent generations don\u2019t have such fervent defenders. The pop culture landscape in general at the time was ready for such a phenomenon to take place\u2014and Pok\u00e9mon delivered and then some, laying the groundwork for what would eventually become the single biggest media franchise of all time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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For the latest releases, breaking news, and exclusive interviews, stay tuned to the\u00a0SNKRDUNK Magazine<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0@snkrdunk<\/a>\u00a0on Instagram. Explore the\u00a0SNKRDUNK App<\/a>\u00a0too and don\u2019t forget to use our welcome code from the banner below before making your first purchase. Additionally, if you would like to try a pair out,\u00a0visit our stores<\/a>\u00a0in Singapore and Japan!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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More SNKRDUNK Features:<\/strong>
The Story of Pok\u00e9mon Card 151 [SV2a]: How An Epic Pok\u00e9mon TCG Set Came to Be<\/a>
[TCG Throwback] Yu-Gi-Oh TCG Rising Rampage<\/a>
Not \u201cJust Another Pok\u00e9mon TCG Set\u201d: Why Pok\u00e9mon Card 151 [SV2a] Matters<\/a>
Better Than Heavy-Duty Boots: Top 8 Pok\u00e9mon Collaborations Since 2016<\/a>
[SNKRDUNK Selects] Best TCG Products To Buy Now (April 2024)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In June 2023, Creatures Inc. released Pok\u00e9mon TCG set Pok\u00e9mon Card 151 [SV2a], the first set in the history of the Pok\u00e9mon TCG to contain every single Pok\u00e9mon from its first generation. The set\u2019s popularity went through the roof\u2014even as subsequent sets continued to be released, none even came close to the buzz surrounding Pok\u00e9mon […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":262120,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,43,20,18,49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-262111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-brands","category-collectibles","category-features","category-latest-news","category-tcg"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/snkrdunk.com\/en\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262111"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/snkrdunk.com\/en\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/snkrdunk.com\/en\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snkrdunk.com\/en\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snkrdunk.com\/en\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=262111"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/snkrdunk.com\/en\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262111\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":262422,"href":"https:\/\/snkrdunk.com\/en\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262111\/revisions\/262422"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snkrdunk.com\/en\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/262120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/snkrdunk.com\/en\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=262111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snkrdunk.com\/en\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=262111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snkrdunk.com\/en\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=262111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}