Simplified Chinese Pokémon Cards: A UK Collector's Guide
The Charizard Collector's Figure Box. Mainland China only, which is a bit of a shame.
On 16 September — the same day 30th Celebration launches everywhere else — mainland China quietly gets two things nobody else does. A Charizard Collector's Figure Box with a jumbo holographic Charizard in it, and a thirteen-figure Pikachu set with a secret rare sitting at roughly one in 143.
Which is the short answer to why Simplified Chinese Pokémon has gone from oddity to something people ask us about most weeks. It's official, licensed Pokémon. It just isn't printed for us. And some of the nicest things in it never leave the region at all.
The two China exclusives, 16 September
- Charizard Collector's Figure Box — 780 yuan. A sculpted Charizard taken from Mitsuhiro Arita's artwork, a jumbo holographic Charizard card from 30th Celebration, and 15 booster packs.
- Artistic Touch: 30th Anniversary Pikachu Figure Set — 88 yuan. One of 13 Pikachu figures, each matched to a Pikachu card artwork from the set, with its holo card, a stand and a booster pack. Eight designs shown so far, and a secret rare thirteenth at about one in 143.
The jumbo holo Charizard, and the figure it comes with. Arita's artwork, in three dimensions.
Right, what actually is it?
This is the bit people worry about, so let's get it out of the way first. It's the official Pokémon Trading Card Game, licensed and printed for the mainland Chinese market. Not a knock-off. Not a proxy. Not a fan project. Same artwork you already know and love, with Simplified Chinese text and its own set structure.
Where it goes its own way is in how sets get built. China gets its own compilations, its own release order, and formats that simply don't exist here — jumbo packs, slim boxes, briefcase gift sets, coin sets. That's the appeal for most people who fall down this particular hole: familiar art turning up in packaging you've never seen before.
Making sense of those set codes
They look like nonsense until somebody points at the pattern, and then you can't unsee it. The trailing C means Simplified Chinese. The rest tells you which set. Honestly, that's it — there's no deeper secret.
| Code | Set |
|---|---|
| CSV10C | Chasing Glory Together |
| CSV9C | Stellar Crystal |
| CSV5C | Dark Crystal Blaze |
| CS4aC | Nine Colours Gathering |
| 151C | 151 Hope and 151 Gathering |
| CBB6C | Gem Pack Vol. 6 |
Why people here have taken to it
Some of it just doesn't exist in English. There's no English Team Rocket briefcase gift set to buy instead. No English Eevee premium gift box. If you want one, this is the only door in.
It's a gentler way in. A slim booster box sits at a fraction of what an English booster box costs, which makes it a far friendlier way to open a proper pile of cards on a wet Tuesday evening.
Barely any of it reaches us. Very little gets imported into the UK in real quantity, so sealed product doesn't hang about once it arrives. That scarcity is doing to Chinese sealed now roughly what it did to Japanese sealed a decade ago. Make of that what you will — we're not in the business of telling anyone their cards are an investment.
One honest caveat, because you'd rather hear it now than later. Simplified Chinese cards aren't legal in official English-language tournament play. If you're putting a deck together for a Regional or your local League, buy English. This is collecting and opening territory — wonderful for that, no use whatsoever for competing.
What to check before you part with any money
Buy from someone who'll happily tell you where it came from. There's more counterfeit product drifting round the Chinese market than the English one, and the tells — print quality, wrapper seams, the weight of a box in your hand — aren't remotely obvious when it's your first. If a seller gets vague about which distributor a box came through, there's your answer. Say thanks and go elsewhere.
Buying with grading in mind? Have a quick look at your grading company's current policy on Simplified Chinese cards before anything goes in an envelope. Policies on non-English cards shift about, and two minutes now saves a proper sinking feeling later.
And sleeve them. Please. Chinese sets love a textured or foil treatment and those things mark if you look at them wrong — a card scuffed in its first week is a card you'll be quietly annoyed about for years.
Where we'd start you off
Never opened any of it? Start small. A slim booster box or a jumbo pack rather than launching straight at a full box. You'll know within about ten minutes whether the art treatments and the format do it for you, and you'll have found out for roughly the price of a takeaway rather than three figures.
Worth flagging that the English 30th Celebration set turns up the same day as those two Chinese exclusives, so 16 September is a busy old date however you collect. We've set out every product and date in our 30th Celebration release date guide.
Common questions
Are Simplified Chinese Pokémon cards real?
Properly real, yes — officially licensed Pokémon Trading Card Game product, printed and distributed for the mainland Chinese market. Counterfeits exist, exactly as they do for English cards, which is why buying somewhere that can tell you its sourcing is worth doing.
Can I use them in tournaments?
Not in official English-language events, sorry. They're for collecting and opening. If you need cards to actually compete with, go English.
Are they cheaper than English cards?
Sealed usually works out less per pack, though the exclusive gift sets and premium boxes sit right at the top end and then some. So: a cheaper way to open cards, not necessarily a cheaper way to end up owning one particular card.
Will the China 30th anniversary products come to the UK?
Both the Charizard Collector's Figure Box and the Artistic Touch Pikachu Figure Set are announced for China only. Region exclusives do sometimes drift west through importers, but there's no English release for either, so we wouldn't sit around waiting for one.
Quick note on packs: contents are randomised, so cards vary pack to pack and no specific card — including anything pictured or mentioned above — is ever guaranteed. Yuan figures are the announced Chinese retail prices and aren't a guide to UK pricing. Product renders and card images are © The Pokémon Company International, Nintendo and Creatures Inc., shown here for editorial purposes. We're an independent shop and aren't affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by The Pokémon Company.