As the 30th anniversary of Pokémon ramps up, a new wave of nostalgic toys and merchandise will be hitting shelves soon, and I, for one, can’t wait to expand my collection.
Some of the most exciting Pokémon 30th anniversary merch that has been revealed thus far includes toys and products that throw things back to the nostalgic early days of ‘90s-era Pokémon, back when we played Pokémon Red or Blue on Game Boy under the covers late on school nights so our parents wouldn’t hear us.
A newly unveiled Pikachu plush captures the thrill of that relatable childhood scenario, bringing to life the monochrome, pixelated, rotund original Pikachu sprite from the first handheld games in huggable, snuggable form.
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The aptly named, comfortingly chonky “Pikachu of Beginnings” plush is now available to purchase for roughly $25 USD from the Japanese Pokémon Center website. It’s unclear as of publishing if the toy will make its way to the U.S. Pokémon Center website or American stores, but hey, there’s always eBay!
In addition to the plush, there’s also a plush keychain (called a mascot in Japan) featuring a much smaller, cleverly flattened version of the toy, too.
But nostalgia is a huge part of the appeal when it comes to Pokémon — at least, for OG fans who’ve been around for a few decades — and this throwback stuffed Pikachu is hardly the only 30th anniversary merch featuring a callback to the original Game Boy games.
Now available on the U.S. Pokémon Center website, a new anniversary collection called “Opening Scene” pays tribute to — you guessed it — the opening scene of Pokémon Red and Blue (or Green in Japan) when Gengar and Nidorino battle it out as that iconic 8-bit theme music plays.
As previewed at New York Toy Fair earlier this month, a Pokémon TCG play mat features the scene in retro monochrome, as does a new Pokémon card deck box. It’s all very nostalgic to see how far Pokémon’s original video game sprites have come since the first games were released in the U.S. in 1998.
Created by Satoshi Tajiri, Pokémon was officially launched in Japan (where it was called Pocket Monsters) in 1996 with a series of Game Boy games alongside a manga and trading card game. With the ever-adorable yellow Pikachu as its mascot, the IP became an overnight sensation both in Japan and abroad, and eventually transformed into a massive multimedia franchise complete with toys, clothing, collectibles, spinoff games, food and drink collaborations, and its own hit anime, among countless other products.
Over three decades, Pokémon, which started with just 151 creatures, has evolved with its fans, and is beloved both by those who first got into it back in the late ‘90s as well as young gamers and collectors just getting into the hobby today. As of February 2026, there are a whopping 1,025 Pokémon, but millions of fans worldwide.
