The most interesting Pokémon collectible announced today is not a card at all. Fender and Pokémon Center have built two full electric guitars around the choice that started the franchise in Japan in 1996 and they have priced and gated them like a grail. That combination is the story. A famous instrument maker is treating Red and Green as display worthy history while Pokémon Center is treating the guitars as scarce anniversary stock that has to be won before it can be bought.
Fender announced both models on October 30 in Japan in collaboration with Pokémon Center for the 30th anniversary of Pokémon. The Red model is a Stratocaster and the Green model is a Telecaster and both carry Made in Japan in the official product names. Each body carries bold pixel art drawn from its game and each pickguard uses a pixel motif that can look fluorescent as the viewing angle changes. A pixel style logo made for the anniversary is engraved on the neck plate of both models.
Two guitars and two different sounds
The shared art hides a real split under the surface. Fender built a custom single coil pickup set for each model instead of giving both guitars the same electronics. The Red Stratocaster set uses a higher output design that Fender describes as powerful and focused. The Green Telecaster set uses a balanced output design with the clear and sharp high end that players expect from that body shape. A buyer is therefore choosing a playing style at the same moment they choose a game version and that mirrors the choice framing Pokémon Center is using for this anniversary.
Both models share the feature collectors will talk about most. Fender calls it the 8 Bit Sound System. Pressing the volume knob adds an electronic 8 bit layer over the normal guitar output and the sound is meant to recall the music of Red and Green. Pokémon Center Online hosts audio samples of the system on its product page so buyers can hear the effect before they enter for either guitar.
Each guitar arrives with a dedicated hard case and a certificate and a special tin holding 11 picks. Ten picks carry pixel art Pokémon designs and the final pick carries the 30th anniversary logo. Those small pieces matter for collectors because the full set will be what future buyers look for if these guitars ever reach the resale market in used condition.
The Japan lottery is the gate
In Japan each guitar costs ¥396,000 with tax included and Essential Japan puts that figure at about $2,518. There is no open sale date to circle. Pokémon Center Online in Japan will take lottery applications from noon on November 19 through the afternoon of November 24 and entry needs a registered account with phone number verification. Pokémon Center says the details of the result announcement will come later on the same store. Essential Japan notes that the phone number verification step makes the Japan route very hard to use from outside Japan.
What the United States has been promised so far
The United States announcement is thinner and it should not be merged with the Japan plan. The official Pokémon Center channel on YouTube says both guitars are coming soon to Pokémon Center for preorder and tells fans to stay tuned. It gives no United States price and no preorder date and Nintendo Life reports the launch itself sits at some point next year. Until Pokémon Center publishes a United States listing the only firm price and the only firm buying window in this story are the Japan ones above.
Why this matters beyond guitars
Pokémon has spent its anniversary year putting its earliest games on cards and on skateboard decks and on store shelves and a guitar is a step into a different kind of collection entirely. Instruments get played and wear in ways sealed cards never do so condition and completeness will carry real weight if a secondary market forms. That part is our read of the category and not a promise about prices. What to watch next is concrete. Watch for the lottery result details in Japan and for a United States listing with its own price and date and treat any listing that borrows the Japan price as a conversion as a guess until Pokémon Center confirms it.