The most fun drop of the 30th anniversary year might not be a card at all. Santa Cruz opened its Pokémon TCG blind bag deck collection today, and every bag holds one full size skateboard deck printed with the artwork of an original Pokémon card.
There are 30 deck designs, one for every year of the card game. The lineup runs from the Base Set starters Venusaur, Charizard, and Blastoise through Rocket's Mewtwo ex and Lugia EX, all the way to modern hits like the Umbreon V from Evolving Skies that collectors call the Moonbreon, plus Pikachu ex and Dragapult ex. Each deck takes the full card as its centerpiece and builds the rest of the graphic around the Energy type of that card.
The chase is gold
Hidden in the run are three glitter gold foil chase decks built from collages of cards pulled from international releases of the game. Only 500 of each gold design exist worldwide, and because every bag is sealed, nobody knows what they pulled until the bag opens. Every bag also carries a limited Player's Guide booklet that pictures all 30 standard designs.
The collection reaches past the decks too, with apparel and griptape carrying the same anniversary artwork. Santa Cruz ran a first version of this idea in 2023 with 20 character decks, and the hardest gold boards from that drop became the hunt. This round is bigger, and it is aimed straight at card collectors.
Honestly this is the anniversary done right. It takes the exact feeling of ripping a pack and moves it to a board you can hang on a wall. The bags opened today at 9 AM Eastern and 6 AM Pacific at skate shops and online, and the gold chases are the ones that will move first.