At the time of this post, it is Pokemon’s 20th anniversary! I cannot believe how quickly time flies. It feels like only a few years ago I was playing on my Game Boy fighting pokemon and collecting badges. I used to be absolutely obsessed with Pokemon and I can remember my mom letting me have an afternoon off school so I could be the first person among my friends to see the movie. Pikachu was always my favourite pokemon and I was that nerdy kid at school who walked around with a Pikachu plushie backpack….how embarassing.
As a toy collector, when I saw the release of these 20th anniversary toys and sets, I knew I had to have them. Now because I’m quite old school, I’m only familiar with the first generation Pokemon and I’m not too fussed about purchasing any of the newer Pokemon toys or sets because they don’t have any special meaning for me. I was eyeing the 20th Anniversary Pikachu 4 Figure Packs but then I stumbled across this Clip ‘n’ Carry Pikachu and Poke Ball set, which I thought was absolutely perfect. A happy Pikachu figure and an open red and white Poke Ball are the two classic Pokemon icons that I want to include in my toy collection.
Now in terms of the quality of the toys and the packaging, I am very impressed. The gold limited edition 20th anniversary packaging is absolutely perfect and I love the gold Pikachu artwork on the front. The golden 20 on the front even has a Pikachu silhouette in the zero, which I think is a really nice touch. The back of the package also has an image of a Pikachu ready for battle and provides a brief description of Pikachu’s powers and rosy cheeks. The figure itself is very well made and detailed, and has a nice shiny finish to show how special it is. I like that the Poke Ball was left open in the packaging and placed in such a way that makes it look like Pikachu is about to go back into it’s Poke Ball. The Poke Ball has a flat base so if you decided to take the figure and Poke Ball out, it would stand on it’s own without any issues and you could place your Pikachu inside. I do wish the Poke Ball wasn’t a clip and carry toy and was more of a higher quality replica. The upside is that because it is not a higher quality replica, the cost remains quite low at £12.99 in the UK and $14.99 in the US, but still looks great for collectors.
If you’re a Pokemon fan, regardless of generation preference, this is a great piece for any toy collection. It would also be great to play with because you could carry around your Poke Ball like a true trainer with your Pikachu stored safely inside. As this is a limited edition set, I would reccomend keeping these in their original packaging as they look great on display. Of course if you want to take it out and play with it, I imagine it would be a whole lot of fun catching a rare, shiny Pikachu in your Poke Ball. While there are a lot of nice 20th anniversary sets, I think this is a classic must-have <3