Pokémon Fans Can't Agree On New Pikachu Exclusive Promo Card

5 days ago 8

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A new promo card with novel artwork of franchise mascot Pikachu is coming to the Pokémon Trading Card Game, but fans are so far divided on it.

The Natural History Museum in London is teaming up with the TCG to host a pop-up shop, where fans can acquire a new Pikachu promo card "as a gift with purchase" of a themed product. The collaboration's theme is "Pokécology," which "reflects the brands' shared fascination for and focus on the natural world and its creatures, from their evolution to their environment." New Pikachu artwork adorns the promo card, but excitement for it has been dampened by it being "oversize;" i.e., a jumbo card.

The jumbo Pikachu promo card comes with a purchase of another themed product from the Natural History Museum's Cranbourne Boutique pop-up shop, which will operate from January 26 to April 19, 2026. Time slots to visit the pop-up have already been filled, even after the event was extended, and walk-ins will not be possible.

Much of the merchandise will also be purchasable online, beginning January 26, while supplies last. A slightly later supply of the merchandise will be offered from Pokémon Center, the official franchise web store, starting in February. The Pokémon Cener's offerings do not include the promo card, though; starting January 30, select retailers in the UK will be selling the jumbo Pikachu at the Museum card.

Brand-new artwork titled Pikachu at the Museum is featured on the promo card. It shows Pikachu inside London's Natural History Museum with fossilized dinosaur skeletons in the background. The pop-up and its products are inspired by the book, Pokécology: An Illustrated Guide to Pokémon Ecology, which has encouraged a scientific approach to studying the fictional creatures, and similarly inspired real-life Pokémon fossil musuems.

Fans Are Split Over Whether It's A Cool Card Or Not

Pokémon Trading Card Game card called Pikachu at the Museum, showing Pikachu in the halls of the Natural History Museum in London.

New Pikachu promo cards for the TCG are often highly sought after, and can even become incredibly expensive on second-hand markets, but jumbo cards are a different matter. Because of their non-standard size, jumbo cards are not legal in Pokémon TCG tournaments, and while effectiveness in play doesn't necessarily correlate to value, many fans lose interest in promo cards that aren't standard. Replies on the tweet above show the gamut of reactions, from excitement over a new Pikachu promo to immediate disappointment at it being a jumbo card.

For those interested, the good news is that the Pikachu at the Museum card being oversized means demand will be lower than a standard-size promo, and thus relatively easier to obtain. It also means there's little chance of repeating the Van Gogh Pikachu debacle from a couple of years ago. Pikachu is one of the most recognizable and beloved characters in the world, so new Pokémon TCG cards of the mascot are typically revealed to great interest – just less so when it happens to be a jumbo card.