#SeriousFun

Pokemon is turning 26 on February the 27th! Pokemon started back in 1996 and does not look like it is stopping anytime soon, with the last game ‘Pokémon Legends: Arceus’ released only a month ago.

Pokémon was invented by a Japanese man named Satoshi Tajiri and his friend Ken Sugimori. Our love for Pokemon started off with the incredible Nintendo game! This game was inspired by the childhood of Satoshi where he explored forests to find bugs and tadpoles. Originally called Pocket Monsters, this game was picked up by Nintendo who changed the name to Pokemon. Did you know there are now 100’s of different Pokemon games?

The next stage on our Pokemon journey was with the release of the Pokémon Trading Card Game (or TCG for short). The first set of cards were released on October 20,1996, which included 102 cards with drawings by Ken Sugimori, Mitsuhrio Arita and Keiji Kinebuchi.

3 years later in 1999, they were introduced to North America and then shortly after, to the rest of the world. Since then, thousands of Pokemon card tournaments have taken place and there is even a world championship tournament. Over 30 billion cards have been printed including various rare and hard to find cards.To find these cards is a collectors' dream with many collectors willing to pay 100,000's of dollars to catch these rare cards. Here is a seriously fun fact! The most expensive card to sell at an auction was the first edition holographic shadowless Charizard card which sold for $369,000 in 2020. (AUD$480,000)

In 1997, Pokemon was turned into an animated TV series in Japan. This TV series followed the story of a boy named Ash Ketchium, who sets off on a journey to become a Pokemon master with his companion Pokemon Pikachu. There are currently 24 seasons in the Pokemon series with 1000’s and 1000’s of episodes.

In 2019, Ash finally beat the Alola Pokemon League and became the Pokemon Master in both the Sun and Moon series. Here is another Seriously Fun Fact! Pikachu got his name from the sound that Japanese people say electrical sparks make, “Pika”, and “Chu”, the sound a mouse makes. Due to the huge success of the TV series, a Pokemon Movie was released in Japan one year later. Since this massive hit, there have been numerous Pokemon movies including a live action movie titled ‘Detective Pikachu’ which stars Ryan Reynolds.

The next stage of our Pokemon journey was in 2016 when Pokemon GO was released causing shock waves around the world. This game allowed us to explore the Pokemon world in our own backyard by using satellite and augmented reality technology to enable players to find and catch Pokemon. Pokemon GO reached over 1 billion downloads. As technology develops, we cannot wait for the next Pokemon innovation.

At Hobbyco, we still continue to love Pokemon to this very day and we plan to celebrate Pokemon Day in full effect!

Pokemon Day provides a great opportunity to watch the series and movies, play the games, and build your very own Pokemon. Why not make a day or night of it? There are many ways to celebrate Pokemon Day, whether you invite friends or family or ride solo. This could mean a dinner night, a party, a game night, a modelling event or a solo hardcore night of gaming and building!

To help celebrate Pokemon Day, why not check out our entire Pokemon range! We have a large selection of Pokemon products from Model Kits to Nanoblocks and even cards.

Our Pokemon model kits from Bandai are fun to build and make for an awesome display for your desk or your home. These model kits are perfect for all levels of Model Kit builders, even beginners. Catch them all!

We even have Nanoblock Pokemon. These sets have tiny solid bricks which make building your Pokemon more challenging, and most importantly entertaining! These little bricks provide a more detailed finish to make sure your Pokemon looks more realistic. Starting at $14.99, Pokemon Nanoblocks are worth catching! From Pichaku to Snorlax, we have all your favourites.

You cannot mention Pokemon without bringing out the much beloved Pokemon cards. Currently, all our Pokemon cards are on sale, so catch them all before they run away.

Don’t let Pokemon Day go to waste.

#SeriouslyFunFact

One of the makers of Pokemon, Satoshi Tajiri, loved bugs so much that when he was younger, he wanted to be an Entomologist - a person who studies bugs. His passion earned him the nickname 'Dr. Bug' from his friends.

#SeriouslyFunPokemonDay

If you have any questions please message us on Facebook or call us on 02 9286 7300.

• Free Shipping on Orders Over $99 or $9.50 Nationwide* T&Cs Apply. Excludes Large Orders & Bulky Items.
• Shop now and pay later with Afterpay or Zip pay.