Pokémon TCG Is Breaking A 26-Year Tradition With New Twilight Masquerade Cards

Summary Special Gym stamps on English Pokémon cards are breaking a 26-year tradition.

To acquire these cards, players must attend a pre-release event in Southeast Asia.

The release may signal future availability in North America and other English markets.

Special promo cards from the Pokémon Trading Card Game will be available outside of Japan for the first time ever, breaking a 26-year-long tradition. The new Twilight Masquerade expansion box from the Scarlet & Violet series is hitting shelves later this month and fans are already excited about the cards they will be seeing. News of which Pokémon will get Secret Illustration Rares in Twilight Masquerade has already come out, and other potential cards have been leaked, leaving fans hoping the leaks are accurate.

According to PokéBeach, English promotional cards will be available in Southeast Asia with a special Gym stamp. These stamps had originally been seen only on the Japanese versions of the cards and were typically given out for the TCG's gym tournaments each month, but this year they are included on the English version of the cards. As exciting as this news is, there is a catch. It appears that in order to get these cards, players must attend a Twilight Masquerade pre-release event in Southeast Asia and nowhere else.

Related Pokémon TCG Leaks Reveal Four Surprising New ex Cards A new leak showed off some new ex cards set to release in the Pokémon Trading Card Game: Twilight Masquerade set late spring, including fan favorites.

Special Stamps Are Usually Only Available On Japanese Pokémon Cards

The English Printing Breaks A 26-Year Tradition

The pre-release availability is unfortunate news for collectors who were interested in adding these special Gym cards to their English collection. There are many people who collect both English and Japanese versions of the cards, but most are only able to collect the English cards, especially considering Japanese Pokémon cards are typically more expensive than their English counterparts. Players don't usually see special releases in every market, so this might not come as a surprise to many, but anyone hoping to see the Gym stamped cards release in the West shouldn't get their hopes up.

Despite how long the Pokémon TCG has been around, there is still an avid fan base that enjoys collecting and playing in tournaments, and a brand-new English card type is certainly an exciting development. This release might point towards these cards becoming available in North America and other English markets in the future, which may be why The Pokémon Company is printing them in this manner. This is also one of a few other releases of English cards with special stamps, so fans are hoping that this is a good sign.

With the pull rates of rares in the Japanese Twilight Masquerade being made available to the public ahead of the release, players can already prepare for the cards they might want to keep and the ones they might want to trade. With the ability to trade online, it may be possible for someone who is really interested in the Gym stamp to still get one, despite the limited availability. Fans can still hold out hope that these stamps will be seen on future versions of Pokémon Trading Card Game cards.

Source: PokéBeach