Retrospective: Movie Commemoration Random Pack

Happy 2018 everyone! A new year represents a time for self-evaluation and new beginnings. Maybe you’ll try out a new look, or start a new and exciting chapter in your life or, if you’re like me, you’ll probably just buy new Pokemon cards. If you’re Ash Ketchem however, perpetual 10 year old child star and Pokemon trainer, your new year basically started in November with the release of Pokemon the Movie: I Choose You! A film which finds our prepubescent hero sporting a new look and setting off on a new telling of his first adventure with his original Poke pals. I did not see this movie when it hit theatres, but I did manage to pick up a copy of the promo card given to theatre goers: Ash’s Pikachu, sporting Ash’s hat from the movie.

Six additional versions of Ash’s Pikachu wearing Ash’s various hats across the years were released in 3-card booster packs to celebrate the film’s release. These packs were given to customers who spent $25 or more on Pokemon TCG products at select brick-and-mortar stores (Gamestop in the USA) and certain online retailers. These cards offer a nice homage to Ash’s main Pokemon companion throughout the years, but what many Western fans may not realize is that these are not the first iterations of Ash’s Pikachu to be featured in the Pokemon TCG. That distinction belongs to Pikachu M, a card released as part of the Japanese exclusive “Movie Commemoration Random Pack”. 

Pikachu M from the Movie Commemoration Random Pack

The Movie Commemoration Random Pack was released in Japan in July 2009. As the name implies, the set was released in connection with the debut of a Pokemon movie: Arceus and the Jewel of Life. Unlike previous Japanese movie promotional tie-ins, which were often pre-constructed half-decks or fixed 9 card promotional binders, the Movie Commemoration Random Pack was a booster expansion featuring a total of 30 different cards.

Booster pack artwork for the Movie Commemoration Random Pack

Booster packs could be obtained at the theatrical release and were available for purchase for a limited time at Japanese Pokemon Center stores. Booster boxes of the expansion contained 20 packs, and each pack contained 7 cards featuring of 1 of 6 holographic cards, 1 of 7 basic energy cards unique to the expansion, and 5 non-holographic cards.

Grass Energy from the Movie Commemoration Random Pack. The other energy cards from this set also feature a swirl pattern surrounding the energy symbol

The Pokemon featured in the Movie Commemoration Random Pack have a stylized “M” symbol after their names. This “M” does not stand for Mega Pokemon, but rather “Movie’s Pokemon”, a special subtype of Pokemon SP. For those new or returning to the TCG, Pokemon SP are a category of Pokemon cards from the Platinum era that represent depictions of specific Pokemon owned by famous trainers in the Pokemon universe. Put differently, Pokemon SP were the spiritual successors to the Pokemon featured in the Gym Heroes and Gym Challenge expansions. Like other Pokemon SP cards, a picture of the Pokemon’s trainer is provided beneath the right side of the card’s illustration. Unlike other Pokemon SP cards, the Japanese symbol for Arceus and the Jewel of Life is stamped in the bottom left corner of each Pokemon card in the expansion.

The “M” subtype of Pokemon SP were never released in English, but a handful of additional Pokemon “M” were released in Japan as promotional cards. These included a number of very rare illustration contest cards depicting Spiky-Eared Pichu from the Arceus movie, as well as the widely popular Pikachu M LV. X, which was available as part of the Movie Commemoration Special Pack 2009.

Movie Commemoration Special Pack 2009

This special blister pack could only be purchased at movie theatres showing Arceus and the Jewel of Life and contained 2 promotional cards (Pikachu M LV. X and Michina Temple), 2 Movie Commemoration Random Packs and 1 Advent of Arceus booster pack. 

That’s all for this retrospective look at the Movie Commemoration Random Pack. Let me know your thoughts on this expansion and where it ranks against other Japanese exclusive releases in the comments below. 

Thecardpletionist has been collecting Pokemon TCG cards since the game’s English release in 1999. You can read more from the author at http://thecardpletionist.blogspot.com/ and follow him on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/thecardpletionist/