For most people, Wednesday will be just another day - the midweek hump at school or work. But not for Pokémon fans. The Japanese brand has become one of the most recognisable in the world, with its colourful creatures appearing in video games and on shop shelves across the globe.
But perhaps most synonymous with the Pokémon phenomenon is its trading card game, which has been played, bought and sold between collectors for the last three decades. Wednesday marks the release of Pokémon's 30th anniversary range - a day one collector described as the brand's biggest day "in the last decade, if not more". Gus Hall, owner of Evolution Games in Halifax, said he expected fans to queue before shops open to get their hands on the first release of the cards.
A long-term Pokémon collector himself, Hall said he was "massively excited" about the anniversary range. "If you want my personal opinion, I would say this is the biggest release for a good while for Pokémon. Some of the products and the cards they've leaked... are crazy," he said.
Pokémon's popularity has exploded over the years, with some cards originally worth just a few pounds now selling for eye-watering amounts. Hall said a box that may have been worth £200 in the late 1990s would now sell for about £35,000. As a child, Hall would spend about £1.99 of his pocket money on a new Pokémon card.
His parents would "go ballistic" at him for what they believed was a waste of money. He said: "They'd say to me: 'Why are you wasting your money on these types of things?'… Now I get the exact same from parents who come into my store and say to their children: 'Why are you wasting your money on these [cards]?'… But, you know, look who's laughing now!" But what has made these cards so popular - and so valuable? "Pokémon is different to other things in society these days - there's nothing electronic in trading cards," Hall said.
"Parents quite like it because it's healthy; it creates friendships and trading and gaming, and incorporates all these wonderful things that aren't detrimental to a child or young person's mind." Hall said the satisfaction of collecting a set and "chasing certain cards" in that set was a huge part of the enjoyment, and described the moment of pulling the desired card as "euphoric". Phoebe Watson, an employee at Evolution Games, has been collecting Pokémon cards for the last 20 years. She said she was "super excited" for the first release of the anniversary range and was hoping to secure some of the cards, which feature some of her favourite Pokémons.
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