Arguably the most anticipated Pokémon TCG set of 2023 is now officially available, with Pokémon 151 bringing new cards and art for every single Pokémon featured in the original Red, Green, and Blue versions. So with 207 total cards to pull, how lucky can we get by opening a handful of packs?
This is one of the special sets The Pokémon Company releases every year that only has specific products available. That means there is no booster box available and you will have to buy something like an Elite Trainer Box, Ultra Premium Collection, Booster Bundle, or other smaller option to get some packs.
Just ahead of the set’s official release, The Pokémon Company sent me a selection of early 151 products to open—an Elite Trainer Box, Booster Bundle, and Alakazam ex Collection. So I cracked 19 assorted packs of the newest set in hopes of pulling at least one of the awesome Illustration Rares like Nidokinge ex or Zapdos ex.
Unfortunately, my luck from the previous Obsidian Flames opening didn’t hold up here, partially because a booster box guarantees at least a few big pulls compared to just opening a mix of packs from various separate products. It likely wasn’t that big of a difference since there aren’t as many high rarity cards here and the focus is on the Illustrator Rares.
Our best pulls from Pokémon TCG: 151
Starting with the nine packs out of the 151 Elite Trainer Box, I only pulled an Illustrator Rare Poliwhirl and full art Ninetails ex. The Poliwhirl card was one of several I was hoping to pull for this article because it is a personal favorite of mine and the IR art is stunning.
On the plus side, even the normal holographic cards from this set look incredible and I am a huge fan of the art on many of the easy-to-pull Pokémon like Aerodactyl, Dodrio, and Flareon. So even without many of the big hits early on, I was still happy with the pulls.
Moving on to the Booster Bundle, which contained six packs, I actually pulled at around the same quality. I got a full art Wigglytuff ex and the IR Dragonair—another of the cards I was looking to pick up.
The last product I had was the one I was most excited about, the Alakazam Ex Collection.
For Pokémon fans who might not know, 151 is actually the first time the entire Abra line has been featured in a TCG set in more than 20 years. Kadabra last appeared in 2002’s Skyridge set due to a legal battle between illusionist Uri Geller and The Pokémon Company over the Psychic-type.
I didn’t pull much from the four packs included in this set, notably grabbing this set’s Mewtwo with incredibly detailed art and another holo Energy card. The holographic finish on the bundle’s Abra and Kadabra cards along with getting a guaranteed Alakazam ex with alternate art made it worth it, however.
At retail, all three of these products would have cost roughly $99 at launch pricing. I think I pulled around $30 in cards worth more than $1 on the secondhand market since the big hits like Charizard ex IR, Erika’s Invitation, and the Zapdos ex IR I was hoping for ultimately alluded me.
You can pick up your own Pokémon TCG: Scarlet and Violet 151 products now or look at some of the previous sets to see if they pique your interest.
