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What came in the Poncho Pikachu Special Boxes?

The boxes were the poncho, merchandised: sleeves, deck case and card box all wearing it, and the Full Art card at the center.

From 2016, the poncho stopped being a giveaway and became a product line. The Mega Charizard X and Mega Charizard Y Poncho-wearing Pikachu Special Boxes, released on January 1, 2016 at ¥2,500 plus tax, were built the same way: two promotional cards (a holofoil Pikachu reprint, 206/XY-P, and the box's exclusive Full Art Poncho-wearing Pikachu, 207 in the X box, 208 in the Y), a set of 62 card sleeves, a deck case, a long card storage box rated for 720 cards, and five booster packs drawn from the XY BREAK sets. Every surface that could carry the artwork did: sleeves, case and storage box are all printed with Pikachu in the box's poncho.

The pattern repeated twice more. For the opening of Pokémon Center Skytree Town on July 6, 2016, the Rayquaza Poncho-wearing Pikachu Special Box carried both Rayquaza cards at once, the green 230/XY-P and the shiny black 231/XY-P. And on February 1, 2017 the Alolan Vulpix & Vulpix Poncho-wearing Pikachu Special Box slimmed the formula down: the two Vulpix poncho Full Arts, 64 sleeves, a deck case, a card box, and two booster packs, one Collection Sun and one Collection Moon. It was the last of the poncho boxes, and the line's farewell.

INSIDE THE CHARIZARD BOXES

January 1, 2016 · ¥2,500 plus tax · X and Y versions

Two promo cards

206/XY-P Pikachu, a holofoil reprint shared by both boxes, and the box's own Full Art: 207/XY-P in the Mega Charizard X box, 208/XY-P in the Y box.

62 sleeves, deck case, long box

A full kit in the poncho artwork, the storage box holding up to 720 cards: the costume as a complete desk set.

Five booster packs

Two Rage of the Broken Heavens, one Emerald Break, one Phantom Gate and one Rising Fist: the XY BREAK menu of the season.

THE LATER BOXES

Skytree Town and the Vulpix farewell

Rayquaza box · July 6, 2016

Made for a store opening rather than a holiday: both Rayquaza poncho cards, regular and shiny, in a single box.

Vulpix box · February 1, 2017

The leaner Sun & Moon version: two Full Art cards, 64 sleeves, deck case, card box, and one pack each of Collection Sun and Collection Moon.

Why boxes at all?

The giveaway cards had proven the costume sold. The boxes turned a one-day store promotion into a product any fan in Japan could buy, and the Full Art treatment made the cards inside feel like the point.

What came in the Poncho Pikachu Special Boxes?

INSIDE THE CHARIZARD BOXES

THE LATER BOXES

THE FIRST WORD