Pokemon 30th Anniversary Pre-Orders Australia

Fourteen products. Four release waves. Seven weeks from the first drop to the last. If you are only watching for September 16, you will miss over half the 30th Celebration lineup.

The Pokemon Company is rolling out 30th Celebration products across four waves between September and November 2026. Australian pre-orders have already started at some retailers, sold out at others, and caused a minor pricing scandal at EB Games. This guide tracks every product, every wave date, and the current pre-order status at Australian retailers so you can plan around the schedule rather than scramble after each drop.

The four-wave release schedule

Wave	Date	Products
1	16 September 2026	Elite Trainer Box, Pokemon Center Elite Trainer Box, Pokemon ex Box (Sylveon ex & Greninja ex), Knock Out Collection (Eevee), Tech Sticker Collection (Alolan Exeggutor or Lucario), Poster Collection (Articuno, Zapdos & Moltres), 2-Pack Blister (Eevee)
2	2 October 2026	Booster Bundle, Binder Collection, Mini Tins (ten artwork variants)
3	30 October 2026	Battle Deck (Espeon ex & Umbreon ex)
4	6 November 2026	Ultra-Premium Collection Day & Night (Pikachu ex with Espeon ex or Umbreon ex), Ditto Premium Collection, Figure Collection (Mew & Mewtwo)

Wave 1 carries the bulk of the lineup with seven products. Wave 4, arriving nearly two months later on November 6, contains the two Ultra-Premium Collections that will attract the most demand.

The full product lineup has been announced, but Australian pre-orders and pricing open closer to each release wave. That staggered schedule matters. Products from Waves 2 through 4 can be pre-ordered before they ship, but only once AU retailers list them. Tracking when those listings go live is how you avoid paying secondary market markups.

What makes this set different from every other release

This is the first Pokemon TCG expansion with a simultaneous worldwide release. Australia gets 30th Celebration on 16 September 2026, the same day as Japan, North America and Europe. No regional delay.

Beyond the release date, the set breaks from standard Pokemon TCG conventions in several ways:

All-foil set. Every card in the set is foil, including Basic Energy. That has never happened in a main series expansion.
Futuristic rare. A brand-new rarity debuting in this set. The first announced Futuristic rares are Mewtwo and Mew, illustrated by YOSHIROTTEN.
30 Pikachu cards. Every booster pack is guaranteed to contain one of 30 different Pikachu cards, each with a unique illustration.
Announced chase cards. Illustration rares of Espeon, Umbreon, Lapras, Drifloon, Zorua and Lycanroc. Greninja and Sylveon as Pokemon ex. Classic reprints including the Base Set Charizard and Pikachu & Zekrom-GX.

The official Pokemon TCG site confirms the September 16 release with the tagline: "Get ready to celebrate 30 years of the Pokemon Trading Card Game."

Where to pre-order in Australia right now

Retailer	Status	Notes
Pokemon Center AU	Pre-orders open (Wave 1 products)	Opened July 15, two months before release. Limits: ETB (2 per customer), Tech Sticker Collections (1 each), Knock Out Collection (1). Site crashed at launch with wait times over 4 hours.
EB Games	Pre-orders open (controversial pricing)	ETB listed at $120 AUD, UPC at ~$465 AUD. See pricing section below.
JB Hi-Fi	Pulled listings	Briefly listed pre-orders then removed them due to technical issues and site traffic. Some users reported ordering via JB Hi-Fi New Zealand with shipping to Australia.
Big W, Kmart, Target	Not yet listed	Pre-orders typically open in the weeks before each release wave.
Specialty stores	Varies	Check local game stores and online specialists for availability.

Pokemon Center AU is currently the most reliable option for Wave 1 products, though stock may have shifted since the July 15 launch. The per-customer limits suggest Pokemon Company is managing allocation to reduce scalper hoarding.

Set up CardTracker alerts to get notified when additional retailers open their listings.

EB Games pricing: what happened and what it means

EB Games Australia deliberately launched 30th Anniversary pre-orders at inflated prices. They called it an anti-scalper strategy.

Kotaku reported on the fallout. EB's stated position: "Our priority from the beginning was simple, even though we knew it wouldn't be universally popular. We wanted genuine Pokemon fans to have the best possible opportunity to secure these once in a generation products while making life as difficult as possible for scalpers."

After the backlash, EB revised its prices. The ETB dropped to $120 AUD. That is still double the standard ETB MSRP of $60. The Ultra-Premium Collections settled at approximately $305 USD (roughly $465 AUD), compared to the $120 at which all previous UPCs have been sold.

The practical takeaway: compare prices across retailers before locking in a pre-order. EB's "revised" pricing is still well above what other AU retailers are likely to charge once they open their own listings. The Pokemon Company International has not yet announced official MSRP for any 30th Celebration products.

What to expect from Wave 2 to 4 pre-orders

Waves 2 through 4 cover October and November releases. None of these have opened at AU retail yet:

Wave 2 (2 October): Booster Bundle, Binder Collection and Mini Tins in ten artwork variants. The Booster Bundle is typically one of the more affordable sealed products.
Wave 3 (30 October): Battle Deck featuring Espeon ex and Umbreon ex. Battle Decks are ready-to-play products aimed at newer players.
Wave 4 (6 November): The big one. Ultra-Premium Collection Day and Night (each with Pikachu ex paired with either Espeon ex or Umbreon ex), Ditto Premium Collection, and Figure Collection (Mew & Mewtwo). Given the EB Games pricing controversy around the UPCs, expect heavy demand and fast sellouts at retailers offering closer-to-MSRP pricing.

Australian retailers typically open pre-orders in the weeks before each release wave. For anniversary sets, those pre-orders sell out fast.

Two ways to stay ahead:

Set up restock alerts on CardTracker to get notified when AU retailers list new waves.
Watch Pokemon Center AU. They opened Wave 1 pre-orders two months early. If they repeat that pattern for later waves, Pokemon Center may be your earliest opportunity to secure Wave 4 UPCs before demand peaks.

Frequently asked questions

Will there be any 30th anniversary Pokemon cards?

Yes. Pokemon TCG: 30th Celebration is a full expansion releasing worldwide on 16 September 2026. Every card in the set is foil, it introduces the new Futuristic rare rarity, and announced cards include illustration rares of Espeon, Umbreon, Lapras, and more, plus classic reprints like the Base Set Charizard.

Where can I get the Pokemon 30th anniversary cards?

In Australia, Pokemon Center AU has opened pre-orders for select Wave 1 products with per-customer limits. EB Games has pre-orders at above-standard pricing. JB Hi-Fi, Big W, Kmart and Target are expected to list products closer to each release wave. Use CardTracker alerts to track when new listings go live.

How to pre-order 30th anniversary Pokemon?

Head to Pokemon Center Australia for currently available Wave 1 products. For other retailers, pre-orders open in the weeks before each wave's release date. The four waves span September 16 through November 6, 2026.

What is the 30th celebration pre-order?

The 30th Celebration pre-order covers fourteen products rolling out across four waves from September to November 2026. Wave 1 (September 16) includes the Elite Trainer Box and six other products. Wave 4 (November 6) brings the Ultra-Premium Collections. Pre-orders let you secure products at retail price before release, avoiding the secondary market markups that have already appeared.