30 Years of “Catch ’Em All” – Pokémon Celebrates Its 30th Anniversary! 🎂 🧁
On February 27, 1996, the very first Pokémon games, “Red” and “Green,” were released for the Game Boy in Japan. The titles reached the United States in 1998 and Europe in 1999, marking the beginning of a global phenomenon. Created in 1996 by Satoshi Tajiri, the imaginative world of Pokémon, home to beloved characters like Pikachu and Charmander, quickly expanded far beyond video games. Over the past three decades, Pokémon has become a worldwide cultural icon.
A Peek at Pikachu’s Evolution and the Future of Pokémon PEZ
For us PEZ collectors, 2001 was a milestone year: PEZ released its first Pokémon dispensers featuring Pikachu, Meowth, Mew, Psyduck, and Koffing. With this series, many of us were able to add our very first Pokémon dispensers to our collections. Over the years, PEZ has continued to delight collectors with countless Pokémon releases, most notably, of course, numerous variations of Pikachu.
Many of our collections also include a wide variety of mini Pokémon dispensers produced by Bandai, originally distributed through Japan’s famous capsule toy (gachapon) machines.
Naturally, PEZ is celebrating the 30th anniversary in style. The festivities begin this year with an impressive new full-body Pikachu dispenser, with more exciting surprises expected throughout the year.
To see the first images, however, we will all need a little more patience. Today, we simply take this opportunity to congratulate Pokémon on its 30th birthday!🎉🎉
Happy Birthday, Pokémon! 🎈🎈
Happy Collecting!
February 25, 2026
