Celebrating 30 Years of Pokémon, and PEZ Joins the Party with New Dispensers!

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.

 

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, and Happy Collecting!