Side Kicks Streetwear • Global Release Guide
Updated: 17 October 2026
About the release
Pokemon and Santa Cruz link up for one of the most storytelling-driven skate deck releases of the year — the Pokemon TCG 30th Anniversary Blind Bag Skateboard Collection. Celebrating 30 years of the Pokemon Trading Card Game, the capsule turns the familiar booster-pack unboxing experience into a skate deck format. Each sealed blind bag contains one randomly selected deck from 30 distinct designs, each incorporating original artwork from a noteworthy card spanning the past 30 years of Pokemon TCG history — reimagined through Santa Cruz's skate heritage with design cues emphasising elemental energy types and character themes.
The chase factor is where this gets properly collector-grade. Beyond the 30 standard designs, there are three rare 'chase' gold-glitter variants hidden within the blind bags, each featuring a collage of 10 cards in different languages pictured on a single deck — the skate deck equivalent of a secret rare pull. Every bag ships with a Pokemon x Santa Cruz Player's Guide booklet detailing all 30 standard designs plus the 3 chase variations, a limited-edition collaboration sticker and the deck itself. The booklet documents the collaboration end-to-end and functions as a proper collector reference piece. Decks ship bare — no trucks, wheels or other components included — and no Pokemon TCG cards are included in the bag.
TL;DR – Pokemon x Santa Cruz 30th Anniversary Blind Bag Skateboard Decks Release Date, Price & Where to Buy
- Release date: Friday 17 October 2026 (available now)
- Collection: Pokemon TCG x Santa Cruz 30th Anniversary Blind Bag Skateboard Decks
- Format: Sealed blind bag — one randomly selected deck per bag from 33 possible designs
- Standard designs: 30 unique decks, each featuring artwork from a noteworthy card from 30 years of Pokemon TCG history
- Chase variants: 3 rare gold-glitter decks, each featuring a collage of 10 cards in different languages on a single deck
- Each blind bag contains: 1 skateboard deck (random design), limited-edition Pokemon x Santa Cruz Player's Guide booklet, limited-edition collaboration sticker
- UK retail price: £160 — check santacruzskateboards.eu and UK stockists on drop day
- Where to buy: santacruzskateboards.com, santacruzskateboards.eu and select Santa Cruz skate retailers
- Note: Decks only — trucks, wheels and other skate hardware not included. No Pokemon TCG cards included.
- Wider collection: Also includes accompanying apparel and custom Pokemon x Santa Cruz grip tape
- Occasion: 30th anniversary of the Pokemon Trading Card Game
Release date and price
The Pokemon TCG x Santa Cruz 30th Anniversary Blind Bag Skateboard Collection drops Friday 17 October 2026 via santacruzskateboards.com, santacruzskateboards.eu and select Santa Cruz skate retailers. UK retail pricing TBC — Santa Cruz EU should list final pricing on drop day. For reference, standard Santa Cruz artist and licensed-collab decks typically sit in the £70-£95 range, with blind-bag formats often landing at a slight premium given the chase element.
Timing on this one is deliberate — 2026 marks the Pokemon TCG's 30th anniversary, with the franchise running one of the most-watched celebration programmes in modern pop culture. Pokemon's recent collab track record — including the Nike TN Air Max Plus Devil Fruits trio for One Piece, various apparel capsules through the year and multiple TCG-aligned brand partnerships — has shown that properly-executed collector formats move at scale. A blind-bag skate deck series with proper variant rarity structure checks every box for the Pokemon TCG collector base and the broader skate culture audience simultaneously. Expect the chase gold-glitter variants to hit immediate secondary market demand — the 10-language collage format mirrors the kind of multi-lingual proof-print cards collectors already seek out, bridging the two hobbies cleanly.
Design and details
Santa Cruz is one of the few skate brands with the deep licensed-collab infrastructure to make a 33-design run work. Previous Marvel, Star Wars, Garbage Pail Kids and Stranger Things capsules have established the template — proper deck art, serialised booklets, sealed packaging and real variant chase structure. The Pokemon TCG partnership slots directly into that framework and is arguably the richest subject matter they've worked with to date.
The blind bag format and 30 standard decks
Each sealed opaque blind bag contains a single random deck from the full lineup. 30 standard designs each take their visual lead from a specific noteworthy card from the past 30 years of Pokemon TCG history — ranging across all elemental energy types (Fire, Water, Grass, Electric, Psychic, Fighting, Darkness, Metal, Fairy, Dragon, Colorless) and across the character-focused and set-defining cards from across the franchise's history. Each deck graphic has been reimagined through Santa Cruz's own skate heritage — meaning Santa Cruz's historical artwork language and shape conventions have been applied over the original Pokemon TCG card art, rather than straight 1:1 card reproductions. The result reads as a Santa Cruz deck that happens to carry Pokemon art, which is the right balance for a dual-fan collab.
The three gold-glitter chase variants
The genuine collector pull. Three rare chase decks are hidden randomly within the blind bags, each featuring a gold-glitter finish and a collage of 10 Pokemon TCG cards in different languages pictured together on a single deck. This is the mechanic that elevates the drop beyond a standard licensed series — the chase cards function exactly like a hit pull from a Pokemon TCG booster box, with scarcity, visual distinction (gold glitter is immediately identifiable) and conceptual rarity built around multi-lingual card variants. Expect secondary market pricing on the chase variants to run multiples of the retail price almost immediately on drop.
The Player's Guide + sticker
Every bag ships with a limited-edition Pokemon x Santa Cruz Player's Guide booklet that details all 30 standard deck designs in the collection alongside imagery of the three chase variations. Think of it as the collector-reference piece that extends the series' life well beyond the deck itself — this is where the collab reads as a proper celebratory release rather than a one-off licensing exercise. A limited-edition Pokemon x Santa Cruz collaboration sticker rounds out the bag contents. The wider collection also includes accompanying apparel and custom Pokemon x Santa Cruz grip tape for buyers wanting to build out a full completed deck setup.
Pokemon x Santa Cruz 30th Anniversary Blind Bag images
Credit: Santa Cruz Skateboards / Pokemon
Why this release matters for both audiences
What makes this release more interesting than a standard licensed-collab deck series is the mechanical overlap between the two hobbies. Pokemon TCG collectors already understand sealed booster openings, chase pulls, variant rarity and set completion as core engagement loops. Applying that same mechanic to a 33-deck skate series with three gold-glitter chase variants maps directly onto behaviour already established among serious TCG buyers — and does so in a format that extends the hobby into physical display and skate culture simultaneously. For skate collectors, the Santa Cruz heritage brings proper credibility — this isn't a licence-first exercise where the deck quality is secondary. Deck art has been developed with Santa Cruz's own creative language rather than straight Pokemon reproductions.
The Pokemon TCG's 30th anniversary context also matters. 2026 has been one of the most ambitious years for Pokemon brand collaboration output in franchise history, and the Santa Cruz capsule sits at the physical-collectible end of that programme. Expect strong sell-through on initial allocations, with the chase variants hitting resale almost immediately. For UK-based buyers, santacruzskateboards.eu is likely to be the cleanest route — US-based skate retailers tend to charge heavy international shipping and import duties on bulk skate deck orders.
Where to buy
The Pokemon TCG x Santa Cruz 30th Anniversary Blind Bag Skateboard Collection is available from Friday 17 October 2026 via santacruzskateboards.com, santacruzskateboards.eu and select Santa Cruz skate retailers. UK pricing TBC on drop day. Browse all Pokemon coverage and other Santa Cruz drops on Side Kicks.
FAQ
When does the Pokemon x Santa Cruz skateboard collection release?
Friday 17 October 2026 via santacruzskateboards.com, santacruzskateboards.eu and select Santa Cruz skate retailers. The release marks the Pokemon TCG's 30th anniversary.
How does the blind bag format work?
Each sealed opaque blind bag contains one randomly selected skateboard deck from the full lineup of 33 possible designs — 30 standard designs each featuring artwork from a noteworthy Pokemon TCG card from the past 30 years, plus 3 rare gold-glitter chase variants that each feature a collage of 10 cards in different languages. You don't know which deck you've got until you open the bag — modelled directly on the Pokemon TCG booster pack unboxing experience.
What's in each blind bag?
Each bag contains: one random skateboard deck from the 33-design lineup, a limited-edition Pokemon x Santa Cruz Player's Guide booklet detailing all 30 standard designs and 3 chase variants, and a limited-edition Pokemon x Santa Cruz collaboration sticker. No Pokemon TCG cards are included, and skateboard trucks, wheels and other hardware are not included — the bags are for the deck itself.
What are the three chase variants?
Three rare gold-glitter chase decks are hidden randomly within the blind bag releases. Each features a gold-glitter finish and a collage of 10 Pokemon TCG cards shown in different languages pictured together on a single deck. These function as the skate-deck equivalent of a secret rare pull from a TCG booster box — distinguished visually by the gold-glitter treatment and conceptually by the multi-lingual card variant theme.
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