Same game. Same characters. Made in the same place as the Japanese cards — and a genuinely better deal. Every box we sell is an officially licensed Simplified Chinese release. Here's why collectors are switching over.
Made in Japan — it's printed on the box
This is the part most people don't know. Simplified Chinese Pokémon product is manufactured in Japan, not in China. Turn a box over and it says so on the back. It comes off the same production as the Japanese cards, which is why the card stock is the same thickness, and the holo treatments are the same treatments — the Poké Ball and Master Ball patterns you know from Japanese sets are right there in Chinese.
You don't have to take our word for it. Check the back of any box you buy, from us or anyone else.
Exclusive cards you won't find in English sets
Chinese sets regularly carry their own reverse holo styles, alternate art and chase cards that never make it into the English release. Buying Chinese isn't just a cheaper way to get the same pull — in several sets it's the only way to get that pull at all.
Its own set structure, not a translation
Worth knowing before you buy: Simplified Chinese sets aren't translated English sets. They're assembled from the Japanese releases and given their own set codes — CBB for the Gem Pack series, CSV for the numbered main sets. So a Chinese box won't match an English box card for card, even where the names sound similar. The artwork is the same artwork; the set list is its own thing.
Lower price for the same chase
Chinese retail pricing runs well below UK and US pricing for the equivalent set, because it's priced for the domestic Chinese market rather than a Western one, and because it hasn't been driven up by the same scalping pressure. Same mechanics, same characters, same thrill of the pull — for less.
Higher availability
Print runs are larger and Western collector demand is still catching up, so boxes that sell out in minutes in English are often still available sealed, at retail price, in Chinese. No queuing for restocks, no bot-fighting a webshop at 9am.
Booster formats explained: Slim vs Jumbo vs Gem Pack
Chinese sets are sold in a few different box formats, and it's easy to get them confused if you're used to the English game's single format. Here's the difference:
- Slim Pack — the closest match to a standard English booster box: more packs per box, fewer cards per pack. Typically 15 to 24 packs of 5 cards.
- Jumbo Pack — fewer, thicker packs per box, more cards per pack, and a higher holo density. Usually around 6 packs of roughly 20 cards. Same set, different pack breakdown — check the listing for the exact count before you buy.
- Gem Pack — smaller, animation-themed special sets built around characters from the anime rather than a full mainline expansion. Pack counts vary by volume: earlier volumes hold 15 packs, later ones 18, at 4 holo cards a pack.
Every listing states the exact packs-per-box and cards-per-pack for that product, so you always know what you're getting before you buy.
One honest caveat: tournament play
Simplified Chinese isn't a distributed language in Europe, so these cards aren't legal at Play! Pokémon premier events in the UK. If you play competitively, they're for your collection and for opening rather than for your tournament deck. Casual play at a local league is usually down to whoever's running it — worth asking first.
Dispatched from the UK, not drop-shipped from Asia
We hold real stock here in Hampshire and pack every order ourselves — nothing is drop-shipped from an overseas warehouse after you order. We post six days a week, Monday to Saturday: order before 2pm and your parcel goes out the same day. Full details are in our shipping policy.
Sealed and checked before it leaves us
We buy full sealed cases and open them ourselves, so nothing that reaches you has been weighed, searched or resealed on the way. Every box is checked for condition before it ships, then packed with protection for transit. If anything ever arrives damaged or faulty, get in touch and we'll sort it.