Look closely at the name box on this card and it isn’t a Pokemon name at all — it’s blank. Collectors have nicknamed it “Birthday Pikachu” because the space was left open for a name to be written in, and that one design choice has followed the card through three countries and six printings since 1998.
Officially it’s just “_____’s Pikachu,” illustrated every single time by Kagemaru Himeno. S8a-P 007/025 — a random pull from a purchase-gated 25th Anniversary promo pack — is the newest printing and, right now, the one most collectors are asking about.
This guide lays out every documented printing of the blank-name Pikachu, explains exactly how rare the S8a-P promo pull actually is, and prices it against the asking market. It also looks at three other Japanese “trophy” Pikachu promos — Mario Pikachu, and two of the poncho-wearing Pikachu variants — that collectors in this price bracket tend to be chasing at the same time.
“_____’s Pikachu” has been printed at least six times across Japan, Australia, and North America since November 1998, always illustrated by Kagemaru Himeno. The printing sold today is S8a-P 007/025, a random 1-of-25 pull from the October 2021 Promo Card Pack 25th ANNIVERSARY edition — no official print run has ever been published. Our PSA 10 copy is currently listed at ¥105,039 (~$715), inside the broad ¥99,000–¥298,000 asking-price spread seen on the secondary market.
Prices are asking-market figures as of August 2026, converted at ¥147/USD. Japanese secondary-market figures are sourced from snkrdunk listings and reflect asking prices, not confirmed sales.
What Is “Birthday Pikachu”?
The card’s actual printed name is “＿＿＿のピカチュウ” (“_____’s Pikachu”) — a blank space where a name would normally go. Marketplace listings and secondary-market shops confirm the format across every era of the card: the name field is simply left empty, intended for the owner’s own name. English-speaking collectors have taken to calling it “Birthday Pikachu” for that personalized-card feel, though the card carries no official “birthday” branding on any printing.
Every version — from the 1998 original through the 2021 reprints — is illustrated by the same artist, Kagemaru Himeno. That consistency is part of why collectors treat the whole run as one lineage rather than unrelated promos that happen to share a gimmick.
The card’s history also predates the modern Pokemon TCG numbering conventions most collectors are used to. The earliest printing arrived in Japan on November 5, 1998, as part of an All Card Calendar marking the trading card game’s second anniversary — two years before the first English-language printing existed at all. That gives “_____’s Pikachu” one of the longer continuous reprint histories of any single Pikachu card design, spanning the Wizards-era English game through the modern Sword & Shield block.
If you’re building out a Pikachu collection more broadly, our best Pikachu cards from the Japanese TCG roundup and top 10 Pikachu Japanese cards list both cover where this printing sits against the rest of the field.
Every Printing of “_____’s Pikachu”
Per Bulbapedia’s master reference page, the blank-name Pikachu has appeared at least six times across Japan, Australia, and North America, in Japanese and English, over 23 years:
| Printing | Year | Lingua | Format | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Card Calendar insert | 1998 | Giapponese | Original Himeno artwork | 2nd-anniversary calendar, released Nov 5, 1998 |
| Pokemon Park 2000 promo | 2000 | English | Non-holo | Sydney University event, Sept 12–Oct 4, 2000 |
| Wizards Black Star Promo #24 | 2001 | English | Holofoil | Pokemon League “Create-a-Card” campaign, Jan–Mar 2001 |
| Unnumbered book insert | 2001 | Giapponese | Different Himeno artwork; not tournament-legal | Included with How I Became a Pokemon Card vol. 6, Sept 23, 2001 |
| Celebrations #24 (Classic Collection) | 2021 | English | Confetti holofoil, full-art etching | 25th Anniversary set insert |
| S8a-P 007/025 | 2021 | Giapponese | Confetti holofoil, etching, red/gold “25th” logo | Promo Card Pack 25th ANNIVERSARY edition, Oct 22, 2021 — the printing we carry |
The original 1998 print was a Japanese All Card Calendar insert marking the TCG’s second anniversary, while the 2001 Wizards Black Star Promo #24 was distributed separately, through the Pokemon League “Create-a-Card” promotional campaign — two distinct distribution mechanisms years apart, not the same program. The earliest English printings of this card predate the modern set-and-number system entirely. The 2021 pair (Celebrations in English, S8a-P in Japanese) were both tied to the franchise’s 25th anniversary, released in the same calendar year but through completely different distribution methods. For more on how Japan’s anniversary-year sets compare to each other, see our 25th vs 20th anniversary sets guide.
The Printing We Sell: S8a-P 007/025
S8a-P 007/025 comes from a 25-card promo pack (numbered 001/025 through 025/025) released October 22, 2021. It carries the red-and-gold “25th” anniversary logo, confetti holofoil, and an etched foil pattern — visually distinct from the plain holofoil of the 1998 original and the different confetti treatment used on the English Celebrations #24.
Distribution was purchase-gated rather than sold on its own: one promo pack (containing one random card from the 25) came with every purchase of four S8a 25th ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION booster packs, or four promo packs came with a full 16-pack booster box, while supplies lasted from the October 22, 2021 release date.
Check for the red/gold “25th” logo and the “S8a-P 007/025” number printed on the card. The Japanese unnumbered 2001 book insert and the English Celebrations #24 both use different name-field artwork and neither carries the S8a-P numbering.
How Rare Is the S8a-P Pull, Really?
There’s no official print run published for S8a-P 007/025 or for any of the other 24 cards in the same promo pack — Bulbapedia and PokeGuardian document the distribution mechanic (purchase-gated packs, one random card each) but not a total print quantity. Any specific print-run number you see elsewhere is community-reported and unofficial.
What is documented: 007/025 is one of 25 possible cards in a single promo pack, and each pack contains exactly one random card. That makes it one of 25 possible cards in the pack — official per-card odds were not published — on top of however many promo packs a given box or case actually yielded, a double layer of randomness compared to a set’s own pull rates. The distribution also gated the pack itself behind a purchase requirement rather than selling it individually, which means the total number of packs that ever existed is capped by how many people bought four S8a boosters (or a full box) during the release window, not by an open print run.
For the full pull-rate breakdown across all 25 cards in the S8a promo pack, see our S8a 25th Anniversary pull rates and best cards guide. If you’re chasing other 25th-anniversary-era promo pulls from the same period, our EB-02 Anime 25th Collection pull rates guide covers that companion set.
What It’s Worth: Asking Prices in 2026
Our own PSA 10 copy of S8a-P 007/025 is currently listed at ¥105,039 (~$715).
On snkrdunk, seven separate PSA 10 asking listings for this printing spanned ¥99,000 to ¥298,000 as of our August 2026 snapshot — a wide asking-price spread, and one worth reading carefully rather than at face value. The most recently posted listings in that snapshot sat at ¥99,000 and ¥125,000, while the ¥250,000-and-up entries came from older listing IDs, suggesting that cluster may be stale rather than reflective of where fresh asks are landing today. Treat ¥99,000–¥125,000 as the more current end of the range, and the full ¥99,000–¥298,000 spread as the outer bounds of what’s been asked recently.
A single ungraded (raw) asking listing turned up at ¥44,999 (~$306) — with only one listing, that’s a weak anchor and not enough to call a raw-market range.
The English-language Celebrations #24 reprint of the same card lineage showed two single listings in the same snapshot: a minimum ask of ¥23,000 (~$156) and a B-condition ask of ¥50,000 (~$340). Both are single-listing weak anchors, but the gap between them and the Japanese S8a-P asking range shows the Japanese printing asking meaningfully higher than its English counterpart in the same year.
Every figure above is an asking price, not a confirmed sale. snkrdunk shows what sellers are listing a card for, not what buyers are actually paying. Ranges built from a handful of listings can move quickly, and a single-listing figure should never be read as “the market.”
Related Trophy Pikachu Promos
Birthday Pikachu isn’t the only Japanese Pikachu promo trading at this level. If you’re shopping in this price bracket, three other “trophy” Pikachu cards come up constantly — Mario Pikachu and two of the poncho-wearing Pikachu variants. All three are illustrated by the same artist across their lineage: Kouki Saitou.
Mario Pikachu 293/XY-P is the regular (non-full-art) printing from the October 29, 2016 Mario Pikachu Special Box, sold only in Japan at Pokemon Centers per SNKRDUNK’s reporting. Our PSA 10 copy is currently listed at ¥1,744,820 (~$11,870) (update: currently sold out — restock requests via Quick Order). A single snkrdunk PSA 10 listing in the same snapshot asked ¥1,999,999 (~$13,605) — a lone data point, not a market range. For the full story on this card’s box and pricing history, see our Mario Pikachu card guide.
Poncho-wearing Pikachu 208/XY-P is the Full Art version wearing a Mega Charizard Y poncho, released January 1, 2016 in the Mega Charizard Y Poncho Special Box (¥2,500+tax at retail). Our PSA 10 copy is currently listed at ¥2,832,500 (~$19,269) (update: currently sold out — restock requests via Quick Order). A single snkrdunk listing asked ¥2,750,000 (~$18,707) for the same printing — again a single-listing weak anchor, though it lands close to our own listed price.
Poncho-wearing Pikachu 203/XY-P wears a combination of Mega Audino, Mega Lucario, and Mega Slowbro ponchos, and was distributed December 12, 2015 as a Pokemon Center “Pikachu Mega Campaign” gift for any purchase of ¥1,000 or more in eligible TCG products — a much broader giveaway than the Special Box printings. It was recently listed at ¥376,362 (~$2,560); restock requests can go through our Quick Order page. A single snkrdunk listing asked ¥83,800 (~$570) for this printing, well below both our own recent listing and the 208/XY-P full art — consistent with 203 being a lower-barrier giveaway rather than a Special Box exclusive.
For the complete breakdown of every poncho-wearing Pikachu variant, including the ones not covered here, see our companion guide: Poncho Pikachu value guide, every printing. And for other Pokemon Center-exclusive Pikachu promos in this same collecting lane, see our Pokemon Center Pikachu promo guide.
How to Get One
Every one of these cards came from a discontinued Special Box, a purchase-gated promo pack, or a time-limited in-store campaign — none are sold as a standalone product today, so the secondary market is the practical route to ownership. PSA independently determines authenticity and grade; we sell graded copies as-is at the grade shown on the slab.
If you’re building a wider trophy-Pikachu collection, our Pikachu & Zekrom-GX best cards guide covers another high-value Pikachu lane worth comparing against these promos.
Where to Buy 25th Anniversary Pikachu Cards from Japan
We ship graded and raw Japanese singles worldwide from Tokyo with tracked delivery. These are discontinued promos with no reprint path, so our Quick Order page is the fastest way to send a restock request on a specific printing or build a mixed order across singles.
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What is “Birthday Pikachu”?
It’s a collector nickname for “_____’s Pikachu,” a card whose printed name field is left blank, intended for the owner’s own name. It has been printed at least six times since 1998 across Japan, Australia, and North America, always illustrated by Kagemaru Himeno. The version we sell, S8a-P 007/025, is the 2021 Japanese Promo Card Pack 25th ANNIVERSARY edition printing.
How rare is the S8a-P 007/025 printing?
It’s a random 1-of-25 pull from a purchase-gated promo pack released October 22, 2021 — one pack came with every four S8a 25th Anniversary Collection boosters, or four packs per booster box. No official total print run has been published for this or any of the other 24 cards in the pack.
How much is Birthday Pikachu worth in 2026?
Our PSA 10 copy is currently listed at ¥105,039 (about $715). Asking prices on snkrdunk for PSA 10 copies spanned ¥99,000 to ¥298,000 in an August 2026 snapshot, though the most recently posted listings clustered closer to ¥99,000–¥125,000.
What’s the difference between the Japanese S8a-P promo and the English Celebrations #24?
Both were released in 2021 for Pokemon’s 25th anniversary, but through different distribution methods: Celebrations #24 was a standard set insert sold internationally, while S8a-P 007/025 was a random pull from a purchase-gated Japanese promo pack. The Japanese printing carries a confetti holofoil and etching distinct from the English version, and it asks a meaningfully higher price on the secondary market.
What other trophy Pikachu promos are similar in price?
Mario Pikachu 293/XY-P and Poncho-wearing Pikachu 208/XY-P both list well above Birthday Pikachu, in the ¥1.7M–¥2.8M range for PSA 10 copies. Poncho-wearing Pikachu 203/XY-P, distributed as a broader Pokemon Center giveaway, sits much closer to Birthday Pikachu’s price level.
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