Pokémon's 30th anniversary has destroyed my bank balance, but these 9 tried and tested products are excellent ways to celebrate Pikachu and friends

Pokémon turned 30 years old this week, which is a massive reminder that my joints don’t work as well as they used to and I’m well and truly into the third decade of my life.

I, like many others, have grown up with the world’s biggest media franchise, and honestly, to this day, Pokémon gives me a warm comfort that very few things can. When times are tough, I turn to my old Nintendo DS or Game Boy Advance to listen to the classic tunes I used to hear, cuddled under my bedsheets past bedtime.

With 2026 celebrating Pikachu and co’s 31st lap around the sun, it’s a great time to be a Pokémon fan. Whether you’ve never moved on from the franchise or you’re coming back for a nice cozy feeling when the world outside is looking stormy, this year is the perfect time for Pokémon.

As someone who lives and breathes Pokémon (seriously, I even have a Pikachu tattoo on my arm), I’ve selected a variety of products that I would recommend to any fan out there. Whether you’re looking for the perfect gift for the Pokémon master in your life or want to treat yourself, I don’t think you can go wrong with any of these things.

As a huge Lego builder, I took it upon myself to build a massive Pikachu back in 2020 and have waited for a Pokémon Lego set almost my whole life. And now that set exists.

After two weeks of spending every evening building the massive 6838-piece Lego Venusaur, Charizard, and Blastoise, I can absolutely say that the Lego x Pokémon collaboration was worth the wait. Now I know the price is hard to swallow, with the starter trio set retailing for $649.99 at Lego, but if you’ve got some spare cash and are looking for a statement piece in your home, I can’t recommend it enough.

Lego also launched an Eevee set, fairly priced at $59.99, as well as a Pikachu, but I honestly think the older offering from Mega is a better-looking model, and available at a fraction of the price of Lego’s $199.99 one ($66.99, Amazon).

If you watched the Pokémon livestream last week, you're probably already counting down the days until Pokémon Winds and Waves arrives in 2027. That said, 2026 is gearing up to be an excellent year for Pokémon video games.

At the time of writing, Pokémon Pokopia ($69.99 at Amazon) on Nintendo Switch 2 is currently the highest-rated video game in the franchise according to Metacritic, and it launches this week!

Pokopia looks to combine the world of Pokémon with the coziness of Animal Crossing, and considering it's been developed by the team behind Dragon Quest Builders 2, I'm sure it's going to be well worth the price of admission.

Elsewhere, Nintendo just relaunched the classic FireRed and LeafGreen games to celebrate 30 years of the franchise, and you can pick up the Kanto remakes on the Nintendo eShop for $19.99. As someone who owns an original cartridge of FireRed, I advise anyone who hasn't played these epic adventures to give them a try. You'll be hard-pressed to find more content for under 20 bucks.

If you want the Kanto experience with modern graphics, however, I'll stand by Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! ($50 at Amazon) even though it's severely underrated. Combine the game with the Poké Ball controller, and you have the coziest reimagining of the original Red, Blue, and Yellow games.

When it comes to decorating a room with Pokémon merch, it can quickly get out of hand. With so many plushies, figurines, and wall art to choose from, it's easy to go too far and make your room look a bit, dare I say it, tacky.

Luckily, Funko's recreation of Pokémon is, in my opinion, the best product line the company makes, and I absolutely love the 3-inch figure of my favorite mythical Pokémon, Mew ($14.99, Amazon).

Of course, I've thrown in the most popular Pokémon of all, Charizard ($14.79, Amazon), for those who want to add some heat to their setup, alongside one of my favorite plushies of Ditto mimicking a Mareep ($19.99, Pokémon Center).

Obviously, these are just three picks from an almost endless amount of Pokémon merch you can find online, but that's the beauty of the franchise. With over 1,000 Pokémon these days, you can never truly Catch 'Em All, but at least that means there's a product to fit everyone's preference.

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