It may have looked like Lego kicked off its first-ever Pokemon collection with three sets earlier this year, but it actually released five. The two “secret” sets were a Pokemon Center that can only be purchased with Lego Insider points, and a Kanto Badge collection that was free with the $650 Venusaur, Charizard, and Blastoise set.
Out of the five sets, the Kanto Badge Collection was my favorite, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. It was incredibly frustrating that you could only get it by buying a set that costs more than a PS5. Well, actually, it costs as much as a PS5 now thanks to the recent PlayStation price hikes, but you get the point.
Lego shares its Kanto brand collection building instructions
Even worse, the gift with purchase offer was only a limited time thing. This means you can't get the badges at all anymore, even if you spend $650 on a single Pokemon Lego set. I can only assume that Lego has received a lot of angry emails from Pokemon fans explaining that if the badges were available for purchase, they would be willing to throw their money at them to get their hands on the coveted set.
Lego is letting fans design their first ever Pokemon TCG set
The winner of Lego's Pokémon TCG contest will see their set become a reality and even make money from the sale.
Lego seems to have gone one better than that. Instead of mass producing more Kanto Badge Collection sets and putting them up for sale, it has simply posted the set's building instructions on its website. All you have to do is collect the bricks you need to build the set, and you can also have a set of Lego Kanto badges without blowing the cash you're saving to afford a PS5.
Buy bricks for your brands
If you turn to page 78 of the Kanto Badge Collection PDF, you'll find a complete list of all the bricks you need. If you don't have all 312 pieces required to build the blue box and the eight badges inside it, you can go to the Pick-a-Brick section of the Lego website. Each item in the Brand Collection instructions has a code assigned so they are easy to find and add to your cart. Some Lego stores also have Pick-a-Brick sections, but the options won't be as exhaustive as those on the site.
After missing out on getting the badge collection as a GWP I will definitely be giving this a try. Hopefully Lego has learned some lessons from its first wave of Pokemon sets and is adapting to what the fans want. There are many more Pokemon sets to come, and while none of them have been officially revealed, a leak suggests that one of the next ones will be a Lego Poke Ball with Pokemon minifigures stored inside.
- Created by
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Satoshi Tajiri
- First movie
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Pokemon: The First Movie
- Latest movie
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Pokemon the Movie: Secrets of the Jungle
- Air date of first episode
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April 1, 1997
- TV game
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Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, Pokemon Legends Arceus, Pokemon Sword and Shield, Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, Pokemon Sun and Moon, Pokemon Black and White, Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, Pokemon GO, Pokemon Snap, Pokemon Live Pokemon, TCG Master Pokemon, TCG Master Pokemon Snap
