The Exclusive Detective Pikachu Promotional TCG Card

Most of the time, I prefer having certain Pokémon things before I discuss them on this blog. Exceptions do exist, of course, notably for some Pokémon Center merchandise lines, which I won't have access to in the foreseeable future. And for this post, I'm about to make one more exception for something related to the Detective Pikachu movie. That exception concerns a special bonus that is obtainable by watching the movie in specific circumstances, which happens to be a promotional card for the TCG.

The (Indonesian) card, which belongs to a friend.

In Indonesia, the card is (or was, at this point) obtainable in select cinemas in select cities. None of the ones in my local area offered the card, but a few in a city 90 km from my local area did. The card is obtainable by buying a bundle of tickets, for example for a couple of tickets for two interested fans, or maybe a load of tickets for a watch party or two. And as can be expected, the cards are also limited in number from the outset; according to reports, each cinema only received a hundred or so cards to be distributed. Thus, one needed to expend effort and possibly a bit more cash to get the card.

As well, in Indonesia, the card is localized to the Indonesian language, which can be seen in the picture above, making this the first live in-the-wild example that I've seen of such cards. I've also seen the English version of the card, which allows me to compare the two versions of the card. Right away, I can compare the attack names, for which the first is "Coffee Break" and the second is "Corkscrew Punch". The first attack as rendered in Indonesian seems communicative enough, though the second one is somewhat literal; I would personally use the more communicative "Pukulan Memutar", being that a corkscrew twirls, and the attack emulates this behavior.

At this point, obtaining the card would perhaps be prohibitively difficult. The movie may be due to end its run in local cinemas soon, and as I've noted above, I must travel far for even a chance to obtain the card, for which its supplies may already be depleted. Even if it hadn't, then I'd have to order two tickets, which practically necessitates watching the movie again, with or without a friend to accompany me. I've actually seen the card being put up for sale, but it fetches a pretty price that is worth five to ten times the ticket price of the movie. These are significant barriers indeed.

Now it is evident why I've decided to discuss about this card. The card is very limited and hard to get, especially by this time. But as part of the current Detective Pikachu movie euphoria, it's something remarkable, even for those who could not get it, like me. The card is just as neat as the movie itself. I may not have the card, but I can at least get a sense of the card even just by discussing it in conjunction with the movie related to it.

One year ago: Cosplay: INOCHI 2018 - Yuki no Hana
Two years ago: Cosplay Photography