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Tins are often one of the cheapest, easiest ways to pick up the latest Pokemon TCG cards. You may not get the sheer quantity of cards you’d get from a booster box or an Elite Trainer Box, but tins come with a few neat promos and a few booster packs to keep your collection growing.
Launching in October 2023, one of the earliest released in the Scarlet & Violet era was the Paldea Partners tin. There are three different versions, but what exactly do you get in them, and are they worth it?
The Promo Card: Meowscarada ex, Quaquaval ex, Or Skeledirge ex
There arethree different editionsof the Paldea Partners tin available, with each based on the final stage of Pokemon Scarlet & Violet’s starter Pokemon. As such, they each come with a matchingpromo card of their face Pokemon.
Of the three cards,Meowscarada exis the most interesting. It’s the only one of the three that has become a consistent part ofthe game’s meta, with decks using it placing well at multiple tournaments.
While Quaquaval ex and Skeledirge ex haven’t reached the heights Meowscarada has, it’s worth pointing out that the versions of the cards in the tins areexclusive art treatmentsnot found in any other product.
The cards themselves can be found in booster packs of Paldea Evolved, but they have different art to the ones found in the tins.
Four Booster Packs
The main event of the tin are the fourrandom booster packs. These are regular packs, withten cardsand an energy card.
Although the Pokemon Company doesn’t state which packs are included in the tins, community members opening packs shows that it can contain packs from anywhere betweenSword & Shield: Astral Radiance and Scarlet & Violet: Obsidian Flames, with Obsidian Flames being the most common.
You won’t find packs from any special or supplementary product, such asCrown Zenithor151. Only major, tentpole releases are included in the Paldea Partners tins, which means the expansions you may find packs from include:
Pokemon TCG Live Code
Finally, you’ll getfive code cards for Pokemon TCG Live, the digital client version of the game.
The code included in the tin will redeem forone copy of the promo card(Meowscarada ex, Quaquaval ex, or Skeledirge ex). However, each booster packalso has a code card inside them, giving you another booster pack in Live when redeemed.
As with other Live codes, this will not bean exact copy of your pack, but will instead simply unlock another booster with its own cards in. Sadly, if you pull a chase card in any of your packs, there’sno guaranteeyou’ll also get it on Live.
Live is different to TCG Pocket, which uses its own booster packs. Youcannot redeem codeson TCG Pocket.
Is The Paldea Partners Tin Worth Buying?
The Paldea Partners tin is one of theolder tinsavailable, with most interest in it coming from theMeowscarada ex cardplaying a role in meta decks. However, whether it’s worth buying or not depends more on how you feel about thebooster packs.
Despite none of the booster packs being heavy-hitters likeEvolving Skies or Prismatic Evolutions, there are still highly sought-after cards found in Obsidian Flames and Paldea Evolved.Alt-art Magikarp, Iono,and, of course,Charizard excan all be pulled in them, which any one would make theentire tin worthwhile.
If you can find a tin, or even a case, for cheap, the Paldea Partners tin are a great way to potentially find some big cards. And even if you don’t, you’re getting a grab bag of an interesting time in the TCG, especially asSword & Shield-era packs start to become more scarceas we move further on from them.
