Argos stopped selling Pokemon cards in its stores in May 2026. Restocks, the 30th Anniversary packs included, go on sale in the Argos app only, and in October Argos described a draw in the app, the Argos Drop.
Argos hasn't stopped selling Pokemon cards. You can still buy Argos Pokemon cards, but only in the Argos app, not in a shop and not on the website. In May 2026 Argos said no Pokemon cards would be sold in any of its stores and that restocks would go on sale in the Argos app only, to Click & Collect from your nearest store.
The Argos Pokemon 30th Anniversary cards work the same way. On 24 October 2026, three weeks after the second wave came out, Argos's search still listed the same twenty 30th Celebration products, the Mini Tins and Booster Bundle among them, and every one had a Buy on the app button. The website can't tell you which of them are in stock. Restocks happen in the app, and Argos doesn't announce them. For its most wanted cards Argos has also described a draw, the Argos Drop, which you enter in the app. How it works is below.
In its stores, yes. In the app, no. Argos announced the change on its Facebook page, and NationalWorld reported it on 13 May 2026 with the statement in full. At the time Argos was out of stock of Pokemon cards altogether, and it set out how things would work from then on.
Moving forward, no Pokémon cards will be available for purchase via any Argos store.
The same statement says that when cards come back they will only be sold through the Argos app. You pick them up from your nearest store with Click & Collect, and Argos said home delivery was not available. Queueing at the counter or asking staff to check the back no longer gets you anything, because the shop cannot sell them to you.
It's a draw. Argos calls it an Argos Drop, and you'll also see it called the Argos Pokemon lottery. Argos opens an entry window on a product, and once it closes it picks the winners, so speed in the app doesn't decide who gets one. On 22 October 2026 Argos put questions and answers about it on its Pokemon 30th anniversary page, and Pokemon Deals UK posted the same rules on X.
| Question | What Argos said |
|---|---|
| Where do you enter? | In the Argos app, signed in to your account, from the page of the product being drawn |
| How many entries can you make? | One per eligible product |
| When are winners picked? | After the entry window closes |
| How are winners told? | By email and an app notification, with a Golden Ticket |
| How long does a win last? | The Golden Ticket has an expiry time |
| What does a Golden Ticket buy? | One product |
| Are you told if you weren't picked? | No |
When we went back to that page on 24 October the questions had gone. Argos still hadn't said which products it would draw or when the first entry window opens, so the table is how Argos says a drop works, not a timetable.
Argos doesn't tell you if you weren't picked, so hearing nothing means you missed out. A win runs out too, so keep an eye on your email and the app's notifications once entries close. Our draws and invites page lists Argos Drops next to Amazon's invitations and Chaos Cards' draws and tells you when a new one opens. You can mark what you entered and won there, and it reminds you before a Golden Ticket runs out.
It means the product can only be bought in the Argos app. The website shows it, prices it and lets you add it to a wishlist, but there is no trolley button. We read Argos's Pokemon TCG page on 18 September 2026. It said 222 products, and the split was clean: the cards had Buy on the app and almost everything else Pokemon-branded could go in the trolley.
| Product on the page | Button on the tile |
|---|---|
| Pokémon TCG: Mega Evolution Pitch Black Booster Display Box | Buy on the app |
| Pokémon TCG Booster Packs Greninja ex Box Trading Card | Buy on the app |
| Pokémon TCG SNV Shrouded Fable Collection Trading Card | Buy on the app |
| Pokémon Poké Ball Tin | Buy on the app |
| Pokémon 8 Inch Pikachu Plush | Add to trolley |
| Pokémon Trainer Trivia Game | Add to trolley |
Argos does the same with other brands. Argos's page about its app promises app-only exclusives and tells you to "keep an eye out for exclusive promotions and new product launches". It lists Pokemon first among its top brands with app-only offers, ahead of LEGO, Ninja and Samsung.
Yes, but only in the app. We searched Argos for pokemon 30th celebration on 24 October 2026 and got twenty products, all with Buy on the app. They were the same twenty, at the same prices, as on 2 October, the day wave 2 came out, and on 4 and 12 October. On 29 September the same search gave nine. When we opened the Booster Bundle on the website on 4 October, Argos said "Sorry, this product isn't available": the listing only works in the app. That also means the website can't tell you whether anything is in stock right now, and the app is the only place to look. Argos's own Pokemon 30th anniversary page points the same way. It tells you to download the app to get your hands on app-exclusive drops.
| Product on Argos | Argos price | Button on the tile |
|---|---|---|
| Pokémon 30th Celebration Elite Trainer Box Booster Pack Trading Card | £50.00 | Buy on the app |
| Pokémon 30th Celebration Binder Collection Booster Pack Trading Card | £38.00 | Buy on the app |
| Pokémon 30th Celebration Poster Collection Booster Pack Trading Card | £20.00 | Buy on the app |
| Pokémon 30th Celebration Sylveon ex Box Booster Pack Trading Card | £22.00 | Buy on the app |
| Pokémon 30th Celebration Sylveon ex Booster Pack Trading Card | £22.00 | Buy on the app |
| Pokémon 30th Celebration Greninja ex Booster Pack Trading Card | £22.00 | Buy on the app |
| Pokémon 30th Celebration Tech Sticker Booster Pack Lucario Trading Card | £17.00 | Buy on the app |
| Pokémon 30th Celebration Tech Sticker Booster Pack Alolan Exeggutor Trading Card | £17.00 | Buy on the app |
| Pokémon 30th Celebration Booster Packs Eevee Trading Card | £10.00 | Buy on the app |
| Pokémon Mini Tins 30th Celebration Booster Bundle Trading Card (wave 2) | £25.00 | Buy on the app |
| Pokémon 30th Celebration Mini Tins, ten designs listed separately: Lapras, Moltres, Greninja, Mewtwo, Mew, Umbreon, Pikachu, Pikachu Night, Zapdos, Espeon (wave 2) | £13.00 each | Buy on the app |
Wave 2 is the Booster Bundle and the Mini Tins. Asmodee UK, the UK distributor, gives both the Booster Bundle and the Mini Tins a publisher release date of 2 October 2026, and neither was in Argos's search on 29 September. By the morning of release both were. Argos lists each Mini Tin design as a product of its own, ten in all, so a search for one design misses the other nine. The dates and RRPs for the rest of the range are in our Pokemon 30th Anniversary UK guide, and the card list is on the 30th Celebration set page.
What comes next isn't on Argos yet. Going by our 30th Anniversary guide, the Espeon ex and Umbreon ex Battle Decks are due on 30 October, and the Ditto Premium Collection and the Figure Collections on 6 November. None of them was in Argos's search on 24 October. Wave 2 went from missing on 29 September to listed on the morning of release, so don't count on much warning.
Yes. Argos has been trading since 1973 and Sainsbury's has owned it since 2016, going by Sainsbury's own brands page. Its card prices are normal shop prices, too. On 24 October 2026 Argos had the 30th Celebration Booster Bundle at £25.00 and each Mini Tin at £13.00. Asmodee UK, the distributor, prices them at £24.99 and £12.99. The one thing to check is where you're buying. Argos's statement says its Pokemon cards are sold through the Argos app, so that's the place to look.
Argos's help article on orders cancelled without you asking doesn't list the reasons. It says there can be a few, that Argos only cancels when it has to, and that you should contact it if you're unsure why. The money comes back without you doing anything. Argos's refund page says it triggers a refund straight away when an order is cancelled, and your bank can take up to five working days to show it. PayPal refunds can take up to 30 days and Klarna up to 14.
Argos doesn't say a cancelled order gets any priority next time. Your next chance is the next time stock shows up in the app, which is what the steps further down are for.
Going by the May statement, no: it said Click & Collect only. Don't treat that as fixed, though. On 18 September the Pitch Black Booster Display Box tile carried a Free Delivery label beside its Buy on the app button. And on 4 October the Pokémon Battle Academy tile said "Free collection or delivery from £4.95" beside its Buy on the app button. Argos has not explained either, so check which options the app offers you at the moment you buy, and have your nearest store set before a drop so you are not choosing one while stock runs out.
Because the app puts every buyer in front of the same stock at the same moment. When NationalWorld covered the change, one Reddit user it quoted pointed out that stock is shared between a lot of stores locally, so people hunting for it in one shop could affect what the app showed for the others. Moving everything into the app took the in-store side out of that, but it did not add any stock. The wider reasons Pokemon sells out everywhere, from reprint waits to scalpers, are in why Pokemon cards are sold out everywhere.
Argos doesn't publish a day or a time. Its May statement says only that cards will be in the app when they are restocked, and it says nothing about a back-in-stock alert. Its app page just tells you to keep an eye out. An Argos Drop is different, because it has an entry window, but Argos hadn't announced one by 24 October.
The website won't help you spot a restock either. On 24 October 2026 Argos's Pokémon Cards category listed 43 products and every one read Buy on the app. The tile says nothing about stock. The app is the only place Argos shows it, so checking by hand means opening the app again and again and hoping you land in the right few minutes.
Install the Argos app and sign in now
Set your nearest store and check your payment details before anything drops. Every one of those taps costs you time once stock is live.
Set up an Argos monitor on StockWatch
Pick the Pokémon cards quick start, or choose Search or category, search for pokemon and turn on Trading cards only. Search for pokemon rather than the set's name, and if you only want one set, add its name under Only products with these words.
Know which alert means you can buy
A new product alert means Argos has listed something. A first drop or restock alert says whether home delivery, Click & Collect or both have opened, and marks an app-only product as one to buy in the Argos app.
Go straight to the app
Open the product in the Argos app, reserve it for Click & Collect at your store and pay. Collect it when Argos says it is ready.
The Argos monitor is on the Standard and Power User plans, and the settings are explained in the Argos help article. If you also follow the specialist shops and Pokemon Center, the UK Pokemon restock tracker guide covers how to watch several shops at once without drowning in alerts.
Other UK shops sell their scarcest Pokemon stock in their own ways. Chaos Cards runs a draw, Magic Madhouse emails invites to existing customers and Total Cards uses a lottery. Our draws and invites page keeps the ones you can enter in one place. For a set that is not out yet, see when UK shops open Pokemon pre-orders.
An alert that lands after the stock has gone is no use to anyone. Why restock alerts arrive too late explains where that delay comes from.
Only in its stores. In May 2026 Argos said no Pokemon cards would be sold in any Argos store and that restocks would go on sale in the Argos app. On 24 October 2026 its website listed twenty 30th Celebration products, all marked Buy on the app.
Yes. Argos has traded since 1973 and Sainsbury's has owned it since 2016. On 24 October 2026 it had the 30th Celebration Booster Bundle at £25.00 and Mini Tins at £13.00 each, a penny over the distributor's £24.99 and £12.99.
It's what people call the Argos Drop, a draw Argos described on its Pokemon 30th anniversary page on 22 October 2026. You enter in the Argos app, one entry per product, and Argos picks winners after the entry window closes.
In the Argos app, signed in to your account, from the product's own page while its entry window is open. Argos said there is one entry per eligible product.
No. Argos said winners get an email and an app notification with a Golden Ticket, and people who aren't picked aren't told. A Golden Ticket has an expiry time and buys one product.
No. In May 2026 Argos said no Pokemon cards would be available to buy in any Argos store. Restocks are sold in the Argos app and collected from a store.
Yes, in the app only. On 24 October 2026 Argos listed twenty 30th Celebration products, including the Elite Trainer Box and wave 2's Booster Bundle and Mini Tins, and all twenty said Buy on the app.
The website can't tell you. On 24 October 2026 all twenty 30th Celebration products read Buy on the app, and when we opened one on the website on 4 October it said the product wasn't available. Stock only shows in the Argos app.
Yes, app only. Both came out on 2 October 2026 and Argos listed them that day: the Booster Bundle at £25.00 and ten Mini Tin designs at £13.00 each. They were still listed at those prices on 24 October.
The product can only be bought in the Argos app. The website lists it but has no trolley button for it. On 18 September 2026 every trading card tile on Argos's Pokemon TCG page read Buy on the app.
Argos's May 2026 statement said home delivery was not available and restocks were Click & Collect only. Check the options in the app when you buy, because at least one card tile showed a Free Delivery label in September 2026.
Argos does not publish restock dates or times. Cards go on sale in the app when stock arrives, with no announcement, which is why an alert beats checking by hand.
Argos doesn't publish a time or a day. Its May 2026 statement says only that cards go on sale in the app when they are restocked.
Argos's statement on the change does not mention any back-in-stock alert for Pokemon cards. A StockWatch Argos monitor searching for pokemon, with Trading cards only turned on, alerts you when a card product is added or comes back.
Argos says it triggers a refund straight away when it cancels an order, and your bank can take up to five working days to show it. PayPal refunds can take up to 30 days and Klarna up to 14.
Watch Argos for Pokemon restocks Pick the Pokémon cards quick start and get an alert when a card product lands in the app.