The Pokémon Trading Figure Game (also referred to as the Pokémon TFG) is a collectible miniatures game

Collectible miniatures game

Collectible miniatures games or CMGs are a form of miniature wargaming that is also similar to collectible card games — the primary difference being that while CCGs are card-based games, CMGs feature miniature figures....

 similar to HeroClix

HeroClix

HeroClix is a collectible miniatures game that uses the Clix system. Originally designed and produced by WizKids, it is now owned and marketed by NECA. Players construct teams of comic book heroes, villains, and other characters from popular video games such as Street Fighter, Gears of War, and Halo...

. It is designed by Pokémon USA and based on Satoshi Tajiri

Satoshi Tajiri

is a Japanese video game designer best known as the creator of Pokémon and the founder of development company Game Freak, Inc. An avid fan of arcade games, Tajiri wrote for and edited his own video gaming fanzine Game Freak with Ken Sugimori, before evolving it into a development company of the...

's Pokémon

Pokémon

is a media franchise published and owned by the video game company Nintendo and created by Satoshi Tajiri in 1996. Originally released as a pair of interlinkable Game Boy role-playing video games developed by Game Freak, Pokémon has since become the second most successful and lucrative video...

media franchise

Media franchise

A media franchise is an intellectual property involving the characters, setting and trademarks of an original work of media , such as a film, a work of literature, a television program or a video game. Generally, a whole series is made in a particular medium, along with merchandising and endorsements...

.

It was released in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 in August 2006, followed by releases in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 and Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...

 later that year. The trading figures have been released in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and were released in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 sometime in 2007. As of March 18, 2008 Mike Liesik announced that the Pokémon TFG will be included in Pokémon Trading Card Leagues so players can earn their rewards in new ways. The first set released is called "Next Quest". The game seems to be played in a luck/strategy format that resembles the boardgame Risk

Risk

Risk is the potential that a chosen action or activity will lead to a loss . The notion implies that a choice having an influence on the outcome exists . Potential losses themselves may also be called "risks"...

 with most actions being controlled by a spin mechanism on the figures. The figures are larger than most other figure games, highly detailed, and meant to introduce this type of game to younger players while holding the interest of older fans of the Pokémon series.

Though released on the announced September 19 date, initial distribution has been slow, and is taking some time to reach full stock levels at many retail outlets.

The upcoming 10th anniversary United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 mall tour will feature an introduction of this new Pokémon line.

Development

The Pokémon Trading Figure Game was designed by Tsunekaz Ishihara, a general producer for Pokémon

Pokémon

is a media franchise published and owned by the video game company Nintendo and created by Satoshi Tajiri in 1996. Originally released as a pair of interlinkable Game Boy role-playing video games developed by Game Freak, Pokémon has since become the second most successful and lucrative video...

 and one of the designers of the trading card game

Pokémon Trading Card Game

The Pokémon Trading Card Game is a collectible card game based on the Pokémon video game series, first introduced in Japan in October 1996, then North America in December 1998...

, with Kouichi Ooyama and Mr. Masayuki Miura. They spent several years preparing the game's look and feel to ensure the best possible trading figure game. They aimed at maintaining the spirit of the Pokémon through all the properties, but realized there would be some differences. The figures are designed and created by Kaiyodo

Kaiyodo

thumb|320px|Kaiyodo Figure Museum Kurokabe is a Japanese company dedicated to figurines and garage kits. Its headquarters is in Kadoma, Osaka Prefecture. While the company mostly focuses on anime related characters, it recently has acquired other licenses, e.g...

, with help from the game designers.

Gameplay

Players take turns moving their Pokémon around the playmat, attempting to get one of their Pokémon on the opponent's Goal. If their Pokémon stops next to an opposing Pokémon, they can choose to battle. In a battle, both players spin their own figures, and the best result wins. A single game can take place on the 3-on-3 playmat or the 6-on-6 playmat. The quick 3-on-3 version lets players explore the basic strategies of the game while the 6-on-6 playmat offers a wider variety of tactics. A player can spin a trainer figure, to use a boost card.

Next Quest set (International Release)

The "Next Quest" set is made up of 42 figures and 8 cards. These pieces are divided into four levels of rarity: white star (extremely rare), black star (rare), black diamond (uncommon) and black circle (common).
There are also 2 subsets, the pearl sub-set which contains all the rare figures and are a pearly colour and the crystal subset are see through and contains all the EXrare figures. A ref figure is also found in the 9 figure set it would appear it is not part of the nextquest set however as it has the promo symbol underneath

Two starter sets are available for this collection, entitled "Flamethrower" and "Riptide". Each starter set contains four figures, as well as the following:

• Double-sided play mat (for 3 vs 3 or 6 vs 6 figurine play).
• 3 trainer cards (Max Revive, X Attack, X Accuracy, or Switch).
• A full-color poster of the 42 figurines in the Next Quest set, with checklist boxes for collectors.
• A rule book.

There are also four different booster packs available; these do not have individual names but are identified by the four different images on each packaging: Pikachu

Pikachu

is one of the species of Pokémon creatures from the Pokémon media franchise—a collection of video games, anime, manga, books, trading cards, and other media created by Satoshi Tajiri. As do all Pokémon, Pikachu fight other Pokémon in battles central to the anime, manga, and games of the series...

, Charizard

Charizard

Charizard, known in Japan as , is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Created by Ken Sugimori, Charizard first appeared in the video games Pokémon Red and Blue and subsequent sequels. They have later appeared in various merchandise, spinoff titles and animated and...

, Groudon, and Feraligatr.

Figures

# (International Release)	Name	Rarity (International Release Only)	Starter Set	Visible Figure-Spot (US Release Only)
Pokémon
1	Charizard Charizard Charizard, known in Japan as , is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Created by Ken Sugimori, Charizard first appeared in the video games Pokémon Red and Blue and subsequent sequels. They have later appeared in various merchandise, spinoff titles and animated and...	Extremely Rare	Flamethrower
2	Feraligatr	Extremely Rare	Riptide
3	Groudon	Extremely Rare		1-Figure Booster
4	Ho-Oh	Extremely Rare		2-Figure and 3-Figure Booster
5	Kyogre	Extremely Rare		1-Figure Booster
6	Lugia Lugia is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Created by Ken Sugimori, Lugia first appeared as a central character in the film Pokémon: The Movie 2000, and later serves as the version mascot of the video game Pokémon Silver and its remake, Pokémon SoulSilver, appearing on the...	Extremely Rare		2-Figure and 3-Figure Booster
7	Abra	Rare
8	Absol	Rare		1-Figure Booster
9	Dratini	Rare
10	Eevee Eevee is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Created by Ken Sugimori, Eevee first appeared in the video games Pokémon Red and Blue and subsequent sequels...	Rare		2-Figure and 3-Figure Booster
11	Meowth Meowth Meowth, known as in original Japanese language versions, is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Created by Ken Sugimori, Meowth first appeared in the video games Pokémon Red and Blue and subsequent sequels, later appearing in various merchandise, spinoff titles and...	Rare	Flamethrower
12	Murkrow	Rare	Riptide
13	Salamence	Rare		2-Figure and 3-Figure Booster
14	Skarmory	Rare
15	Corsola	Uncommon
16	Golem	Uncommon
17	Mudkip Mudkip Mudkip, known in Japan as , is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Created by Ken Sugimori, Mudkip first appeared in the video games Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire and subsequent sequels, later appearing in various merchandise, spinoff titles and animated and printed...	Uncommon		1-Figure Booster
18	Pikachu Pikachu is one of the species of Pokémon creatures from the Pokémon media franchise—a collection of video games, anime, manga, books, trading cards, and other media created by Satoshi Tajiri. As do all Pokémon, Pikachu fight other Pokémon in battles central to the anime, manga, and games of the series...	Uncommon	Riptide	1-Figure Booster
19	Raichu Raichu is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Raichu is the evolution to Pikachu, the mascot of the series. It was originally conceived by Game Freak's character development team and finalized by Ken Sugimori. Its name comes from the Japanese kanji "rai," meaning thunder,...	Uncommon
20	Scyther Scyther Scyther, known in Japan as , is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise linked through evolution. Created by Ken Sugimori, Scyther first appeared in the video games Pokémon Red and Blue, while Scizor was introduced in Pokémon Gold and Silver...	Uncommon		3-Figure Booster(Target)
21	Torchic Torchic Torchic, known in Japan as , is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Created by Ken Sugimori, it first appeared in the video games Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire and subsequent sequels, later appearing in various merchandise, spinoff titles and animated and printed...	Uncommon		1-Figure Booster
22	Treecko Treecko Treecko, known in Japan as , is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Created by Ken Sugimori, Treecko first appeared in the video games Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire and subsequent sequels, later appearing in various merchandise, spinoff titles and animated and printed...	Uncommon	Flamethrower
23	Voltorb	Uncommon
24	Weezing	Uncommon
25	Zangoose	Uncommon		2-Figure and 3-Figure Booster
26	Beedrill	Common
27	Doduo	Common
28	Ekans	Common
29	Machop	Common
30	Mareep	Common
31	Marill	Common
32	Nidoran♂	Common
33	Sentret	Common
34	Shroomish	Common
35	Spearow	Common
36	Tauros	Common
37	Teddiursa	Common
38	Weedle	Common
Trainers
39	Brock Brock (Pokémon) Brock, known as in Japanese versions, is a video game character in the Pokémon franchise. In the Pokémon video games, he is the Gym Leader of Pewter City and mainly uses Rock -type Pokémon; in the anime series, he left his position as a Gym Leader to travel alongside Ash Ketchum and become a...	Rare
40	Misty Misty (Pokémon) Misty, known as in Japanese versions, is a fictional character in the Pokémon franchise. She has appeared as a Gym Leader in the Pokémon video games, several seasons of the Pokémon anime, The Electric Tale of Pikachu manga, the Ash & Pikachu manga, toys, books, and other media.-Design:Misty's...	Rare
41	Brendan	Common	Riptide
42	Red	Common	Flamethrower
Other
001	Ref	Promo
1	Turtwig	Promo		3-Figure Booster
2	Chimchar	Promo		3-Figure Booster
3	Piplup	Promo		3-Figure Booster

Next Quest set (US release)

There are several differences between the International and US release.

Packaging

The US release offers two types of starter sets and three types of booster packs. All retail packagings are made of printed cardboard and plastic clamshell. The 1-figure booster pack has one visible figure-spot. The 2-figure booster pack has one visible figure-spot, and one secret figure spot. The 3-figure booster pack has two visible figure-spots, and one secret figure-spot.

The visible figure-spot in the 1-figure booster pack contains either Groudon, Kyogre, Pikachu, Absol, Torchic, or Mudkip.

The visible figure-spot in the 2-figure booster pack and one of the visible figure-spot in the 3-figure booster pack contain either Ho-Oh, Lugia, Eevee, Salamence, or Zangoose. Scyther was later released as a visible figure in the Target-exclusive 3-figure booster pack.

The second visible figure-spot in the 3-figure booster pack originally contained the Pokémon Diamond and Pearl starters. A Target-exclusive release of the 3-figure booster pack has the starters replaced by crystal variations of the other visible figures.

The secret figure-spots in the 2-figure and 3-figure booster packs contain one random non-promotional figure from the Next Quest set. Red and Brendan trainer figures from the starter sets appear rarely in the secret figure-spot of the 3-figure booster packs.

Figure Distribution

The figures from the US release do not have figure rarity and rarity symbol.

Packaging Contents

The secret figure-spots from the US release booster packs always have one trainer card. All figures from the US release are sold with the spinner base, and the color of the spinner base in the secret figure-spot matches the color of the base in the visible figure-spot of the same pack.

Figure Construction

Beedrill figure from the US release has an additional support rod connecting between the Beedrill figure and the figure base.

Groundbreakers set

Groundbreakers is the first expansion set.

#	Name	Rarity	Starter Set
Pokémon
1	Armaldo
2	Blastoise Blastoise Blastoise, known in Japan as , is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Created by Ken Sugimori, Blastoise first appeared in the video games Pokémon Red and Blue and subsequent sequels, later appearing in various merchandise, spinoff titles and animated and printed...
3	Bulbasaur Bulbasaur Bulbasaur, known as in Japan, is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Designed by Ken Sugimori, their name is a combination of the words "bulb" and "dinosaur." First appearing in Pokémon Red and Blue as a Starter Pokémon, they later appeared in subsequent sequels,...
4	Cacnea
5	Cyndaquil
6	Elekid
7	Flaaffy
8	Geodude		Whirlwind
9	Girafarig Girafarig Girafarig, known in Japan as , is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Created by Ken Sugimori, Girafarig first appeared in the video games Pokémon Gold and Silver and subsequent sequels, later appearing in various merchandise, spinoff titles and animated and printed...
10	Hariyama		Skydive
11	Jigglypuff Jigglypuff Jigglypuff, known in Japan as , is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Created by Ken Sugimori, Jigglypuff first appeared in the video games Pokémon Red and Blue and subsequent sequels, later appearing in various merchandise, spinoff titles and animated and printed...
12	Kabuto Kabuto A kabuto is a helmet used with traditional Japanese armour as worn by the samurai class and their retainers in feudal Japan....
13	Kadabra
14	Lairon
15	Lapras Lapras is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Created by Ken Sugimori, Lapras first appeared in the video games Pokémon Red and Blue and subsequent sequels, later appearing in various merchandise, spinoff titles and animated and printed adaptations of the franchise.-Concept...
16	Larvitar
17	Latias		Whirlwind
18	Latios		Skydive
19	Linoone
20	Mankey
21	Metagross		2-Figure Booster
22	Mewtwo Mewtwo is a fictional creature in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon media franchise. Created by Ken Sugimori, it first appeared in the video games Pokémon Red and Blue and their sequels, and later appeared in various merchandise, spinoff titles, as well as animation adaptations of the franchise...
23	Mightyena		Whirlwind
24	Noctowl
25	Poliwag
26	Psyduck Psyduck Psyduck, known as in Japan, is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Created by Ken Sugimori, Psyduck first appeared in the video games Pokémon Red and Blue and later in subsequent sequels. They have later appeared in various merchandise, spinoff titles and animated and...
27	Raticate		Skydive
28	Slaking
29	Smoochum Smoochum Smoochum, known in Japan as , is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Created by Ken Sugimori, Smoochum first appeared in the video games Pokémon Gold and Silver and subsequent sequels, later appearing in various merchandise, spinoff titles and animated and printed...
30	Snubbull
31	Spinarak
32	Spinda
33	Steelix Steelix Steelix, known in Japan as , is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Created by Ken Sugimori, Steelix first appeared in the video games Pokémon Gold and Silver and subsequent sequels, later appearing in various merchandise, spinoff titles and animated and printed...
34	Venusaur Venusaur Venusaur, known in Japan as , is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Created by Ken Sugimori, Venusaur first appeared in the video games Pokémon Red and Blue and subsequent sequels, later appearing in various merchandise, spinoff titles and animated and printed...
35	Wartortle
36	Wobbuffet
37	Xatu
38	Zubat
Trainers
39	Green		Skydive
40	Koga
41	Landon		Whirlwind
42	Sabrina

Pokémon Groundbreakers "Skydive" TFG Starter contains: Green, Latios, Raticate and Hariyama. Preliminary release date is listed as 12/14/2007 on Amazon.com subject to change; however, the starter set "Skydive" was available and purchased at Wal-Mart in-store as early as 11/15/2007.

External links

• The Official Pokémon TFG and TCG Site
• Pokémon 10th Anniversary Mall Tour