A little over three weeks before 30th Celebration launched worldwide on 16 September 2026, The Pokémon Company moved against early sales of cards from the set. It became public on 24 August, when seller Danny MadTown Collect shared a removal notice from eBay, Dexerto reports. Among the cards affected was a Sylveon ex Special Illustration Rare.
eBay removed the listings under its stolen property policy and told sellers not to relist without proof that the cards came from an authorised source. Behind it is Pokémon's position that no card from the set had yet been sold through an official channel, Wargamer writes. Pokémon has not said where the early cards came from.
30th Celebration is the first set in the card game's history to release worldwide on the same day – in Europe, too, it reached regular shops on 16 September.