Technology
6 min read
Pentagon Now Selling Rare Pokémon Cards
Kotaku
January 20, 2026•1 day ago

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A "Lucky Box" vending machine, offering rare sports and trading cards, has been installed in the Pentagon's food court. The machine, which dispenses cards like a rare Pikachu for $100-$200, was reportedly set up around Christmas. This installation signifies a new type of amenity being introduced into the military headquarters, featuring high-value collectibles as potential prizes.
Rare Pokémon cards are locked up in one of the most secure locations in the United States. The Surging Sparks Pikachu, which includes a full art illustration of the little yellow guy adorned in a Stellar-type Tera crown, is sitting in a Lucky Box vending machine in the Pentagon food court. Good luck getting into that, card robbers.
404 Media reports that the Lucky Box vending machine, which is essentially a gacha machine for rare, graded cards of both the sports and trading card game variety, was seemingly put up in the United States’ military headquarters around Christmas Eve last month.
The Pentagon recently installed these jersey/Pokémon card/crypto gambling machines. What should an Army version gamble on?
byu/Kinmuan inarmy
In a now-deleted Threads announcement, Lucky Box posted that it had set up one of its loot box machines in the Pentagon food court, and among the potential prizes which the machine’s display touts could be yours if you blindly give it some cash is the aforementioned Pikachu card. Based on photos posted on the Army subreddit, the machine also has an image of a giant Charizard card on the side of it, but it’s unclear if that’s just decoration or if the original fire-breathing dragon card is also in that specific machine. Taking your chances at a Luck Box machine can cost anywhere from $100 to $200.
Lucky Box’s social media accounts include photos of big winners, some of whom won rare Pokémon cards, while others won autographed jerseys from various sports teams. But it doesn’t look like they’ve posted anyone scoring something big in the middle of the Pentagon yet. In fact, most of its posts feature the boxes in Las Vegas, where over 20 of the machines are found. The winners that are featured are finding some pretty valuable Pokémon cards, though, from a rare Venusaur to the ancient Mew promo card from Pokémon: The First Movie’s theatrical run.
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