Potential Upcoming Issues for TCG Resellers

Despite problems existing for Pokemon collectors and Pokemon players in the TCG for several years now, it’s looking like there might be small signs of things potentially turning around. Obviously we’re not there yet, but every little thing that we see is another reason for hopeful optimism. This last week saw three things happen that are signs of the resale environment recovering with the last one being quite hilarious the more you think about it.

You might already know stores that are authorized to host official trading card competitions get official merchandise to give out as rewards for winners called “Play! Pokémon Prize Packs”. These Packs are filled with a bunch of reprint cards, but have the unique quality of having the “league stamp” on them. Smart store owners know that these are a privilege to have access to, and are meant to help encourage competition and community. "Prize Pack Series 9" recently started being delivered to these stores all across America, and less than honorable individuals decided to try selling boxes of these packs online for an obscene price. Thankfully the community has had a less than favorable reaction to seeing these listings. Calling for the stores to be identified and reported to TPCi, if community members follow through and correctly police these actions, stores will lose their authorization to host official events including Prereleases.

The second amusing piece of information to come out recently is the unusual recognition of an all-to-well-known problem. In a recent investors meeting, the problem and challenges surrounding the unfair and oversaturated nature of the secondhand market was addressed. With Japan already using ID to verify purchases, and other practices such as made-to-order batches being considered the most promising. A publicly released statement by Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa was as fallows;

"We believe that The Pokemon Company will continue to take measures to respond to this issue.”

These measures may already be visible with the first wave of 30th Anniversary Elite Trainer Boxes being available for purchase for 8 hours. Leading many to believe that the product wasn’t necessarily ready, but TPCi was using the extended availability window to measure how much product they should print.

Between this, several different products coming soon from the 30th Anniversary set, and different policies being tested out by the Pokemon Company International. It looks like there might be more hurdles coming soon for profit motivated individuals. Here’s hoping this translates to more purchase opportunities for the long-term true at heart Pokemon fans.