‘Premium Trainer’s XY Collection’ To Be Sold Early at Hobby Stores!

Since May, TPCi has allowed hobby stores who hold Pokemon TCG prereleases to sell new sets before their release date. And now, hobby stores will have yet another incentive to host the events!

Qualifying hobby stores who held Burning Shadows prereleases and who are eligible to hold Crimson Invasion prereleases will now be eligible to sell the upcoming “Premium Trainer’s XY Collection” a month early!

The official release date for the collection is November 17th — that’s when you’ll see it at stores like Target and Walfart — but qualifying hobby stores will be able to sell it starting October 20th!

This is another great move by TPCi to get hobby stores and fans more invested in Play! Pokemon. It gives early sales to the shops who work to support the game, it’s a great incentive for those shops to continue growing organized play, and it’s a great way to tempt fans into joining a League when they visit these shops. After all, if you’re a fan who loves Pokemon so much that you would go out of your way to buy a PTCG product early from a hobby shop, you’re probably also the same kind of fan who would be interested in joining organized play.

This move also doesn’t threaten sales at big box retailers since they already receive major foot traffic. Their customers are a different kind of demographic, i.e. those who would not usually venture into hobby shops (such as casual fans, kids, and parents who are grocery shopping and just want to grab something to throw under the Christmas tree for little Jimmy).

In addition to this news, we now have images of Shaymin-EX and N from the Collection. As you can see, they are alternate art promos. Again, this means Shaymin-EX will still not be legal for Standard play come this fall.