Adjust Your Expectations: Pokemon TCG Shortages Will Continue Into 2021

don()shinobi

PokeBeach's Yu-Gi-Oh enthusiast. I guess.
Member
We understand this inconvenience can be disappointing for fans, and we are working to address it where it is within our control.
In situations where there is limited availability, we are actively working to print more of the impacted Pokémon TCG products as quickly as possible and at maximum capacity to support this increased demand.
So... they've always had the power to print more product to meet demand and just haven't until now? Am I missing something? Or am I reading too much into this?
 

Animegamer420

Aspiring Trainer
Member
With the amount of large box sets i saw just lying around, just to dissappear the very next day, indicates it wasnt scalpers and i think they were recalled by vendors; and that this is an artificial shortage to drive up sales and value. I say conspiracy
 

Skeleton Liar

サーナ~
Member
I mean, I hope for the best, but... I'll believe it when I see it.

I was typing a lot about all of the factors and hypotheticals about this whole mess, but I scrapped it because that sums up what I think.

Edit: Though, I will say that demand outweighing supply has been an issue before the pandemic happened.
 
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Scoop

Literally a sheep
Member
Let me start by saying, regardless, I'm glad they're acknowledging things. That's a good sign. A lot like @Skeleton Liar I'm going to hope for the best but I'm only going to believe it when I see it.

I'd love to believe that Pokémon will do their best to improve their supply, and I completely understand the difficulties the pandemic has wrought upon the supply chain of basically any business and industry. It's inevitable that there were going to be issues and any sensible person would understand this.

However... They haven't been printing to demand since Hidden Fates came out. Which is why I'm remaining cautious on how much this is going to change things. Returning to the Hidden Fates level of stock isn't going to fix issues at all. So are they going to make an attempt to go beyond that? Or are they going to try and just go back to that old level of "Normal," where we're still going to have scalpers and whatnot buy everything out, just in greater numbers.

I'd like to remain hopeful that the former is what will happen, if not anytime soon, then once the pandemic, who knows when, settles some more and the supply chain is able to fully work to the levels it would in a normal situation. I understand the difficulties, as said before, but I also hope Pokemon takes the time to analyze the supply and demand situation and adapt. Otherwise, nothing will be solved, even post-pandemic.



As an aside-and I don't know how feasible this is- I think both a preorder window and/or the ability to backorder, would be a great way to combat the scalping issue. Giving customers a preorder window could give them a time to order what they want (within a certain limitation per person, of course) of the new release, Pokemon produces it to order, and then everyone who ordered gets their shipment of it, so long as they ordered within the preorder time period.

Backordering too, would allow for more reserves to be made even if the product goes out of stock. I did this with some Lego products that went out of stock the day they came out, and although there was some waiting, the point was I still got what I wanted. Even though it took some time to wait, which is fine, that backorder still allowed me to get the product even though I technically "missed" it. Pokemon allowing this for product releases would help as well, though scalpers would still be an issue. There would just have to be sufficient enough shipments to ensure that those who can backorder have ample time to do so.

Granted, I'm no supply chain manager, but I think if other industries can do this, Pokemon is well able to as well. They're only losing out by not giving the supply that matches the demand. Scalpers will always be an issue, don't get me wrong, but whatever improvement we can get we should encourage.
 
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The Binder Guy

Aspiring Trainer
Member
Didn’t they say the SAME thing regarding Champion’s Path’s supply issue back in October and it only resulted in the ETBs being reprinted?

That said I’m more of pessimist and, until I actually SEE more products in stores and said stores putting HARSH limits on the amount of product a person can buy per day, I’ll continue to see Tweets like these as “heartfelt” pleas to the crowd that ultimately ring hollow.
 

stealthboy

Aspiring Trainer
Member
Didn’t they say the SAME thing regarding Champion’s Path’s supply issue back in October and it only resulted in the ETBs being reprinted?

That said I’m more of pessimist and, until I actually SEE more products in stores and said stores putting HARSH limits on the amount of product a person can buy per day, I’ll continue to see Tweets like these as “heartfelt” pleas to the crowd that ultimately ring hollow.

Agree completely. They are just saying what they have to say, but in the retail stores it won't make a difference. There will still be bare shelves. And what's left at independent card shops will be 2x or 3x the price. I never was able to obtain a Champion's Path ETB at retail price.
 

Skeleton Liar

サーナ~
Member
Didn’t they say the SAME thing regarding Champion’s Path’s supply issue back in October and it only resulted in the ETBs being reprinted?

That said I’m more of pessimist and, until I actually SEE more products in stores and said stores putting HARSH limits on the amount of product a person can buy per day, I’ll continue to see Tweets like these as “heartfelt” pleas to the crowd that ultimately ring hollow.
That was one of the rambling bits that I scrapped from my post. They tweeted there would be more Champion's Path in October, and I only saw products in a Target once over a month later. Never again. And I never saw products in stores before that tweet. That was the only time I witnessed Champion's Path in the wild. I mean, I know that's anecdotal, but I at least thought I would have seen this set more than once. And I recall the Pokemon Center having pre-orders for the ETB reprint, but that lasted a whopping whole day, if that; I don't remember how long it was up before being filled.
 

Number51x

Blasting off at the speed of light!
Member
That was one of the rambling bits that I scrapped from my post. They tweeted there would be more Champion's Path in October, and I only saw products in a Target once over a month later. Never again. And I never saw products in stores before that tweet. That was the only time I witnessed Champion's Path in the wild. I mean, I know that's anecdotal, but I at least thought I would have seen this set more than once. And I recall the Pokemon Center having pre-orders for the ETB reprint, but that lasted a whopping whole day, if that; I don't remember how long it was up before being filled.
You're not alone. I saw product on shelves one time, for part of a day, and then never again.
 

mrpnut03

Aspiring Trainer
Advanced Member
Member
I told off some scalpers today, felt I was the dark knight doing Gotham’s work.
 

softsoph

Aspiring Trainer
Member
The problem with announcements like this is I think most of them react to them emotionally and don’t think long term big picture. What would be the point of someone spending money to get into playing this game (especially in standard) if they know the cards they have will never retain any kind of value because they can be reprinted at any time? We will have to wait and see how far back they truly go, if they start printing Team Up forward again then I would say the game is officially dead to collectors and a lot of people will not waste money starting to play it in the masters devision
Jeez what a shitty take. I'm a collector and I don't mind these being reprinted at all despite being around when these came out and having some of the sets.
I only care about what's in my collection, not how rare or limited it is..
 

signofzeta

Aspiring Trainer
Member
I don't mind if people want their cards to retain value, but if people are complaining that cards don't retain value from the newest set, then that's a problem.

It's not like TPCi would want to decide to reprint some Black & White sets.
 

rareskyone

Aspiring Trainer
Member
Pokémon TCG is dying, but it isn't dead. In fact, the fan base in the United States has seemingly grown in recent years, rather than wither away like other countries.
 

ShaQuL

@KabutoKingTCG
Member
Pokémon TCG is dying, but it isn't dead. In fact, the fan base in the United States has seemingly grown in recent years, rather than wither away like other countries.
Where did you even get this information from? In the UK it was thriving before the lockdowns.
 

Number51x

Blasting off at the speed of light!
Member
So it hit me today while trying in vain to pick up some of Shining Fates, but instead finding MTG cards where the Pokemon should be in multiple stores; why isn't Magic having this supply/stock problem?
 
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