All is not well in the world of the Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG). Ever since the fiasco that was the original launch for the Prismatic Evolutions expansion set, it feels like the logistical side of the TCG is moving from pothole to pothole.
The Original Promise Made
Once it became apparent that the demand for Prismatic Evolutions heavily outweighed the available supply, the Pokémon Company International (TPCi) made an announcement. On January 16th, it was announced that TPCi would be printing more products from the Prismatic Evolutions line and shipping them out as soon as possible.
One month later, we were given an announcement for the Prismatic Evolutions Super-Premium Collection. Intended to help fix the ongoing supply problem, this product will be available on May 16th.
Unfortunately, the official TPCi store page lists all of the current Prismatic Evolutions items as sold out. A second-hand market like TCGplayer is faring no better as the same items are either sold out or worse, being peddled at prices that are exorbitantly higher than the standard MSRP.
It Happened Again
You’d think that TPCi would’ve learned its lesson after what happened with Prismatic Evolutions. After all, 'once burned, twice shy,' right?
While the launch of the Journey Together expansion has been smooth so far, with no wild stories or fan reaction, it still doesn’t change the fact that this product line is also sold out at the official Pokémon Center store page.
To take it a step further, the pre-order period for the upcoming Destined Rivals expansion set had figuratively gone up in flames.
Mired with long online waiting queues and a frustrating UI experience, a lot of fans were ultimately left with a mix of disappointment and vexation as they were unable to make their pre-order purchase.
Even if you were one of the lucky customers who were able to snag a copy of a product for yourself, you were not out of the proverbial woods yet.
It appears that order cancellations started sweeping across the internet with almost no explanation given.
As far as we could tell, this was centered around the Elite Trainer Box, but there is a chance that other parts of the product line were affected but hadn’t been brought into the spotlight.
Will They Ever Learn?
Despite the shared love the fans have for this franchise and the annual celebrations that TPCi has managed to instill with their products. This situation is a habit that keeps on going.
The lack of product supply, the exorbitantly scalped prices, the long waiting periods for a product reprint, for every two steps the Pokémon TCG takes in enriching the environment they are trying to build, they take a step -maybe two- backwards.
As a customer, there is a certain level of understanding that a company needs to turn a profit in order to keep their business going. The wheel turns, but does it have to be at the expense of the fans?
We can only hope that down the line, TPCi finally learns from all these lessons so that all the fans who wish to genuinely support the franchise are not left wanting.