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Can’t find cards on shelves? Pokémon promises more

The Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG) is experiencing a massive surge in popularity right now that has left stock of the products almost impossible to find in most places around the world. After months of this an official update on the situation has been released which promises more cards on the way.

“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. Reprinted products are expected to be available at retailers as soon as possible,” an announcement reads.

“For new Pokémon TCG expansions launching in the future, we are maximizing production to increase product availability upon release, and we will continue to reprint the products to replenish stock at retailers as soon as possible.”

So what caused this spike in popularity? Pokémon is widely regarded as the second most popular TCG in the world after Magic: The Gathering, but if you wanted to buy a booster or a theme deck you could usually go to any online shop or brick and mortar store and find stock. That hasn’t been the case for almost a year with shortages and empty shelves being the norm.

This renewed interest in the game and its cards, happened during the various lockdowns which occurred last year due to the pandemic. many people found themselves with extra time on their hands to pursue new hobbies, and these people discovered the card game either as brand new hobbyists or as returning ones who had been involved with the franchise during its heyday in the late 90s and early 2000s.

This was happening quietly in the background of the hobby until Logan Paul entered the chat. The famous YouTuber / boxer / suicide profiteer made headlines by opening a boxed of sealed cards worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Then he did it again recently by pulling the same trick but this time with $2 million.

This sudden realisation that a small subset of vintage cards are worth money made everyone think they were sitting on a goldmine with their childhood collection of cards in an old shoebox. The reality is high value cards are difficult to come by and there’s next to no chance you would happen to have one gathering dust somewhere.

That aside the impact was made and more people jumped on the bandwagon focusing on new cards instead of old ones, and they’ve been rushing to buy up stock which has lead us to where we are today.

The update from Pokémon has given us hope that, going forward, there will be enough to go around even if people with a lot of money go around town trying to buy out all the stock.

“We’re aware that some of you are experiencing difficulties purchasing certain Pokémon Trading Card Game products due to very high demand and global shipping constraints impacting availability. We understand this inconvenience can be disappointing for fans, and we are working to address it where it is within our control,” the announcement adds.

“We’d like to thank the community for their continued support and patience as we work to deliver more Pokémon TCG products to fans.”

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