I missed the Journey Together ETB preorder.
My nephew loves Pokemon cards, it's what he and I bond over. I taught him how to play the TCG, and we go to card shops about every month or so to look at singles and play Pokemon TCG, but that's coming to an end.
He's getting burnt out, because we can't find unsealed product for new sets. I explained what scalping is to him, and he asked me what could fix it (he suggested the president of the US do something about it). I explained that the only way to fix it would be for the Pokemon Company to come up with a way to provide product directly to actual players, or to print more product. He doesn't understand why the Pokemon Company won't do this. For the past few months, when we go to shops and return home with nothing but singles, he's bummed out because he loves opening packs but we can't find any.
I made it just in time to pick up an ETB for Prismatic Evolution which I'm giving to him for his birthday, but I was unable to get an ETB for the upcoming set Journey Together. It was sold out in just a few minutes.
How do I explain this to my nephew? I know singles are the safest bet but he loves ripping packs. I'm afraid that he'll become disinterested in the hobby. Is anyone else dealing with this?
Comments
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I mean I’m pretty sure you’ll have a second chance (though still have to be as fast as can be) when the set releases but I understand how difficult it is to get cards lately probably because of the immense success of Tcg pocket leading to a higher interest in the Tcg game which is also evident in pricing of certain rare cards going up quite a bit
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At least you got prismatic evolutions. I didn't even get that 🤷♂️
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GameStop still has single packs of Journey Together available for preorder!
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I was able to preorder the Journey Together ETB at my local GameStop yesterday night, so it might be worth checking there to ask if they are still able to be preordered. With GameStop, the ETBs can only be preordered in person at stores (not online).
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Thank you, just ordered 8 packs. It doesn't brighten my outlook on the hobby, but it's a small consolation. I'd like to be able to just subscribe to something that guarantees me an ETB every set or something. It seems so simple but here we are scrounging for whatever's left.
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this is because EVERYONE wants the new sets i hate that.
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in my country is the pre-order of the blooming waters premium collection everywhere OR double the price OR Sold out
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You got prismatic?!?!?!? Those are Impossible to find! I can tell you that journey together will probably in stock once it comes out, unlike prismatic. ( I think it's on pre order at gamestop right now, I'm not sure though)
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I know the feeling and frustration as well. I just recently got that nostalgia urge to get back into Pokemon. I haven’t played or collected Pokemon since I was 12, and I’m now 35. I do miss the old feeling of just collecting the cool cards and pulling those awesome pulls. Watching the show as a kid was always a nostalgic experience as was playing the games. And I only played up to Crystal. So I don’t know all of the newer games or Pokemon. And honestly it’s overwhelming lol.
But when I saw the 151 collection I was pretty stoked and thought that would be the best set to start me off with collecting since it’s the original Pokemon I grew up on. But alas, I haven’t gotten a single pack from that set. Why? Scalpers and just people buying them out asap. It’s so hard to find them unless I want to pay an egregious amount of money for them.
I’ve tried ordering some online, out of stock or the one time I found the premium collection for about $130 I bought two since that was the lowest I could find. Tried to buy it for a birthday gift to myself and after waiting about a month or so and multiple delayed shipping dates, they just canceled my order. Why? It was out of stock. So they took my money and made me wait over a month and profiting on my money they cancel it because they couldn’t fulfill the order I paid for. Idk why they should be allowed to take my money for stock they don’t have.
Tried going to numerous dollar generals and wasting tons of time and gas to try and get lucky with maybe finding any of the 3 pack or bundles they sometimes carry. Nope, people buy them out immediately. And I get to see these posted on Facebook marketplace for $30 when they cost $15.
And the packs they sell at Costco or Sams club or any other store are always raided by scalpers or thieves who just rip open the packs in store and leave the trash. And the associates don’t set limits on these people pulling up with an entire flat cart or pallet of pokemon cards and us people who actually enjoy collecting or just want a couple for ourselves can’t even afford or find any.
Honestly, I don’t see why they can’t enforce a law or regulations to prevent scalpers from reselling sealed products way above msrp. Like the cards themselves fine, but why force people to pay way more for products that are bought out immediately and we have to scavenge and hope we get lucky. Sorry, I’m not paying 2-3 times the price for the same odds of pulling nothing to make it worth my time or money. Like people who aren’t licensed officially shouldn’t be allowed to sell sealed products since people already scam and weigh packs and try to sell single packs out of bundles they’ve weighed and take the big hits from.
They should limit the amount people can buy at once. But it will never happen, why? Because they still make their money, so why should they care about the actual fan base? It’s a shame, honestly the internet has made things worse for things like this because people have such easier access to just find and buy out instantly before most have time to do so.
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