I'm going to start this piece off with a little praise for the Pokemon Company. Since I've been an outspoken critic of the Pokemon TCG lately, I'd like to consider yesterday's Pokemon Center Special 30th Anniversary Elite Trainer Box a success. As we reported, the stock looked plentiful, and it remained on the site for at least three hours, allowing many people to get their hands on some of the products.
Unfortunately, though, there are only a few certainties in life. Death, taxes, and scalpers, the latter of which have been lingering in the Pokemon TCG for far too long, even Nintendo is now getting involved.
Sensing an opportunity to make a quick buck, these scalpers descended on Pokemon Center for the drop last night, grabbing boatloads of Elite Trainer boxes and instantly flipping them for up to seven times the RRP.
Pokemon Center Special 30th Anniversary Elite Trainer Boxes are, of course, being scalped
The 30th anniversary set of the Pokemon TCG was always going to be a nightmare. I still get a kick out of trying to get my hands on the products from the 25th Anniversary Celebration set, and the TCG has been immensely popular ever since, for both good and bad reasons. And bad reasons have once again dominated with this latest decline.
While the queue system on the Pokemon Center website worked a treat, it didn't stop scalpers. Queues used to go live sooner than people listing exclusive Pokemon Center products on eBay.
The cheapest available on the US version of eBay right now is $391.68, plus an extra $40.66 for shipping from Canada. They are comfortably selling between $250 and $410. That's almost seven times the $59.99 RRP.
It's a similar story in the UK, with the cheapest available Pokemon Center Exclusive 30th Anniversary Elite Trainer Box listed for just £200 ($270), selling for £315 ($426) at the height of some queuing hype. This is why I bemoan the current state of Pokemon cards.
Of course, this is not the first time. In fact, this happens at every Pokémon Center ETB in existence; It's just that these prices already reached indicate how bad things are.
As I mentioned before, though, this 30th anniversary expansion was already going to be a nightmare. There's a great breadth of products for players and collectors to get their hands on, some really neat, unique promos, and the cards in the set are great too. It will include 30 different Pikachus, some amazing ARs, new FUR rarities, and reprints of some of the best cards in history.
There are still more products to be released by Pokemon, but it's off to a disappointing start.
- Original release date
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October 20, 1996
- Count the players
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2
- Age recommendation
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6+
- Length per game
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variable
- Franchise Name
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Pokemon
