The Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG) community is embroiled in the biggest scandal they’ve ever known.
Over the weekend, a photo was posted on subreddit r/PokemonTCG by user GuavaWave, along with the caption, “Viewed this on a group (Facebook)”.
The image depicts what appears to be a large number of super rare Pokémon cards, all gathered on a single table in a casual setting. The cards shown in the picture range from the rainbow VMAX word, most notably the hundreds of “alternative arts” or “alternative arts” cards (these are terms most commonly used by players and fans alike. grave used to describe the rarest modern Pokémon card level).
For context, list current average prices on TCGPlayer.com (a popular online card marketplace) for a Espeon VMAX “Alternative Art” To be $151.50 each Card. Given the incredible abundance of this super-rare scissors shown in the picture and other similar rare cards, this leaves only two plausible facts, both of which have been heavily rumored online: here are all fakes, or, they are all stolen. The latter is currently the leading theory.
The lawless effects have caused a tidal wave throughout the Pokémon TCG community and the TCG community in general, with many fans expressing extreme displeasure that their packages may have been tampered with. . These card expansion sets are derived from, Unified attackreleased on November 12, 2021 in the Americas, has long suffered from nagging claims from fans about mercilessly low drag rates.
It is now widely suggested that this large-scale theft may have been the primary cause of this perception, with countless collectors questioning the Pokémon Company’s ability to prevent insider abuse. , the legitimacy of their product, or both.
What do we know for sure?
Sadly, very little is confirmed, despite an official statement from the private Facebook group World of transaction cards, claiming to be the source of the original photo. (Reddit user GuavaWave helped provide the private group’s statement in a Reddit post here.)
In a nutshell, Trading Card World’s statement states:
- They are the initiators of online photo publishing
- Photo depicting a sales effort for a local merchant card store
- The local store in question worked with The Pokémon Company to help with legal recall of the cards in question and was asked to keep the information private pending some sort of investigation. (not sure if this is a legal or internal investigation)
According to Trading Card World, the Pokémon Company has called this “…the biggest return of stolen property .” [in the company’s history] hitherto.”
Also, the image has been suggested to be actually a couple of years ago by people who claim to have inside knowledge of the event, it’s likely that the photo’s date is closer to the time of the set’s release. in 2021. If this is in fact at all true, then there is some evidence to support the claim that this episode may have affected the supply chain of Pokémon. We have reached out to both The Pokémon Company International and Trading Card World regarding this story but have yet to receive a response.
However, keep in mind that the Pokémon Company claims to have printed over 9 billion Pokémon cards over the past year, which means it’s hard to imagine that even a few stacks of lucrative cards could realistically affect your personal withdrawal rates over the course of several years. However, it is unknown how many of those 9 billion cards printed are specific to any particular set, or the company’s overall mathematical formula for super-rare pulls, any impact on the odds. The pull rate is still just speculation.
What does this mean for preferences?
Regardless of the outcome of the event, TCG is likely to run into an even bigger problem: since this image went public, Additional images of similar quality have appeared. This has led to much speculation that stolen stock occurring somewhere between printing and distribution may not be anecdotal, but, in fact, indicative of a much larger problem, no matter what. is said.
In the above tweet from @MeechFromPalletTCG enthusiasts show a large amount Rayquaza VMAX “Alternative Art” as well as scandal Umbreon VMAX “Alternative Art” card. This is notable because:
- we can still see another stack of super rare cards in the upper left corner of this second image;
- they are entirely from another set of Pokémon Cards (Evolved Sky) and;
- average value on TCGPlayer.com of these cards individualsince publication, is $319.50 And $674.99corresponding.
Except for both of these being very impressive fakes or tens of thousands of dollars spent on raw Pokémon cards, this image is also downright criminal.
Then on April 18th, yet other video (from @SakurasCardShopalso claims to have original photo leak) shows the entire sleeveless collection of rainbow card VMAX Mew from the Fusion Strike set that went viral on the internet. TCG Player lists each of these Mew cards currently having an average value of $39.48since publication.
For reference, it’s not uncommon that the entire Fusion Strike booster box (i.e. six shrink-wrapped booster boxes of 36 packs each) doesn’t have a single Mew VMAX rainbow card in the box.
Is free access to this super-rare bulk ultimately to blame for the factory workers? Recent Posts from PokéBeach.com claims to have insight into the mill’s grading card process, showing that at least one breach won’t be enough to impact pull rates on a large scale.
Regardless, poignant statements like these have done little to quell the general mood of the community. We reached out to PokéBeach about their recent post, but they did not respond to our request for comment.
In the end, without any official comment from the Pokémon Company, all we are left with are provocative images, speculation, and a sour feeling that the 9 billion Pokémon cards that were recently distributed by the Pokémon Company. Pokémon may have been missing so many cards that fans are chasing them all along.
We will update this article with any additional comments from the referenced parties as we receive them.
