Special Pokemon TCG sets are often a challenge for players to collect. A lack of booster boxes makes getting single packs almost impossible, leaving players to hunt down packs in collections and ETBs. The Black Bolt & White Flare expansion will present all of these struggles, plus a few additional hurdles. However, for Unova fans, it is a treasure trove of collectible pulls.
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Black Bolt & White Flare are not the typical special set. Unlike Paldean Fates of Prismatic Evolutions, Black Bolt and White Flare each have their own card list of unique pulls. This means players will be hunting down a list of almost 400 cards.
Despite this, the dual-card-list expansion offers some of the most beautiful Illustration Rares of Unova Pokemon to date, and highlights fan-favorite characters like N in stunning full art cards. It is a Black & White fan’s dream come true, even with the hurdles we encountered while reviewing the set.
Limited Collections With High Price Tags
One of the first and most important things to point out about Black Bolt & White Flare is the price. Because booster packs can only be obtained via collections, booster bundles, blister packs, mini tins, and ETBs, the cost of the set is going to add up quickly. Additionally, fans will need to buy multiples of each item if they want to pull from both card lists, as Booster Bundles and ETBs will be “version exclusive”.
For this review, The Pokemon Company provided ComicBook with a Black Bolt ETB, Flare White Booster Bundle, a Binder Collection, a Poster Collection, a single Mini Tin, a Tech Sticker blister pack, the promo starter blister pack, and the Large Card Victini Collector’s set. This gave us plenty of booster packs to pull from for each of the sets.
Like with Prismatic Evolutions, the pricetag of the items is offset by the quality of each option. The Binder Collection offers a stunning place to store cards, with a premium binder cover and extra-protected card sleeves. The Poster Collection includes an enormous piece of wall art in bright colors, and the Victini Large Card Collection displays the little Mythical in a colorful holofoil the size of a small book.
Unfortunately, to get one of each of these items, players will be spending hundreds of dollars, and that is if they can find them at MSRP, thanks to the card distribution shortages. Because of this, it will likely be one of the most expensive sets of the Scarlet & Violet era.
Pull Rates Are Not Nice in Black Bolt & White Flare
The card lists for Black Bolt & White Flare offer an impressive selection of beautiful cards to pull. Only 86 or so of the 172-card set are standard prints. The rest are Illustration Rares, full arts, or Hyper Rares. In each booster pack, three of the card slots are guaranteed to offer anything from a reverse holo to a special rare card.
Unfortunately, despite the massive gallery of illustration rares, the pull rares for Black Bolt & White Flare are not great. This is tough news for collectors, as the cost of just getting the booster packs is going to be a hurdle for many.
Part of the problem with this expansion is that it also uses the Poke Ball and Master Ball rare cards from Prismatic Evolution. These have the chance to appear in the reverse holo slot, and take up a space that might otherwise hold an illustration rare card.
These cards are interesting, but they feel like bloat in this already-paced set. Especially when players are attempting to score a Black White Rare, the special class variant that has taken the place of the standard gold Hyper Rare from previous sets.
Pulling from Black Bolt & White Flare can feel punishing, especially because the low number of standards causes duplicates to pile high. If those opening packs aren’t die-hard Unova fans, this can become disheartening fairly quickly.
Are Black Bolt & White Flare Worth It?
When it comes to Pokemon TCG expansions, Black Bolt & White Flare are oddly specialized. These sets are going to be worth it to mega fans of the Unova region, but if you are only in it for a specific character or Pokemon, it might be best to wait and snag singles when they become available on TCGPlayer.
For Unova fans, however, this is going to be the set to go all-out on. Black & White have had few spotlights since the games released, often overshadowed by Kanto, Alola, and other more recent gens. Because of this, beloved characters like N have not seen many new prints in recent years.
While the pull rates and cost for the Pokemon TCG Black Bolt and White Flare expansion aren’t the most collector-friendly, it is unlikely a set like this, completely focused on one Gen, will happen again soon. It is definitely worth it for those who find joy in this particular era of the franchise.
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