Pokemon TCG’s New Eevee Set Could See Stock Shortages

On January 17th, the Pokemon Trading Card Game’s next set, Scarlet & Violet – Prismatic Evolutions, will launch in North America. The new set will be putting a big focus on Eevee, as well as its various evolutionary forms. That’s the big hook, and this is a special set, which means fans will only be able to get booster packs inside larger products, such as booster bundles and the Elite Trainer Box. Unfortunately, some are predicting that demand will far exceed supply. According to a new report from PokeBeach, smaller stores are getting between 10% and 15% less than the amount of product requested from distributors.

While Prismatic Evolutions will still get the same amount of product we’ve seen for past Pokemon TCG special sets, that product is going to be stretched out between more stores. Player 1 Services is a Pokemon specialty store located in Maryland. According to owner Ben DeGuire, a lot of stores that don’t normally carry Pokemon products have displayed an interest in Prismatic Evolutions. Wanting to fulfill as many requests as possible, The Pokemon Company has been forced to give stores less supply than they would normally.

“This means there is nowhere near enough product to go around. Distributors are still giving loyal Pokemon stores a higher percentage of the supply, such as my store. But the actual amount of product a store receives is diluted because so many other stores want the product,” DeGuire told PokeBeach. “Strategically, distributors want to give the product to as many stores as possible to retain as many accounts as possible.”

DeGuire goes on to say that stores that anticipated higher amounts of product may have had to cancel preorders for the new Pokemon set. On Pokemon Center’s official website, preorders for Scarlet & Violet – Prismatic Evolutions are completely sold out. While PokeBeach anticipates that larger retailers will get the same amount of product that they always do, increased demand could lead to items being scooped up by resellers and sold on sites like eBay. That was a big problem just a few years ago, and there are concerns we could see a similar situation play out.

As noted by PokeBeach, there are already a lot of eBay listings greatly marking up Prismatic Evolutions cards ahead of the set’s release. However, it’s hard to say how many people are actually buying these; a search on eBay shows a lot of listings, but these are all Buy It Now options, as opposed to auctions. A lot of these prices could be aspirational on the part of sellers, and prices could drop significantly if The Pokemon Company manages to meet demand.

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Given the popularity of Eevee and its “Eeveelutions,” it’s easy to see how Scarlet & Violet – Prismatic Evolutions could end up in high demand. Hopefully The Pokemon Company is paying close attention to the demands of retailers and the fanbase, and will work to ensure that there’s ample product. While some Prismatic Evolutions products will launch this month, others will be released throughout the year, including a surprise box and mini tins arriving in February.

Are you concerned about being able to get Prismatic Evolutions cards? Do you think there will be high demand surrounding this set? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp, on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!