When the Black Bolt and White Flare Elite Trainer Box pre-orders lasted longer than usual at the Pokemon Center, things seemed to be looking up for Pokemon TCG fans. However, it looks like those extra Pokemon Center exclusives might have come at a cost. According to one of the major Pokemon TCG suppliers in the U.S., store allocations for the upcoming Black Bolt and White Flare Pokemon card collections will be much less than the hard-to-find Prismatic Evolutions. That means that many fans won’t be seeing Black Bolt or White Flare items on the shelves at all, at least not on the initial July 18th release date.
This information comes from Poke Beach, a reliable source of Pokemon TCG news. They report speaking with one of the biggest U.S. suppliers of Pokemon cards and learning that the available stock for the first run of Black Bolt and White Flare will be incredibly limited. This split expansion will release several different products, similar to the Prismatic Evolutions line. And much like the Eevee-centric set, this special Pokemon TCG release is expected to be popular. After all, it will feature an Illustration Rare for every single Pokemon from Unova.
The Elite Trainer Box, Binder Collection, Poster Collection, and Mini Tins for Pokemon TCG’s Scarlet & Violet – Black Bolt and White Flare are set to release on July 18th. However, that release might not mean much if your local store doesn’t receive any stock. Reportedly, most U.S. stores are currently expected to receive no product. As in, zero items from the Black Bolt or White Flare sets, at all.
Pokemon TCG Shortages Might Be Coming to an End, At Least for Older Sets
July 18th is still a little while off, so it’s possible that this information could change by the time Black Bolt and White Flare should actually be hitting shelves. However, for now, you may not want to have your hopes set on trying to hunt down these latest new Pokemon TCG sets on release day. However, you might start seeing something a little less disappointing than empty shelves, as well.
One of the cited reasons why Black Bolt and White Flare stock will be so low to start is actually good news. If it seems like there have been more frequent restocks for older items, that’s because Pokemon has been hard at work with reprints on older sets. Prismatic Evolutions and Surging Sparks have both seen large reprints to try and catch up with excessive demand, which has left less time to pre-prep for the launch of Black Bolt and White Flare.
RELATED: Pokemon TCG Fans Brace for Prismatic Evolutions Super-Premium Collection Drop
Hopefully, having more older sets available will help temper the pattern of alarmingly quick sell-outs, at least for lines like Prismatic Evolutions. That said, if it means new sets will continue to be scarce, it’s likely that newer items will remain rare (and therefore, valuable to resellers). If The Pokemon Company is able to get caught up to demand for the new Unova sets, hopefully we’ll slowly start to see the market stabilize.
Are you disappointed that July 18th might not see much of Black Bolt and White Flare on local shelves? Or are you still catching up from earlier releases? Let us know in the comments below!
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