Out of Character: TCG’s in 2024
This is an out of character article about a topic that interests the writer.
By Flawless Cowboy.
I think it’s common knowledge at this point that Magic: The Gathering, the oldest and most popular Trading Card Game, is what keeps many, if not most game stores in business. A few stores may get by selling Games Workshop’s exhaustive line of 40K products, but it’s Magic that generates much of the cash that keeps small board game businesses running. With a constant deluge of product releases and a strong aftermarket for buying singles, there is a lot of money on the table here. No problem with that at all, I appreciate places where I can go and meet new people as well as play events. I really don’t mind paying 5$ or so dollars for a single over an online price knowing that it supports the store and keeps them in business. The magic ecosystem is important, because it lets other games have store shelves to be seen on.
My friend pulled this out of an alliances set when you were younger and we both screamed, it was a big deal back then.
The other two of the “Big Three” TCGs are Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokemon, and a lot of the above applies to both of them as well. The selling power of Pokemon cards to younger audiences can not be understated. There is something to be said about gas stations and walmarts selling packs of pokemon cards at checkouts. Yu-Gi-Oh as well has a solid competitive scene, and still does real numbers in my local area.
I remember once when I was young, my mom sent me to the store to get a birthday gift for a friend’s birthday party. All she had for cash was a $50 bill, she said get something about $10 for them (that’s about $20 with in today economy). I then spent the rest of it on Pokémon Team Rocket booster packs. Needless to say, she was justifiably upset when I got home with no change and a ton of cards.
There are other TCGs as well, less supported than the big three mentioned above, but still plenty popular in a growing market. Just over the last few years we’ve had games from IP’s such as One Piece, Lorcana (a Disney branded TCG), and Star Wars release to significant hype and fanfare. It’s exciting to see new entries into this space, but the sad and simple truth is that most don’t last the test of time. The Digimon card game, for example, was big in my area for quite a while, only then to have an unpopular expansion come out and decimate the games local player base. I have a multitude of card games I have bought into that die, unable to last the test of time, unable to stay popular enough to cement a permanent player base. I’m sure if you’re reading this, you have at least one trading card game in your closet somewhere that is long gone and just collecting dust (Hecatomb, The original star wars TCG, BattleTech TCG, L5R TCG, and Force of WIll to name just a few).
The guy at the store said this game was going to be big. Turns out he was incorrect.
In the Before Times TM, players were able to go into their local game shop and find stock for most TCG’s, even if they were less popular and failed in the end. Now we face a new problem: product shortages. The current trend of a new card game is to launch, sell out immediately, then force players to pay scalping prices on cards to play the game. For example, As I write this the first run of SWU (Star Wars Unlimited) is sold out. Currently, it’s expected that reprint will arrive by Christmas. A Booster box of cards MSRP is about 119.99. The current going rate for a booster box off of TCGplayer.com is approximately $200 (as of 6/1/24). Same with booster packs; MSRP is about $5, and the current going rate is about $10. The next expansion’s pre-orders have gone live. The MSRP is 119.99, the Current pre-order price on TCGPlayer.com is $200. This set does not release until July. This is absolutely crazy to me.
These are still made out of cardboard and not gold right?
SWU is not the only TCG suffering from this. The first two sets of Lorcana, Disney’s animation themed TCG, suffered a similar set of shortages, making it impossible for people who didn’t know they had to get in line when a LGS opened to get any cards. I was interested in trying the game out as it was released, but I did not want to stand in hour-long lines to get packs of cards. When the new set launched at GenCon, the lines were Multi-hour long to get any product from that. Just ridiculous.
Love Gen Con, but this was really sad to see first hand.
Recently I visited my local game store to purchase some of Magic’s new Fallout themed decks. As a huge fan of the Fallout video game franchise, I was excited to add Fallout themed cards to my collection. At this point you should not be surprised to hear that they were sold out at all of my local stores.
My original plan for this article was going to be a review for Star Wars Unlimited. But how can I recommend a game that the average player can’t walk into a store and get for a reasonable price? Let me get this out of the way, I love SWU. I think it’s the best Star Wars TCG I have ever played and its simple yet deep mechanics create really interesting play lines. I wanted to write the review, to tell players interested in card games and Star Wars that it is an easy recommendation. Unfortunately I must instead say that if you can’t get the product at MSRP, then I can’t suggest getting into the game currently. I was hoping when the next set dropped that it would be a new point in which people could start building a card library at a reasonable price, but it’s already looking like there will be sortages for this set now as well.
One guess who I am in this picture. Also, I do really love SWU.
One can’t help but think cynically here. Corporations have long understood the value of using artificial shortages to simulate demand (known as FOMO - Fear of Missing Out - in the board game industry). Like restaurants removing tables to seem more in demand, I’ve no doubt TCG companies work behind the scenes to ensure that their product is sought after. I wish I could say what is currently happening is out of the ordinary, but it seems with every new release there are supply issues.
It’s the trend everyone loves!
In the grand scheme of things, I understand a card game company creating artificial scarcity is not at the top of the list of things to worry about. We’ve had shortages during COVID caused only by the fear of said shortage (I promise you there was enough toilet paper for everyone). We’ve had record inflation during a time of record corporate profits. We’ve seen shipping costs skyrocket as the downsides of JIT (Just in Time) production & inventory systems wreaks havoc on the global supply chain. The last several years have been rough for most common folks. So, while I hope this post doesn't come across as an “old man yelling at clouds,” I do hope it inspires you to resist the urge to overpay for a product that, regardless of how much you pay, is simply a piece of cardboard with some art and words on it.
A strange new world indeed.
Ultimately, it comes down to this: Trading cards games should be for everyone, not just those with disposable income.
See you next time space cowboy.
