Do print runs of the newer sets and future sets (eg. generation, evolution) increase upon public demand? Or do the printing company set a fix number of print runs and stop producing (forever) after they are done?
I’ve come across a MTG YouTube video saying those MTG printing company will keep printing cards as long as there are demand out there, hence devaluing the price of cards drastically.
Is this happening to Pokemon cards too? I’m thinking to pre-order boxes of evolution set for collection purposes but at the same time I’d like to know if it is a worthy investment. Are there any websites to check how many total print runs or the date when they stop printing particular sets?
Any constructive advice are appreciated.
Most new sets are available for order from distributors for about 1-2 years after release. I can call my distributor right now and order 100 cases of ancient origins, and that released over a year ago. If Pokemon has them printed and ready to go, they will simply ship from their warehouse, but if not, they will produce more fresh product to meet that demand that I created. There is no known public source for print quantities of each set. It would be awesome if that information was known though.
Generations is an exception to the above as it has not come in booster boxes and all products containing generations packs have been produced to preorder quantities by the distributors only. I have one shot with my distributor to make a preorder and I get those items only in most cases. I cannot go back and order more mythical mew, celebi etc. boxes (unless my distributor stocked up) because Pokemon is no longer printing them. Whatever is out there is all their will be. Charizard red blue collection was the only exception with generations to get a reprint. Evolutions looks like it will be more of a “normal” expansion in that it will be produced for 1-2 years to meet demand. Many people are having the same thought to buy and hold sealed product, so I would imagine this will drive up the supply higher than most other XY sets. That being said it is hard to tell what the value will do over time, as if demand is high enough to counter the higher supply, it still could see price increases outpacing other XY sets. It is really hard to say.
TLDR: Yes, how many are ordered directly affects how many are printed. There is a roughly 2 year window during which time limitless (within reason I would imagine) quantities are printed to satisfy any orders put in by distributors to either satisfy their customer orders or to just stock up on their own. There is no public database for print run quantities and AFAIK, end print date is not released until close to that time.
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