Happy (early) Pokemon Day!
Highlights between BBC and Ishihara interview:
Focusing on Connecting Real & Virtual Worlds:
Secondary market:
Counterfeit Products
Pokemon Company stays as a private company so it can focus on solely Pokemon
Longevity and Complacency
cpbog1
Very neat insight regarding his feelings on the second-hand market.
My brain thinks with cards in mind, but TPC is a very multi-faceted company that does a lot. His statement on issues with the second-hand market could be true for things like video games, but for trading cards, I donât believe that the value of the secondary market is problematic to ongoing business at TPC in terms of TCG sales. Itâs the opposite. The value of the secondary market creates an environment where the demand is extraordinarily high.
Vintage items sell independently of contemporary products. Thereâs some overlap, like new products having an effect on older products (Glory of Team Rocket popularity trickling down to Team Rocket Returns or the original Team Rocket sets), but that doesnât detract from the new release.
I do appreciate their strong stance on counterfeit items.
Pokemon company: âThe Secondary market is problematicâ
Also Pokemon company: âWe donât print enough product to meet demandâ
180* from four months ago when TPC was just printing too much. Balancing the mind of an average Pokémon consumer is impossible
True, japan prints enough but english is more dry, which is what I had in mind.
I actually think this quote is being misinterpreted:
"Gaming companies have long had an issue with the second-hand market, and Mr Ishihara says it âprevents new products from being soldâ.
âWhen the second hand market becomes more valuable because of rarity, that is problematic because our business is affected.â"
The first part of this statement is puzzling. The pokemon company is selling cards. If a scalper buys 10 ETBs, or a âregular joeâ buys 10 ETBsâŠone way or another, the pokemon company has sold 10 ETBs. I wonder if there was a mis-translation here,âŠmaybe heâs referring to non-scalpers having trouble getting product because of scalpers?
The second half of this statement also seems to be presented out of contextâŠit seems like he is referring to scalpers again, but from an MBA-type perspective, i.e, âif these scalpers are making more money by re-selling, then the pokemon company could probably raise prices and nobody would blinkâ.
Either way, the whole article is a little eye-raising because Iâm not sure the questions are being accurately translated, or that the answers and context are either.
