These promos are gonna be this generation’s Birthday Pikachu. 
1 Like
Generally, I think the lottery system and 1 per person aspects of this are good since it makes the product accessible to most people in Japan. I really don’t like the ‘pick up in person’ model though, since there are some people who are physically unable to pick the product up in person.
1 Like
The distribution of these cards has to be the worst I’ve ever seen for promo cards there are supposed to be 100k of.
Well thats because they have not had full release yet
3 Likes
aren’t they supposed to be released mid october?
From what I heard, (and I could be wrong) wasnt the ones released at the convention last month totaled 150 according to the documents? The other 99,850 is being released end of October. Feel free to correct me on the 150, I just remember reading on another thread that it was the case. Regardless how specific, the number out there is way less than what it will be.
In case anyone was curious, it looks like the price dropped significantly now that all the preorders are coming in. You can buy the promos for about 130 for the pair.
Those seem kinda steep, so the ones appearing online are “earlier” copies? The full release should happen in the upcoming weeks?
Haven’t really read through the confirmation letter, but you can pay for the box from October 25th. Not 100% sure if you get it there and then though. If they actually hand the box over to you, then they will be available from this coming Monday.
Does anyone know if all of the promos have been released or if they will slowly release more?
I picked up a stamp box on Monday that just arrived today. Checked on eBay today and all the boxes are going for over double what I paid earlier this week. These are undoubtedly popular promos but I am a bit surprised they are already going for $2-300 on eBay now given the announced print run of 100k.
They were not released in the typical sense. There is a supply trickle because if you win the lottery you have to go to a post office to collect it. Presumably big sellers and their networks have collected and potentially sold their individual boxes already, so now you are waiting on the general public and collectors who may or may not put their stuff up for sale.
A note for those looking at auctions for the postal boxes and wondering why some have photographs of what appear to be shrink-wrapped boxes. As has already been pointed out, the boxes don’t come from the post office shink-wrapped.
What you’re seeing are the boxes inside a kind of team bag with an adhesive flap that post offices offered to customers for their boxes. When I picked up mine, I simply told the clerk to give me the sleeve and I’d put the box in myself (because I didn’t to take a chance of the postal clerk accidentally getting the adhesive flap stuck to the box itself).
3 Likes
The box my friend got from the post office was already damaged but they didn’t realise till they got home and shone it under a light. A dent on the lid. Overall it’s pretty good quality but you can see where they skimped on costs to keep it at 4000 yen.
Yeah, and they’re not going to be treating the box as something that is particularly valuable. The stamps and cards are fairly well-protected, fortunately.
A third into November and the distribution for these still seems terrible…
From my personal experience, the distribution has been smooth as silk. I haven’t heard of anyone having problems getting theirs from the post office. Japan Post is truly a top-notch organization.
(Or maybe you meant “availability”? Because, in that case, yes – the boxes certainly aren’t flooding the resale markets like so many had predicted.)
1 Like
You wonder how much pure stamp collectors have disrupted this for pokemon card collectors? I’m assuming stamp collectors far outnumber pokemon card collectors.
1 Like
Will these stamps be gradable by PSA? Or is stamp grading not a thing for current stamps?
60 million
Today, the number of stamp collectors globally is estimated at 60 million.
However the number of pokemon and stamp collectors will be dramatically smaller. It is very niche.
The Japan Philatelic Society alone have over a hundred local chapters with 30.000 members.