GameStop Is Selling Loose Pokemon 30th Celebration Packs

According to a viral Xeet, GameStop stores are now selling loose 30th Celebration packs in person. That’s unusual because of how this set is distributed. Special Pokémon TCG sets like 30th Celebration skip the standard 36-pack booster box, which is how stores normally end up with single packs to sell. Instead, every pack ships inside a boxed product like an Elite Trainer Box, a tin, or a collection.

The largest pack-only product in the English lineup is the six-pack Booster Bundle, which released on October 2. That’s the same week loose packs started showing up at GameStop, so the bundles are the likely source. Individual packs aren’t available from distributors, which means any single pack on a GameStop counter came out of a sealed product the store opened itself.

The Booster Bundle carries a suggested retail price of $26.94, or $4.49 per pack. Sold loose at $14.99, those same six packs bring in close to $90. The Elite Trainer Box, at $49.99 for nine packs, works out to about $5.55 per pack before counting the promo card and accessories.

There’s also an odd overlap with a current promotion. Starting October 2, customers who spend $15 or more on Pokémon TCG products at GameStop and several other retailers get a stamped Mewtwo promo card while supplies last. A single loose pack comes in one cent under that threshold.

We haven’t been able to confirm whether the $14.99 price applies at every GameStop or only select stores, and GameStop hasn’t commented publicly. If you’re planning to buy, ask the store about its return policy on opened-box singles before you pay.

This isn’t the first time GameStop has drawn fire over 30th Celebration. In early July, Dexerto reported that collectors were angry after apparent GameStop pricing for the Ultra-Premium Collection surfaced online at $599.99.

Joe Merrick, creator of Serebii.net, compared the leaked prices to MSRP: $150 for Elite Trainer Boxes that should cost $49.99, $600 for Ultra-Premium Collections that should cost $179.99, and $80 for Booster Bundles that should cost about $27.

At the time, the prices hadn’t been confirmed, since GameStop required in-store pre-orders and didn’t list prices online. When the set launched on September 16, Tech Times confirmed that GameStop had listed the Elite Trainer Box at $150.

The skepticism around GameStop’s Pokémon business goes beyond this set. The retailer sells Power Packs, mystery products priced from $25 to $2,500 that offer a chance at a valuable card. Earlier this year, TheGamer reported that a researcher who studies loot boxes and consumer protection described Power Packs and similar mystery products as unlicensed gambling. This lines up with our take on the recent One Piece Power Packs (they suck ass).That history is part of why collectors read every new GameStop TCG move with suspicion.

30th Celebration cards are the Pokémon TCG’s anniversary set, with Classic Collection reprints, 30 unique Pikachu illustrations, and a foil treatment on every card in the expansion. All-foil sets are expensive to print and only come around every several years. It was also the first English set to launch worldwide on the same day as Japan, and Target’s launch stock was reportedly gone before sunrise.

That demand is why the loose packs sting. Authorized retailers get their allocation from The Pokémon Company International with the expectation that it reaches customers at or near MSRP. Every bundle GameStop opens is one less sealed product available to collectors who have been striking out on restocks. Some collectors are also wary of packs that store employees have handled, since loose packs can’t be verified the way a sealed box can.

There’s a fair counterpoint: a single pack is a lower barrier to entry for someone who just wants to open one and can’t justify buying a full bundle. But at more than three times the per-pack retail price, that argument is a hard sell.

The bigger question is whether The Pokémon Company International does anything about it. It controls the promo cards and allocation GameStop depends on, and 30th Celebration still has more waves coming, including Battle Decks on October 30, the Ultra-Premium Collections on November 6, and the Celebration Tin on December 4. Each one is another chance for this to repeat.