Pokemon TCG Classic Sold Out in Minutes - But Will it Flip?

News

By RC Staff

22 September 2023

What is the Pokemon Trading Card Game Classic set?

Back on February 28th, Pokémon posted a video to their YouTube channel showcasing a new premium product dubbed the “Pokémon Trading Card Game Classic”.

An accompanying article offered a bit more information about the release, revealing that the set would include a premium game board, a toolbox for storing damage and status effect markers, three deck boxes, and (most importantly) three Pokémon TCG decks featuring Venusaur, Charizard, and Blastoise, as well as “newly printed cards to go along with the classics”.

Fast forward to the August 2023 Pokémon World Championships in Yokohama, Japan, and we got to learn precisely what the three 60-card decks would consist of via a display at the Pokémon Activity Zone.

What cards come in the Pokemon TCG Classic Set?

The English version of this set includes 3 decks, each consisting of 60 cards:

• Blastoise & Suicune ex Deck
• Venusaur & Lugia ex Deck
• Charizard & Ho-OH ex Deck

Almost all of the cards included are reprints of iconic cards from the game’s history, however, all English cards have been given a unique “glitter” holofoil effect that is sure to impress.

While we aren’t going to include a full card list (180 cards is a lot!), we’ve compiled a few of the standouts that collectors are going to have the most interest in.

Kanto Starters and Evolutions

These 9 famous cards from the original base set will be the first thing from Pokemon TCG Classic that collectors are interested in.

They are essentially all reprints of the original 1999 English base set cards, all with the “glitter” holofoil treatment applied to the card art.

There are lots of Pokemon TCG collectors that try to “catch ‘em all” with every printed variant of base set starters/evolutions, especially Charizard, Venusaur, and Blastoise, so these cards alone could become insanely valuable depending on how limited the set’s print run is.

Suicune ex, Lugia ex, and Ho-Oh ex

The only “new” cards in the set (aside from 3 tool cards), these powerful cards could be fairly collectible, Lugia especially. That being said, they are not tournament-legal, which does hinder the overall collectibility.

Mr. Mime

Perhaps the most interesting card in the English release, this Mr. Mime card (part of the Blastoise & Suicune ex Deck) has actually never had an English release. It was only released in Japan via Expansion Sheet 1 (Vending Machine cards), a winning card submitted as part of the 1997-1998 Pokémon Illustration Contest.

With its unique place in Pokémon history, this card is definitely one to watch.

Pokemon Classic Resell

Preorders for the Pokemon TCG Classic set went live on Pokémon Center at around 5:45 AM PDT for a retail price of $399.99. They sold out within around 1 hour, with much of the United States still asleep. A few hours later at 9 AM PDT, the set went live for preorder on GameStop, this time selling out in around half an hour.

As a result of these quick sellout times and little notice of the set going up for sale in advance, scalpers have been selling their confirmed orders on eBay for an average price of around $600-700 already.

But fear not — if you missed out, you may still have a shot at snagging a set for retail price. Best Buy, along with other retailers like Amazon, Target, and Walmart have not sold any of the sets yet, meaning more opportunities to purchase will be here soon. Want to get notified when hyped, “resell-worthy” products like this go live so you’re always ahead of the scalper curve? Consider learning more about joining RC Elite today.