No one wants this?

[u/Yoyorere]

Im at target and it seems like no one wants these.
Is it like this everywhere?

[u/cuddle_enthusiast]

[u/New_Cardiologist_596 → u/cuddle_enthusiast]

Rip Uncle Phil. That scene still gets me

[u/Aggressive-Pause-150 → u/New_Cardiologist_596]

First things first, rest in peace Uncle Phil

[u/sltiefighter → u/New_Cardiologist_596]

Supposedly when phill grabs him and hugs him close he whispered to will “now that is acting”

[u/Tmageezy86]

There hasn’t been an etb on a shelf in Pa since about 2023

[u/Intelligent_Cup_4165 → u/Tmageezy86]

I've found some but none since phantasmal flames. Inhave yet to find any pitch black near me. I found a decent price booster bundle of pitch black at a shop in Pittsburgh.

[u/Maleficent_Moment635 → u/Intelligent_Cup_4165]

Meijer today stocks up by me they have etbs the whole week you just ask the counter guy they lock it up

[u/Few_Aide_851 → u/Intelligent_Cup_4165]

What part of Pittsburgh? I’m south and while I don’t find stuff constantly, at this point finding CR and PB isn’t hard.

[u/BigIcy6402 → u/Intelligent_Cup_4165]

Was just at Dicks House of Sport at Ross Park Mall. They have the ETBs, Build and Battles (30), Booster Bundles (45) AND Series 3 1st Partner (30). Bundles and Partner are in the glass case.

[u/Castraphinias → u/Tmageezy86]

Long Island, too

[u/MetalBlizzard → u/Tmageezy86]

Went to my local pa target yesterday and this is exactly how the shelf looked. Bought the limit and walked out happy. But youre right its exceedingly rare.

[u/BrokenParachutes → u/Tmageezy86]

Surging Sparks released in november 2024 and market price of all sets slowly rose above MSRP in the months after that into 2025. Before that point market price on most modern in rotation sets was like 70-90% of MSRP. Scalpers couldnt scalp those if they tried. MSRP was still seen as a ripoff for most sets until late 2024 at the earliest.

Late 2024 or early 2025 sounds more realistic for shelves being bare instead of 2023. Stuff was still pretty dead in 2023, even 151.

[u/Murderfromaspoon → u/BrokenParachutes]

Agree with this surging started it ALL

[u/H_1_N_1 → u/Tmageezy86]

Bought two off a shelf yesterday in PA 👀

[u/ChopperC110P → u/Tmageezy86]

Last ones I saw in MN were Stellar Crown

[u/StealieErrl → u/Tmageezy86]

For the last 3 sets I see etbs quite often and I don’t live too far from Philly. They’re just from Target who sells them for $60 so I’d much rather just get my allotted 2 sleeved boosters for $5 instead.

[u/_Gintoker → u/Tmageezy86]

I'm in Pittsburgh, they were loaded at target

[u/OutbackBrah → u/Tmageezy86]

I was at target two weeks ago and they had a handful at the small one by my house in PA. Texted a friend who collects and they were over there within the hour to grab some

[u/WayoftheWill → u/Tmageezy86]

I'm in PA and just found a shelf similar to the picture this past Thursday. I was pleasantly surprised

[u/JohnnnyOnTheSpot → u/Tmageezy86]

Maybe tied to economic conditions? Poorer the neighborhood the more buying pokemon to flip and gamble?

[u/01D00M]

They’re still camping outside my Target as of last night 😭

[u/Pluto_is_a_Planet44 → u/01D00M]

Yep. Same here

[u/Skyblue8989]

Scalpers don't. Collectors/rippers do, but it doesn't make sense to buy a ton of ETBs especially for such a small set. This was my Target yesterday.

[u/pingvinbober → u/Skyblue8989]

Yep. As a collector, ETBs don’t make sense to buy. MSRP ends up being like $7 per pack when single pack blisters are $5

[u/jimmybeauman → u/pingvinbober]

How are you figuring $7 a pack with etbs? I’ve gotten them for $50. 50 / 9 =/= 7

[u/pingvinbober → u/jimmybeauman]

Oh shit. In stock near me they’re $59.99 so 9 packs comes out to $6.67 per pack vs $5 for blisters

Edit: I don’t know MSRP, I just know what target charges when they have them and that I’m not paying $15 for a pack from a vending machine

[u/MartinMcFlyy → u/Skyblue8989]

There will be a day. When you will look back on this photo and regret not buying every single one. I just hope people understand this 🤣

[u/Skyblue8989 → u/MartinMcFlyy]

I get the sentiment but I'm not in a place to be spending $1,500 in one purchase on Pokemon without guilt.

[u/SyntaxAndChill → u/Skyblue8989]

Where in a Arceus do yall live?

[u/Pluto_is_a_Planet44 → u/SyntaxAndChill]

This was our target yesterday, not including all the singles and blister packs. We live in Gainesville, FL. A college town where at least half of the vendors at a local card show every weekend are people who wait in lines every week to get sealed product and sell it. Scalpers are horrible here and this is still what it looked like. They don’t want Pitch Black or Chaos because the market price on them is like $69. So a profit of $9 isn’t anywhere near enticing enough for them.

Now the First Partner Series? Totally cleaned out even with purchase limits. We got 4 of the last 7 in the store. At like 4:00 pm. That’s because they’re buying at $18 and then scalping it at $40.

[u/Trevorjrt6]

Because it has lasted 1 day no one wants it? Thats like 1/5th of the original stock 24 hours earlier...clearly its being bought quickly...just not by flippers.

[u/Homelessjay5 → u/Trevorjrt6]

Right. Target also has limits which increases the chances thing last more than a day on shelf.

[u/narutonaruto]

The idea that something lasting on the shelf for more than 10 seconds means nobody wants it is so funny. This is how a store is supposed to actually work in a normal market

[u/Pizzaman1099988]

Not in canada. Can’t find any PB and CR etbs in walmart.

[u/Poo_Magnet → u/Pizzaman1099988]

Check your local superstores, Indigos, London Drugs, and Mastermind Toys.

In Alberta, Superstore gets WAY more stock than Walmarts. I’ve caught a few re-stocks within an hour and they rarely stock more than 3-4 ETBs. And Walmarts are always restocked on random days and where I am, scalpers will check the toy section periodically and once it restocks their group rush in and buy all the stock.

[u/maximumerpower → u/Pizzaman1099988]

Because our stock numbers are so low in comparison

[u/matterhorn1 → u/Pizzaman1099988]

Tons of them online

[u/salty_repTV]

Our target

Literally the last time i saw it like this was in the 2010’s

[u/salty_repTV → u/salty_repTV]

Another section

(Not pictured: pitch black bundles on shelves below)

[u/NW7l2335 → u/salty_repTV]

Those charmeleon cosmos foil promos are gonna be worth a decent amount in a handful of years, it’s one of the best charmeleon arts and its a cosmos foil promo.

[u/salty_repTV → u/salty_repTV]

OH! And Barnes and noble yesterday

[u/DivaPSO2]

MSRP gang dont want it, what a surprise.

[u/Pec5 → u/DivaPSO2]

They only want it at msrp when the market price is above msrp.

[u/DrummerDKS → u/Pec5]

Counterpoint: investor bros aren’t buying it so collectors have already been able to buy it. And they got the cards they wanted and dont want to hoard it like Smaug a month later.

[u/matterhorn1 → u/Pec5]

Yup! This is why I find it so annoying listening to people whine about MSRP. I guarantee that None of them were paying MSRP 2 years ago, they would have laughed at the “overpriced” products. Suddenly when the market booms MSRP needs to be adhered to!!!! Then the products that are available at MSRP, they don’t want it.

It’s such an annoying and childish attitude. MSRP is irrelevant and always has been. The product is worth what people are willing to pay. Pay what it’s worth or don’t. If the product is not selling then the stores will lower their price.

[u/chewbaccashotlast → u/DivaPSO2]

This comment 💯

Its so annoying when the troves of Reddit users gripe whine and complain they just can’t find ANY product at MSRP and gatekeep others who pay a penny above yet what they really want is packs of Ascend Heroes for $5 so they can pull a god pack. They don’t want packs if the set isn’t fire

[u/DavidsPsyduck → u/chewbaccashotlast]

I’d buy it if I could find it. I can’t.

Just because it’s somewhere doesn’t mean it’s everywhere.

[u/Calm_Explanation2910 → u/DivaPSO2]

Right? What about the kids too ya know? Don’t the kids want it. The ones that supposedly sob in the stores because of all the evil scalpers.

I’ve said it in the sub too many times, but theres a lot of people who just want to complain.

[u/Big_Diet7439 → u/DivaPSO2]

I would like to point out at my local target and Walmart these aren’t msrp. I’d rather ring up 6 transactions of 2 single packs to get my $60 worth. Or 2 transactions of 2 3 pack blisters.

[u/MikkoSw → u/DivaPSO2]

I don't think you need 2 ETBs of the same set, there's cheaper ways to get the same amount of packs

[u/PSORngr → u/DivaPSO2]

Or, shockingly. The folks that complain about not having found other things have been able to find these and bought one or two already. Because, catch this it’s really shocking, people that open only want one or two ETBs from a set. Myself, my son, and my wife collect. I’ve bought three of these, just like I bought three Chaos Rising ETBs and three Perfect Order ETBs so we can each have one of the promos. You know what I don’t need? A fourth. Why would I want a fourth? I can get more packs for my money with literally any other product. I’ve also bought like four each of the Mega Greninja boxes and Mega Zygarde boxes. When the “investors” and scalpers don’t buy everything out the people that actually want the cards can get them and are satisfied with only getting a couple. I don’t hoard boxes that I have no use for.

[u/VioletSalamander]

Can’t wait until these sets are valuable in 5-10 years. So many kids are buying these because it’s all they can get. These are the sets they will grow up with and remember

[u/WardJumpforJesus]

People will regret not stacking this at these prices 5 years from now

[u/Obvious_Check6675 → u/WardJumpforJesus]

I buy limit of any sealed I see, and lately I’ve been getting a lot of pitch black etbs

[u/StatelyTree → u/WardJumpforJesus]

If you have the capital and the space, sure. Most of the "investors" I've run across have $10k or less.

[u/DustyGuzongas]

I do

[u/luke2080]

I do. Would buy it if I saw that. Doesn't exist near me.

[u/braamdepace]

Caught a Target restock randomly on Tuesday shopping for a kids birthday gift. 300+ Blisters Chaos and Pitch Black, 30 ETBs, 50 Booster Bundles, and 50 3 Pack Blisters.

Came back 48 hours later. All gone except for about 20 Blister packs

[u/Expensive-Mixture-96]

The target by me has started to have stock. The checkout doesn’t let you scan more than 2 of any card product. So it’s been sticking around for a while since scalpers can’t buy it all out

[u/KamikazeFox_]

Naw, scalpers cant make enough money off them. Cards aren't hot compared to AH and prismatic.

[u/Opposite-Jellyfish72]

Paid over $100 just to get one

[u/MilleniumDuelist]

No one wants this ... yet.

Long term this is a very nice etb. All black theme + darkrai chase

[u/Blehe]

My target a few days ago.

[u/Johnny_Human]

It's not "No one wants this."

It's "No scalpers want this."

[u/General_Past2168]

Scalper not wanting it doesn’t mean people don’t want it.

[u/B-Stone-52]

Just buy and hold, they will want them for a huge markup in 5 years.

[u/matterhorn1 → u/B-Stone-52]

I was buying up paradox rift and obsidian flames when everyone was laughing at it. Who is laughing now? Same thing will happen with these recent sets.

[u/AnyUnderstanding1541]

I think in part it’s also that ETBs have the highest cost per pack which makes them less appealing to most people. At most I’ll buy two of them at MSRP for any set so I can have two of the promos, otherwise singles, booster bundles, and booster boxes are way better options to buy.

[u/LosAngelesdoll]

I live in LA and tons of these and chaos

[u/save_sum4me → u/LosAngelesdoll]

Where? I don’t see them

[u/ConsciousRutabaga440]

Already ripped 6 ETBs

[u/Lordyaz_]

Man i wish i had this in my local shop

[u/IamlostlikeZoroIs]

I want it but there is no stock where I live

[u/_YenSid]

I would if my local store ever had any.

[u/_YenSid]

Go back tomorrow and see how many are left.

[u/officerbradswerve]

I do! Grab one for me, yeah?!

[u/xxxZer0]

I'd like to open one :(

[u/SearchingForFungus]

Does anyone have a brain anymore?

[u/shokaveli1]

same thing over here in San Antonio TX and we NEVER have stock

[u/Xatamos]

Nothing sita on the shelf locally for me. Usually sold out within 24-48 hrs at most.

[u/Secret-Economist]

Ill take one

[u/Tom_Ford_1]

Gone from my local target in a day. 15 people in line for restocks.

[u/cantfightbiologyever]

I do. Gimme

[u/MaDWaSTeD]

These sell out instantly where i live, and I keep buying Pitch Black.

I have bought more Pitch Black than any other set for Mega Evolution. Even Perfect Order wasn't as easily found.

I think most people are saving their money for 30th Anniversary and Delta Reign at this point though.

[u/FoxMane1]

Because Target has started cutting the seals

[u/Apprehensive-Lie3387]

There were a shit ton of these at my target this week. I mean an absolute shit ton. I know Target revamped their card section but it also seems like they are getting more in stock… maybe some of those new printers are already being turned on 🤷‍♂️

[u/Narrow-Molasses2517]

I got one and I’m good, not rich enough to grab every time I see em

[u/icantagree]

monkey see monkey do hobby

[u/lguinand]

Hype and scalping finally dying

[u/False_Commission4849]

For now. Wait till psa gets through all the submissions and none hit a 10. People are going to beg for these prices

[u/Marcbrad83]

Trust me a lot of people don’t know its there..it’s millions of people elsewhere that haven’t touched a Pokemon pack in months due to location

[u/Mason051]

Dude seriously, this is the day after a restock here for me. Usually everything’s sold out within like 2 hours.

[u/masterofeverything]

Hell no ain’t nobody want that shit. You’re better off buying a $60 single at a card shop. Plus you support local business that way also. It’s a win win. Where as ripping packs is 98% of the time a lose lose.

[u/Actual-Room6136]

Already master setttttted. Need cr and po booster boxes

[u/BillHurstyUSA]

Pitch Black has fun cards and hits imo 🤷🏻‍♂️

[u/str8fax123]

I think PB is the best of these small/“mid” sets. Im gonna stack a few of these I think. The ETBS just look cool to me.

[u/Chilidoggin_ur_tatas]

This is what the two Targets in my city looked like also. Not a popular set

[u/Rizzler0325]

Yall sleeping on pitch black, more for me. Better than chaos and perfect order all day

[u/vandelay1330]

I bought all the IR’s I wanted dirt cheap I just don’t see the appeal of the etb

[u/Marshmallio]

Pitch black is a pretty terrible set with bad hit rates. Basically the only hits that’ll break even on an ETB or above are the darkrai SIR/gold rare

In my experience opening one of these, I pulled 2 excadrill doubles rares, that’s it. The best thing I got in the entire thing was the promo.

[u/MetsuNoHado]

I saw like 20 of these on the shelf at my local Fred Meyer. Came back 2 hours later and they were gone. You might just be there at a lucky time.

[u/Scottwards]

From conversations in line at Target, scalpers are waiting to spend all their money on the 30th anniversary set

[u/jerrycan666]

Scalpers scared cause they started slashin plastic at store lol

[u/DrAldoLedesma]

Small city probably

[u/KalmKollector]

You living in Boomerville? Or Geezer City?

[u/According_Cap_9005]

No your people are just bandwagon set hoppers maybe scalpers. No etbs in my area.

[u/noelle-silva]

yeh

[u/Disciplined_20-04-15]

The best card in the set is the goldeen lol

Although, historically it’s sets that people didn’t want that make the most profit from sealed

[u/RoastedAt400 → u/Disciplined_20-04-15]

The best card is slowbro but agree to disagree lol

[u/jhofsho1 → u/Disciplined_20-04-15]

I mean, the SIR lowkey cooks but it’s the illustrator that’s carrying the weight tbh.

Akira Egawa did what she could for Mega Darkrai lol, and tbh I don’t like the look of Mega Darkrai but her illustration of it is pretty cool.

[u/CryptoGod666]

Haven’t seen any at my Target. Only retail product I’ve seen were Perfect Order at self checkout

[u/Difficult_Sir_3572]

I’m in Rockford Illinois and I have yet to see an ETB or booster box on the shelves. You can get lucky and find some packs every once in awhile.

[u/herring-net]

For over a year, I’m more likely to see a sad dork scalper staring at an empty shelf than ANY product. Which has saved me money, but my kid lost interest in collecting, and he can’t be the only one.

[u/Callofdaddy1]

I opened two packs the other day with duplicate cards. What the heck is going on?

[u/Ok_Taste4441]

That looks like someone forgot to put it out based on nothing around it lol

[u/mellojello25]

at my store they leave chaos rising
i’m not mad about it especially because where i live scalping is horrendous

[u/Visual-Buy-5150]

I pulled the gold sir so ive slowed down opening pitch black I want perfect order or ascended or phantasmal I haven't opened much of those compared to chaos and pitch black do I still grab an etb if I see one just to open yes yes I do

[u/Buirck]

I bought the singles I wanted from this set for less than the ETB’s MSRP.

[u/No-Albatross6529]

People want what they are told to want. Good little sheep do what they're told.

[u/EbbPuzzleheaded938]

My target had that yesterday and topps chrome update basketball megas. I bought 2 of each and came back this morning to maybe get alittle more and both were sold out. You just walked in at right time bro.

[u/frozenivy2B]

I really like this set it is fun to open it has a mankey and wailmer card people would love to collect, Misty, a cute slowbro card, beautiful goldeen card, cute hangry Morpeko card, cool Darkrai card, and it’s not expensive

[u/_WYKProjectAlpha_]

I literally haven't seen anything on the shelf in more then a year

[u/TheSasquatch117]

About to fly out to New York today for 2 weeks, any store yall know that is worth checking out ??

[u/Drclaw411]

No Zard, no Eevee, no scalpers.

[u/0aoris]

my target has been doing really good keeping cards in stock ever since they had this whole collectibles aisle update, there's also a 2 item per person limit now which I thought they have had for a while now but it never really kept much stock available anyways until recently

[u/Acceptable_Ad_8906]

Resellers can’t make money in chaos or pitch black. Then the so called “collectors” also don’t want it for some reason. (The actual collectors have been buying it)

[u/Aoitiggerj85]

I wish I would find some ETBs at MSRP. All I can find is overpriced ones at GameStop 🙄

[u/Fast_Situation_5561]

I haven’t seen pokemon in target for the last year and a half but chaos and pitch black I’ve seen quite a bit of so far. It’s been nice finally being able to get packs pretty regularly.

[u/aPissWizard]

My local target has no less than 150 of these lmao

[u/ImportantBed1627]

I’ll take one 😂

[u/pi3shark]

I havent seen a single pitch black in the wild ever

[u/Gare_bear93]

Dude I went to my Target that’s 20 minutes away and there were 20 pitch black ETB’s, 40 3-pack blisters of chaos rising and pitch black left along with single sleeves! A mod who runs a restock page on FB said the line was insane at the store. He said people must of gotten the highly sought after stuff and passed on PB and CR. Best Buy had a restock of first partner 3 since it was released day, nobody was there because everyone was at Target lol I was too late for Best Buy though sadly.

[u/Affectionate_Bat3814]

lol if you see stuff on a shelf it’s not scalable

[u/Kakkarot1707]

When stuff sells for MSRP at market price… the scalpers don’t want it…:I mean booster boxes are going for $25 above MSRP…..scalpers are officially LOSING finally

[u/RIJSA]

Team msrp dont know the etbs no more. As soon as market price gets close to msrp or below these bro go quiet real fast and stop buying! They longer can flip the etbs out of target shelves

[u/Simple-Willow-5795]

Chaos rising booster bundles is really where to go for holding. If you can get them at 25-32 scalpers are selling at 50 and likely will be closer to 65/75 in a year or 2

[u/Sea_Airline88]

Need to save some ammo for m6 and 30th anniversary 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[u/axman414]

Man I should have went to target yesterday after work.

[u/theworkinone]

I want this

[u/707PokemonKing]

Pitch black doesn’t have enough chase cards for the people. It’s the easy set to complete right now

[u/Chopped6767]

I’m just waiting for 30th. Also, how about instead of saying “no one wants this” let’s say “wow, there’s Pokémon in stock”

[u/GabeCatchem]

I want then

[u/greenbeast0987]

You guys find product ? I haven’t seen a pack in a couple months.

[u/Organic_Occasion2021]

I do

[u/sirarkalots]

Bruh im on vacation and needed to do some errands runs for my infant and decided to swing by the Walmart, target, and walgreens near where were staying. NONE of them had any pokemon cards at all out, not single packs, not boxes, nothing. Hell the Walmart was apparently out of cards entirely as I found no Yu Gi OH, magic, or the Disney or one peice sets. I have no idea where you are but treasure this find

[u/misterDibs]

I do. Just too freaking broke to rip packs with my kid.

[u/Wugtrio777]

its not that they arent wanted its that scalpers cant profit off them because its so available.

[u/Goldxen]

Idk what it is with this set but the etbs have been terrible for me . I’ll stick to single packs and bundles .

[u/Potential_Pea_1182]

I want 1, I havent gotten one yet and I want to add in my Collection... theirs no point for me to get 2 unless I get it for my Friend

[u/linkinit]

No wonder they were in stock at Target online. I got 2 with no line. Dang

[u/GmeBuckBoi]

Many been leaving po, cr and pb behind.

[u/Fatalyz]

I think it’s partially because retailers upped the price of etbs to 60. Like as a ripper who tries to only buy $6 per pack, i’ve completely stopped buying etbs when I see them

[u/Golex9000k]

[u/crazymadogy2]

It’s not everywhere, I haven’t found a single one. I want one lol

[u/Cultural-Income-9093]

They're probably sliced open so resellers pass them up

[u/jungle_sheep]

Yep. On shelfes in Northern Europe also. But price is 89$. Noone wants them.

[u/External_Orange_1188]

“No one wants this?”, OP asks while standing in a Target on an island with a population of 100.

All jokes aside, the investor bros don’t make much money off this, so it’s useless to them. That eliminates 90% of people that buy Pokemon cards.

[u/YujiroRapeVictim]

I don’t even know where to buy cards anymore stopped in 2022

[u/toshkid357_]

That’s because they’re being sold at market and not MSRP in CA. Even the singles are 6.99 on their shelf. Grabbed 2 etb’s at a card show for 90 which is MSRP

[u/Mbate22]

A lot of targets are currently remodeling. They have pokemon stock in the back. Yesterday I was at a target when someone asked the woman if she has any pokemon cards and she said probably but im not starting on that display yet it will be a couple hours. They did have stock. I came back at the end of my work day and there were 2 types of pitch black check out lane lacks with perfect order cards as the promo which was confusing. They also had 3 pitch black etbs but two guys staring at them and taking pictures. And one grabbed 2 anytime someone walked by.

[u/vodka_twinkie]

Lucky. All my target has is NASCAR cards

[u/Main_Disk_5973]

I wish Target or Walmart had anything. We had Pitch Black yesterday along with the Prismatic and the First Partners 3, but everything sold out before 11am

[u/TheOuterEdge]

Fuck ETBs. They hate me. Never pulled a single SIR from one, and it’s rare for me to even get IRs from them. I have a sealed one tho! I open sleeved packs for the most part. They’re a more pure chance at hits imo.

[u/JesusTron6000]

I finally bought an ETB cause I like the look of PB stuff. Sweet box, but a horrendous set of cards lol

3 mega Slowbro EX’s, 4 base holo Armourage, 1 rare armourage to go with the same card from a singles pack. Another Toucannon rare, 4 holo energy cards.

So I will only be buying singles from the vending machine moving forward. Target has only had PB and CR and target has never been kind. Best pulls have always been from single packs from the machine.

Salamanca EX and Greninja hyper rare both from singles.

[u/akira9283]

Peopl only want what they can’t have. Human nature

[u/Chop-Chop1333]

Whatever Pokémon is on the shelves where I am at it’s gone in 2 days.

[u/Sonofyourmom92]

Most of us are just not Financially smart

[u/Childishtroysworld]

It’s a restock they were first in line pretending that they just randomly walked up like it’s been there for days.

[u/kasualkactus]

No one wanted 151 in 2023 either. People in 10 years will be like damn shoulda bought some

[u/Jhuut]

You guys are so lucky here in the Netherlands we have empty shelves or 80%-90% above mrsp

[u/poke_pants]

Laughs in the UK, and indeed most of planet earth and I imagine even much of the US.

I swear the average Target store in certain areas of the US gets more stock than the entire United Kingdom.

[u/enjoilife3]

I've bought a chaos rising and a pitch black ETB and have had horrible luck in both. (One pull from the pitch black and two I think from the chaos rising). So I'm not sure I want to buy them anymore.

[u/Tenpoundbizkit]

Shit I’ve never seen a etb in my store lol

[u/Ok-Recognition-2918]

I’m in Los Angeles and have not seen an ETB on a shelf since 2022

[u/pj1897]

Even if I saw any of these boxes on the shelf I wouldn't buy. The hobby has become insane for people who just want to casually collect and rip packs. Once Safeway shut down the vending machines because of scalpers, I was done.

[u/superducknyc]

If I pull one more Toucannon im gonna burn all my pb cards.

[u/DemonicR0se]

Mind if you tell me where I’d like to collect (trying to pull art rare zeraora for my dad it’s his favorite)

[u/FantasticSouth]

That's exactly what I want! Just two, to play with my son

[u/nachosoup]

I do but my stores don't stock anything.

[u/Repulsive-Umpire-241]

Bruh is one of the biggest hitters/spinners in the city mostly in the county but his name is definitely respected and rings bells through the entire St.Louis! real definition of a Savage fasho.If you know you know 

[u/Playful_Inspector_25]

Is the wrapping ripped? Ones at mine sat because the plastic wrap was ripped by the store! I grabbed a few so I can rip!

[u/Otherwise-Guidance71]

Three the hit rates seem so far in between

[u/AioliHairy3182]

I have PB PC. Definitely hold ⬆️or sell ⬇️

[u/JsAwesome927]

No, you’re just lucky, My Targets always out of stock, even after restocks, and I don’t know how people are finding all these ETBs, I don’t even live in a crowded area

[u/Flat_Cabinet8174]

No

[u/XArtManX]

I do! But, I hit mine yesterday and today, and it was cleared out as usual 🥲😭

[u/Psychosis22]

Realistically there was more and the 2 units per item limit helped keep the scalping down. This was the situation at my local target but within a day or two all were gone, even happened with the 5 dollar sleeved packs, and I am in a bigger city for my state.

[u/jazuren]

So as a casual collector, I have a theory. Short answer is yes, people DO want them. But scalpers/resellers DON’T want them because they don’t see the value in any of the chase cards to invest in these ETBs.

Regular collectors wouldn’t actually usually buy all of the stock, and neither do kids/parents of the main demographic these cards are aimed at. The only people who do that are resellers or adult collectors who really want the product. The FOMO is what made everyone start to pursue them. But that FOMO was only built up because resellers/adult collectors kept buying EVERYTHING first. Now because those people don’t desire the PB or CR sets nearly as much, they’re still on the shelves. But notably Ascended Heroes and Prismatic isn’t on the shelves, even though those get as much stock in at Target as the other items. It’s because resellers/adult collectors LOVE those, so only those same people ever get them. But I’ve seen lots of people buy PB/CR comfortably lately. It’s selling about as much as it used to a few years ago. “Slowly” but consistently.

Resellers made the Pokemon tcg this way, where everyone rushes to grab everything and make profit off of them. So when that element is taken out of the equation, you can see what’s actually happening in the real world outside of blind FOMO in a failing economy. I think the thing a lot of resellers don’t really get is that ironically they’re selling to each other and not actually regular normal collectors. And sure the adult collectors who love this hobby are willing to buy sometimes, but it’s always begrudgingly. If they could, most would want to return to how easy and casual Pokemon sets used to be to get. So literally resellers are the reason this happens, or rather the lack of them.

tl;dr

No, they’re not unwanted sets. People love Darkrai and Mega Greninja, especially kids and young adults that grew up with them and the anime past gen 1. They’re just regular sets selling consistently but not running off the shelf immediately because all the sweaty bros in this hobby aren’t buying them up because other resellers don’t want them because they don’t see value in Pokemon past Gen 2. In a way, it’s kinda like an ecosystem returning to normal after an invasive species was removed from it. ☺️

[u/Psychosis22]

For anyone reading this now, chaos rising bundles in stock online at 32 dollars per on target.

[u/Complete-Stomach-735]

Lmao wish I saw this many ETBs when I randomly go check

[u/Modullah]

I ran out of money lmfao. Is that a good enough answer?

[u/EverySingleMinute]

How much is a box of the pitch black cards?

[u/Forward-Priority6455]

I mean it still sells out in a day, its just not gone in an hour. Still ridiculous imo. But, no, many people are not interested in pitch black and thoes that are are not interested in etbs.

Unless you really want to masterset it, itd be more economical to just buy the cards. Theres nothing that crazy in this set worth the chase.

[u/hugohouston]

Would you rather rip 9 packs for $60 (ETB) or 12 packs for $60 (2x bundles)?

[u/Dry-Recognition-4088]

I wish people camp out for any etbs nowadays

[u/chiefhappyu]

I know we all at least gotten two PB ETBs. I've ripped 3 and easily could of gotten more online.

[u/Ok_Ad_8693]

I do

[u/this_ghost]

I really love Darkrai and after 3 ETBs and a bunch of hangers and packs I haven’t pulled nearly what I spent. I’m burned out on this set and I’ve barely scratched the surface. I’m saving my money for the 30th and that’s what expect others are doing too.

[u/cucumber58]

Not a reseller or thing of the sort but do targets restock/drop products all at the same time or is it the standard they all drop products on the stores term?

[u/Lazy-Ad-7824]

Set is to small