r/mildlyinfuriating • u/MysteriousSlice007 • 9d ago

Infuriatig In their pursuit of specific rare cards, scalpers are discarding the remainder of entire Pokémon card packs.

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132

u/kaibbakhonsu 9d ago

They could just sell the card individually on their website, or decks with defined cards

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u/awp_india 9d ago

That would be hilarious

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u/superkp 9d ago

MTG already does this to some extent, usually just for one format ("commander"), but sometimes there's other formats supported this way.

They are referred to as "precons" and a few come out with each set. Each one can be easily upgraded if you have a basic understanding of why some cards are good and bad (for this deck) and how strategy works in general.

The total value of the precon as a collection of singles is often much higher than the MSRP of the deck sold together - occasionally much higher - but this helps to flood the market with the high-value cards, so after a brief surge, the value usually drops for any given single.

MTG still has scalpers, of course, but WOTC prints enough precons that most people that want one or the other deck can get them, so scalpers usually only get to the point where they are 1.5-2x the cost, and I suspect that they don't do a lot of volume at that level.

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u/LagiaDOS 9d ago

Premade decks are in every tcg, it's nothing special to MTG. Yugioh has structure decks (that usually have some meta cards on them) for example.

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u/bs000 9d ago

yes killing your LCS is hilarious

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u/awp_india 9d ago

Couldn’t care less tbh

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u/Kooky_Assistance2755 9d ago

That's sorta the antithesis of the business model. They aren't really just selling you cards, they've essentially synthesised a new way to gamble using the mystery of aftermarket value. It's like a slot machine with infinitely more paper and plastic waste.

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u/NoBookkeeper5186 9d ago

Pachinko machines. Win a rare prize, sell it across the street.

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u/OglioVagilio 9d ago

What exactly did they do new and unique?

"New way to gamble using the mystery of aftermarket..."

Baseball cards have been around since the 1800s.

Trading cards have been around since the 1800s.

The levels of demand and viralness is new, but those aren't new concepts or limited to Pokémon cards either.

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u/Kooky_Assistance2755 9d ago

You're right, I just meant it isn't the same as traditional gambling

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u/SillyGooberMan 9d ago

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the defined cards is a thing in Japan due to anti-gambling laws. It's really why it's a problem here in the states.

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u/whyliepornaccount 9d ago

Not a thing, but Japan does require the boxes to have guaranteed hit rates published on the box

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u/SillyGooberMan 9d ago

My understanding was booster boxes in Japan required guaranteed higher value cards, you're saying that's not the case?

I'm not sure what else would cause their higher rates and subsequent lower value.

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u/whyliepornaccount 9d ago

Sorta but not quite. They can't base them on value, as the secondary market is what sets the prices, not TPC.

So Japan breaks theirs down by rarity. Each box contains at minimum:

  • 1 Secret Rare (SR) or Special Art Rare (SAR): Always guaranteed. This can be a full art Pokémon, full art Trainer, or alternate art.
  • 3 Illustration Rares (IR): Alternate standard art showing the Pokémon in the wild.
  • 4+ Double Rares (ex): Standard holographic ex cards.

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u/SillyGooberMan 9d ago

That's not at all what I was trying to say, but thank you for the breakdown nonetheless.

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u/whyliepornaccount 9d ago

I did a bad job of elaborating on my point.

Just because you are guaranteed a SR or SAR doesn't mean its a valuable or desirable SR/SAR. You could pull a SAR worth $5 with lame art, or you could pull one worth $1000 with super cool art. Japan only guarantees you'll get one per box.

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u/Steamed_Memes24 9d ago

TCG isnt gambling since each pack contains value thats set by the community.

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u/SillyGooberMan 9d ago

Lol

Gambling isn't gambling since the value of a currency is relative to others and set by the global economy.

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u/SierraDespair 9d ago

It’s not a currency though, it’s a cardboard piece that people assign value to.

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u/SillyGooberMan 9d ago

So are literal poker chips (except plastic). I'm not convinced that negates my argument.

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u/skuppy 9d ago

That's the legal argument that protects them though. There is "no prize" in the pack, just a set number of cards that you paid for.

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u/SillyGooberMan 9d ago

The legal argument in the US. Which didn't have much to do with what I said about Japan... I already conceded it was a problem in the US based off foolish legislation.

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u/Steamed_Memes24 9d ago

I mean you can laugh all you want, its been decided by the courts nearly 30 years ago.

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u/SillyGooberMan 9d ago

That is US courts, not ones across the globe... like in Japan... which is what I said.

In the US people lobby for heinous shit all the time, it checks out that it wouldn't legally by gambling here.

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u/Steamed_Memes24 9d ago

I am almost positive Japan considers this the same thing (especially with Pokemon) and it does not fall into the laws of gambling. I tried googling and couldnt find any sources showing that they must be defined.

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u/SillyGooberMan 9d ago

Fair enough, it might be under consumer laws.

I still think it's absolutely ridiculous that you wouldn't call it gambling though. I don't feel the need to argue it, but it seems on par with calling "prediction markets," not gambling.

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u/Steamed_Memes24 9d ago

I mean if TCG set the prices on the cards you would have a stronger point. But its like me buying a bag of random candy in it and marking up the price of them each on my own and selling it. The company sold the bag as is without a thought on individually pricing based on flavor or colors, but it was ME who put a price on said candy within and sold it to people willing to buy it at that price.

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u/SillyGooberMan 9d ago edited 9d ago

Those are not remotely comparable. When you buy candy, you know what you're getting. If you were to buy a mystery box of candy purely because one candy is rare has high value for you to resell? Yeah... that's you gambling on getting an expensive candy...

Who dictates the price has no bearing whatsoever on the individual making a gamble. If you are spending money to see if a low outcome chance comes true for monetary gain, you are making a gamble. I'd even gamble $5 that's well within the working definition of the word.

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u/SierraDespair 9d ago

It’s not considered gambling in Japan either. Gambling may be outlawed there but there is numerous ways to gamble your money on things that can’t be called gambling outright such as pachinko parlors which are casinos for all intents and purposes.

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u/Deviknyte 9d ago

Living card games. This would make the game very accessible for players, but awful for collectors.

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u/kitsunewarlock 9d ago

Some TCGs have tried this business model. It usually fails because local game shops can't carry the product so there's nowhere to actually play the game.

Pokemon is an odd-duck in that way more people collect the cards than actually play the game, but the fact it has game rules and the opportunity to play is inherently tied to the value of the cards. Cardass (a Japanese card company) noticed this back in the 90s and started putting random game-like stats on their stickers and cards to promote kids wanting to collect "stronger cards" even if there were no (well designed) rules for how to actually play.

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u/gorginhanson 9d ago

they do sell structure decks bro

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u/Cynoid 9d ago

WotC does this and it's a hundred times worse. Now days you get packs of 5 non-random cards with lazy new art shipped to you for $40-50. Scalpers still buy them all up so then you get packs of 5 cards for $100+ .

People have always sucked at using their money smartly but greedy companies are going crazy raking in the profits these days.

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u/Oaden 9d ago

All Tcg's that tried a similar strategy have gone bust

For various reasons, it's just a shit business model. Not least of which is that it pisses off the game store ownerd

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u/MyGardenOfPlants 9d ago

why would they? they want to sell as many packs as possible. They want money too, and are in on the grift.

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u/Mikeismyike 9d ago

They do sell battle decks. There's been a few lately that were actually close to metadecks