Prismatic Evolutions is not getting a reprint and that’s just how things are going to be. It hasn’t even been released yet and y’all are talking about a reprint already. Which is kind of sad. You’d wish there was more product available for pre-order than there is and we wouldn’t be talking about waiting for a reprint.
But over and over the constant argument around reprints is “oh well they sold out so The Pokemon Company will HAVE to print more to meet demand!” And the thing is, they don’t have to do any such thing. If it were true that every time there was demand for a set Evolving Skies would never have gone out of print.
The Pokemon Company’s printers are out there printing on a schedule. They are not free wheeling it. And while the printers likely have left little slots inside the schedule to reprint sets, they probably really focus on sets that are current from their point of view, have clear demand for product across the entire territory they print for, and are not special sets that require extra product to produce.
And The Pokemon Company’s printing schedule is probably planned out two years in advance, with printing and packaging time for each set blocked in. This is a manufactory and not a print on demand setup. They don’t have computer printers where they can just print off cards whenever they’d like, like you can with documents. It’s important to remember that.
You’re also forgetting scarcity as a marketing tool. Magic the Gathering (Wizards of the Coast) only does one print run of collectors booster boxes for example. Those boxes sell for at least double what you’d pay for a Pokemon booster box and it feels like the prices only go up because of that scarcity and desirability. The cards are good and hard to get, so customers pay up for them.
Prismatic Evolutions and 151 are special sets and are marketed as such. They only have special products like binder collections and don’t have booster boxes. So there is no way to efficiently purchase booster packs. If you want a bunch of booster packs you’re going to have to pay up for product you don’t actually want or need. I myself have a pre-order for two binder collection when really I don’t need any more binders.
Marketing sets as special and limited is exciting for the customer. It reinvigorates interest in your product and can get people to spend much more than they should. This doesn’t just benefit you with the current set but will carry over and benefit you with future sets. It’s just smart marketing all around.
But printing a bunch of product to meet demand and possibly over producing product is worse than selling out. Selling 100% of your product is highly beneficial in this case compared to selling 50% inside a timeframe. It doesn’t matter that you can sell more in total, the air of exclusivity is what really matters. And if you don’t think The Pokemon Company has savvy marketers I have quite a bit to tell you about the original TV show lol
There is absolutely no rule that says The Pokemon Company has to reprint anything (actually there isn’t a rule to say they CAN’T reprint something too) and that should be your default when buying Pokemon products. You really should view getting a Pokemon product at MSRP as your last chance. You shouldn’t let that drain your wallet, but you should see it as a reason to grab two booster bundles instead of one.
So there’s a handful of reasons why Prismatic Evolutions is not going to get a reprint. If 151 gets a reprint eventually then we should assume Prismatic Evolutions will get one too. But at the moment I’m betting that The Pokemon Company has an interest in keeping things exclusive for marketing’s sake and keeping their printing schedule on track.