The Pokémon Center has launched a second wave of pre-orders for its 30th-anniversary Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG) products. This follows a highly problematic first drop that saw significant technical difficulties and rapid sell-outs. The latest release includes the Pokémon TCG: 30th Celebration Booster Bundle, featuring six booster packs, and the Pokémon TCG: 30th Celebration Mini Tin Display, which contains four distinct collectible tins, each with two booster packs, a sticker sheet, and an art card. Both products are expected to be priced at $29.99 for the bundle and $9.99 for each mini tin. Notably absent from this second wave are the highly coveted Pokémon Center Elite Trainer Boxes.
Customer purchase limits are in place, with a maximum of three Booster Bundles and one Mini Tin Display allowed per customer. For context, the Elite Trainer Boxes from the first drop, limited to two per customer, sold out within five hours. The subsequent products with stricter limits took nearly seven hours to sell out, indicating a significant increase in stock availability compared to recent Pokémon TCG releases. Information from botting communities suggests The Pokémon Company intends to continue releasing products in further waves.
Fans attempting to secure these items are advised to use a PC with a wired internet connection, as mobile devices can be prone to refreshing or going into sleep mode. To potentially increase chances, users can connect a phone on LTE and a PC on a wired connection simultaneously, but must avoid using multiple devices from the same IP address to prevent being flagged as a bot. Past purchase attempts have indicated that orders to the same address may be canceled and that the checkout process can be unreliable, sometimes requiring multiple attempts for credit card transactions.
Website performance is expected to be unstable, particularly during the initial hours of the sale. Users in queues may experience fluctuating wait times, with timers sometimes increasing after decreasing. The site can also crash unexpectedly, resetting queue positions. Despite these frustrations, the advice is to remain patient and rejoin queues if disconnected, as many were still able to secure items even after experiencing significant delays or resets. Email confirmations for purchases may also be delayed by an hour or more, making it advisable to screenshot the confirmation screen after completing a transaction.
While scalpers reportedly had a successful first drop, many regular consumers were also able to acquire products. For those unable to secure the anniversary items, the recent Pitch Black set is widely available at most retailers.