News 'Roaring Skies' Getting Another Print Run!

[Otaku]

They've printed EX Boxes with exact reprints last year of already rotated XY Sets.

I have never purchased these products and was unaware that they contained a new printing but with the same set information (like a Battle Arena Deck). Yes, that would have been an option then. Can you tell me which EX Boxes did this?

Secondly, Shaymin EX didn't make the format bad or unbalanced. I don't have much to say about this, however if you want to see an unbalanced format, go to your local Friday Night Magic scene and watch the standard. You will see the same 3 decks played all across the table, I guarantee that.

You are correct; Shaymin-EX made an already unbalanced format more unbalanced. I get it, there are TCGs with worse formats out there, but please at least entertain the notion that in a TCG like Pokémon already suffering from pacing issues, creating another way to speed things up was not what the TCG needed.

 

[Asmer]

For some reason, I read this as "'Roaring Skies' is getting reprinted!". I'm glad I read it wrong!

I wonder why TCPi underestimated the initial demand. Did they print less than normal? Or was the expansion just really that popular, all because of Shaymin-EX?

Keep in mind that Shaymin-EX was not the only great thing that initially came from Roaring Skies. Mega Rayquaza-EX made a huge impact on the format at one point. Hydreigon-EX had its place in Giratina-EX/Vileplume and Reshiram in other variants. Gold VS Seeker is from there. Lesser cards like Double Dragon Energy, Altaria, Mega Turbo and Sky Field all see play in one format or the other as well. There are quite a few good cards that came from the pack itself that may have caused TPCi to go "Hey... maybe we should have made more."

I will say, however, that Shaymin-EX and M Ray were definitely the two driving factors to Roaring Skies sales. If they are basing their actual "reprint" justification on underestimation of sales vs product creation, I'm sure those would be the main reasons. That said, I am also sure the other cards I mentioned were definitely factors as well. Still, thinking on it... is this really their answer to reprinting Shaymin-EX specifically? As nice as a lot of the cards were throughout the last year or so, a lot of the cards are no longer impacting (or at least much less so now). For example, Altaria and Reshiram don't need reprints. Random cards like Beautifly, who did make a rogue deck with Miltank FLF at one point, are no longer needed. If we were to open a pack of Roaring Skies right now, it would most likely be for Shaymin-EX, Double Dragon Energy/Mega Turbo/Sky Field, and/or Gold VS Seeker. That's what, 5 cards out of an entire set? It just seems silly to reprint it.

Then again, as much as they seem to be pushing Expanded as a format, this will be a bread winner for TPCi. After all, they can force our hand to play Expanded to a certain extent and we all know just how important Shaymin-EX currently is to that format.

That said, I would have rather seen Phantom Forces reprinted. Non-foil VS Seeker and Battle Compressor reprints would have been quite nice. Oh well.

-Asmer

 

[treyh37]

very interesting that they are doing it now at the start of the sun/moon block and if your source is correct right around the same time the new set will be in stores...

 

[bbninjas]

very interesting that they are doing it now at the start of the sun/moon block and if your source is correct right around the same time the new set will be in stores...

That could actually be a pretty decent marketing strategy, to be honest - to have more Roaring Skies available while the interest in the Sun/Moon block peaks. It could make more sales.

 

[Anthony Orosco]

You are correct; Shaymin-EX made an already unbalanced format more unbalanced. I get it, there are TCGs with worse formats out there, but please at least entertain the notion that in a TCG like Pokémon already suffering from pacing issues, creating another way to speed things up was not what the TCG needed.

I don't think you quite understood what I was attempting to convey. My point is that Pokemon, compared to other card games of equal or greater financial success, has had a balanced format for quite some time. If you don't like that some decks are better then others consistently, or that one of the most sought after cards in rotation costs $50+, I suggest you pick up Yo Kai Watch. Because I see nothing to complain about.

 

[Asmer]

I don't think you quite understood what I was attempting to convey. My point is that Pokemon, compared to other card games of equal or greater financial success, has had a balanced format for quite some time. If you don't like that some decks are better then others consistently, or that one of the most sought after cards in rotation costs $50+, I suggest you pick up Yo Kai Watch. Because I see nothing to complain about.

Hey.

HEY.

...Yokai Watch is fun, okay?

-Asmer

 

[Raigetsu]

Im curious to if the packs and their codes will continue to have inflated prices.
It's not a mater of how many there are, its a matter of getting those stupid Shaymins.

 

[Rooie]

Oh boy, cheaper copies of the best card in the standard format:









full-art Wally.

 

[normanc]

What happened was they knew people wanted bird EX Pokemon and since the set didn't have any in them, they printed less of it. In other news, I'm now selling full art Shaymin EX!


With Expanded being a thing, it makes sense for them to keep the set around. Darkrai EX from Dark Exploarers is still about 50 bucks despite being printed again as a promo and in a starter deck do I dont think full art Shaymin EX will drop below 70.

FA Darkrai didn't get another print run, FA Shaymin did. Playability is driving none of the demand for Darkrai.

 

[Starsoulklr]

@Otaku Last year they release about five different EX Boxes around the last three months that had four of the five feature actual straight set reprints of XY sets that had already rotated by that time: I'm gonna link Pokebeach article first:

http://www.pokebeach.com/2016/09/charizard-ex-dragonite-ex-and-mewtwo-ex-box-product-images

While the Mewtwo is a promo that had been released in Japan for quite some time the others are Charizard and Kangaskhan from Flash Fire, Dragonite from Furious Fists and the Gengar is from Phantom Forces. They are like the reprints from the Battle Arena that have the same stats and set symbol. Most likely they made these because of twenty years of Pokemon Hype but they also seem to still be making other EX Boxes like Kingdra and Scizor this year. Those seem to also be the same case as those other four.

@Asmer I can see Mega Ray being more of a reason to reprint the set as a whole it would be harder to justify printing elsewhere due to how many pieces you need for him with the Basic, Mega , Link, Stadium, and Mega Turbo over Shaymin needing only Shaymin. Also harder to reprint Ray elsewhere as they limit the EXes in the Expanded Products to two per deck and a Mega would never work well in that. Shaymin could have easily been stuck in like I said an EX box or an arena deck.

The reason we're all jumping at Shaymin is that it's playable in EVERY deck possible which is why it's demanding a sixty dollar price tag. As much of a spalshable card Smuggler's Copter is in Magic right now it's only a rare Shaymin is on the higher end of rarity. Magic might cost more overall but nothing in it's standard demands a price like Shaymin EX for a single card AND it's just as good in Expanded. It will not fall off the wayside as much after rotation it will always have a home.

 

[RiverShock]

I think this is going to backfire a bit for them. Yes, Shaymin and a couple of other cards are in high demand, but I can't imagine too many people will invest in boxes of a set that will rotate in 6 months. I feel like they should've done yet another Battle Arena-lite deck like the Articuno/Zapdos/Moltres ones. Honestly, pretty much any product with Shaymin-EX would probably sell. (Maybe barring extreme cases like that Mew/Mewtwo artbook collection thing. That reminds me, I still need to track one of those down. >.>) Probably moreso than a crapshoot box like this. It's basically just Shaymin-EX and M Rayquaza-EX that needed reprints. They're pretty much the sole cards worth money in the entire set. (Maybe Trainer's Mail, I don't even look at Trainer prices, so IDK.) VS Seeker's a thing, too, but it's a Secret Rare, so it's not like its availability is going to go up massively like a card like Trainer's Mail or Sky Field's would.

 

[Otaku]

@Otaku Last year they release about five different EX Boxes around the last three months that had four of the five feature actual straight set reprints of XY sets that had already rotated by that time: I'm gonna link Pokebeach article first:

http://www.pokebeach.com/2016/09/charizard-ex-dragonite-ex-and-mewtwo-ex-box-product-images

Ah, thanks!

I don't think you quite understood what I was attempting to convey. My point is that Pokemon, compared to other card games of equal or greater financial success, has had a balanced format for quite some time. If you don't like that some decks are better then others consistently, or that one of the most sought after cards in rotation costs $50+, I suggest you pick up Yo Kai Watch. Because I see nothing to complain about.

I believe I understand your position quite well. I didn't put words in your mouth, or dismissively inform you that if you disgareed with my views, you ought to just quit and go play another game. I provided a basic premise that we can actually look at, while challenging you to provide a better argument than relative quality. If one thing is better than another, that doesn't mean the better is automatically good or the lesser is automatically bad; one needs to evaluate each on its own merits. If you really don't wish to discuss this, that is fine, but you are the one who brought it up.

 

[crystal_pidgeot]

Oh, so this was real after all. Glad to see a second source confirmed it.

I feel like the price on good cards from the set may drop with this reprint, though it's hard to judge for now. I would definitely love to pull another FA Shaymin EX though. Finally, new players can semi-easily get Shaymin EX!


If TPCi does this, they lose out on the money they can earn from people feverishly buying ROS in hopes of pulling things like Trainer's Mail, Rayquaza EX, and of course, Shaymin EX. It's a horrible idea for them to do it financially, although in hindsight, they could get more money from more people joining the game and buying product to get the other cards they need...

FA Darkrai didn't get another print run, FA Shaymin did. Playability is driving none of the demand for Darkrai.

I guess that is true but I was getting at the fact that Darkrai has had 2 other reprints but I guess the full art does matter but this is also assuming they didn't make Shaymin-EX a short print EX. I don't think they are giving Roaring Skies a extended run for the sake of people getting Shaymin EX since they have over ways of going about that but I really think they did this so people can think they might get a Shaymin-EX.

 

[jessalakasam]

You say "chance". Does that mean you were buying boxes in hopes of a Shaymin EX? You should just go for the single.

So far I only got 1 box (which was when ROS first came out) and I will get 1 more, but I also want Codes, Trainers' Mail, SR Seekers, FA M rays and Shays I wouldn't just get a box for Shay

 

[VinculumStellarum]

I really think they did this so people can think they might get a Shaymin-EX.

I actually never thought about this. If that's what they really did, then shame on TPCi, because that's a greedy, money-grabbing tactic that everyone is going to fall for.

Someone should totally open a bunch of packs to see if you actually can pull a Shaymin. The results would be interesting.

 

[pikastore]

What about Europe ? Will you have a reprint in France too ?

 

[crystal_pidgeot]

I actually never thought about this. If that's what they really did, then shame on TPCi, because that's a greedy, money-grabbing tactic that everyone is going to fall for.

Someone should totally open a bunch of packs to see if you actually can pull a Shaymin. The results would be interesting.

I say this because on PTCGO, a friend of mine opened up like 600 RS packs and didn't pull a shaymin but got everything else many times over. I also open up some from time to time and can't get a Shaymin. I know that RNG is a mess with that game but I have pull many of the other URs and SRs but cant find that shaymin. I hope they dont do it and I want to be wrong but it makes no sense to re-release the entire set when people only want Shaymin-EX when they could just make a tin and put it there like they have done with other cards. It just seems fishy to me.

 

[Asmer]

@Asmer I can see Mega Ray being more of a reason to reprint the set as a whole it would be harder to justify printing elsewhere due to how many pieces you need for him with the Basic, Mega , Link, Stadium, and Mega Turbo over Shaymin needing only Shaymin. Also harder to reprint Ray elsewhere as they limit the EXes in the Expanded Products to two per deck and a Mega would never work well in that. Shaymin could have easily been stuck in like I said an EX box or an arena deck.

The reason we're all jumping at Shaymin is that it's playable in EVERY deck possible which is why it's demanding a sixty dollar price tag. As much of a spalshable card Smuggler's Copter is in Magic right now it's only a rare Shaymin is on the higher end of rarity. Magic might cost more overall but nothing in it's standard demands a price like Shaymin EX for a single card AND it's just as good in Expanded. It will not fall off the wayside as much after rotation it will always have a home.

I can't say I agree because of the bolded.
The reason is because it's just as easy to make a Box featuring both Rayquaza and Mega Rayquaza-EX as it is to make a Box featuring Shaymin-EX. The problem isn't special product creation so much as a combination of a MASSIVE demand from the players for very specific cards (in our case, Shaymin-EX and, to a much lesser extent, Gold VS Seeker) and attempting to not affect the Secondary Market too much. This is extremely important for TPCi to balance because as we've seen in other games (Yugioh specifically), when you start massively reprinting cards that are expensive in the Secondary Market, your most valuable customer (vendors) become, very, very upset.

It would be different if the Rayquaza Duo were more expensive as a whole and/or were seen in competitive play much more often. There would be a much more obvious justification to reprint them if the deck was Tier 1, for example. But, because it isn't and because we all have a very clear understanding as to how important other cards in Roaring Skies are, this is a perfect solution. You can now allow your fans/players to attempt to pull Shaymin-EX etc. while allowing Vendors to sell packs and/or open product to sell Singles while slightly reducing the price of expensive cards for a limited time. It's what MTG did with Modern Masters and it works extremely well for the Organization since they're simply selling wholesale products anyway.

From a Marketing perspective, this makes 100% sense to me. I just don't like that they're doing it and, quite frankly, it makes me wonder if other important sets to Expanded, for example, are going to receive a "Second Run" as well. Like I stated before, Phantom Forces would be a good place to start, but we'll see where that goes.

-Asmer

 

[Anthony Orosco]

Ah, thanks!



I believe I understand your position quite well. I didn't put words in your mouth, or dismissively inform you that if you disgareed with my views, you ought to just quit and go play another game. I provided a basic premise that we can actually look at, while challenging you to provide a better argument than relative quality. If one thing is better than another, that doesn't mean the better is automatically good or the lesser is automatically bad; one needs to evaluate each on its own merits. If you really don't wish to discuss this, that is fine, but you are the one who brought it up.

Ok, first off I would like to clear up the misconception that if you don't agree with my opinions you should go and play another game. That is not what I meant at all and I believe that was a huge misunderstanding. Also, how was I dismissive? I simply stated that this game isn't as screwy as people thought. If you have the time and effort to put into getting a Shaymin or two that's great. That didn't make the format unbalanced. If you had asked me a few months ago whether I thought Shaymin was a problem in this game, I would have said YES. But I realized that its not a problem because people can choose whether they want to take the leap into competitive play. So I would love if you could bring to my attention how I put words in your mouth or dismissed your views. I also brought a basic premise that challenged your argument while challenging you to provide a better answer.

 

[Hemos]

I may look into getting more packs of this. I'm all well and good for Rayquazas, but pulling a second Shaymin EX wouldn't hurt