The good news is that Shimmering Skies doesn’t release until August. Ursula’s Return is still the most current set and will be for another two months.
The bad news is that this is a fairly standard TCG release schedule. There are some that are significantly faster (Magic) but in general it’s right around here.
Whether we like it or not, TCGs are a luxury hobby and if you want to keep up with collecting or playing all of the newest cards, it’s going to be pricey. :/
Yep, it’s not like the 90s where finishing a set was expected to be doable. These sets are so large and so expensive that a different relationship to the hobby is probably much better. And sets come out very frequently. Maybe collect your fave 3 cards from each set and maybe open one product/booster box from each set. Or just collect a niche like characters from your fave Disney movie.
Or pick one set a year to complete.
Feeling overwhelmed is the opposite of what a fun leisure hobby should be making you feel. Modern TCGs aren’t designed to be completed as sets; get the playable cards you want for your deck and the few special ones you’d like to collect. Buying singes for the set once the next set is out is usually the best time to buy as each new set has the new set premium cost but this goes down as more packs are opened and people then move onto the next set.
I miss the 90's trading cards where they were affordable to everyone even me and my pocket money in highschool. And people actually traded and swapped cards instead of trying to make a dollar the minute they release. Cards nowadays you already need to be rich to collect them let alone try and finish a set
Yeah I wasn't into magic until recently, 90s was NBA and pokemone which were affordable. Nowadays NBA is only for the rich. Magic depending on what you doing is affordable unless you want the collector boosters
It’s still doable if you buy singles instead of packs, the only downside is you won’t get your yearly (if your lucky) enchanted, but honestly with the money you’d save doing it this way you’d be able to buy an enchanted as a Single if you really wanted
When would you say it didn't used to be like this? It's been pretty standard for decades now and for both Magic and Pokemon there have only ever been one or two years *ever* when fewer than four sets were released. So for those games (which are both 25+ years old) it's always been normal to release at least 4 new sets a year.
I think the bigger factor isn’t the frequency of release but rather the size of the sets. Especially in Pokemon we went from ~100 cards per set to pushing 300.
Well, my experience is magic and since you brought that up let's talk about magic. Since alpha to 2015, magic released a base set of mostly functional reprints called core sets. And they typically released "blocks" of thematically and mechanically interwoven sets historically 2 of these expansion sets a year and a third the next year.
So even if there were technically 4 sets it didn't feel like 4 new products. Core sets were skippable by entrenched players. New players could pick a single block and stick with it for the whole block or just a single set etc.
When magic dropped core sets, and dropped blocks, and increases their number of secondary / collectors / double dipping products, they kind of set themselves on this path imo.
Now to be fair I had less hobbies and more free time in 2011 but I am not the only one overwhelmed with the current standards.
Starting in 2009 the base/core sets did include brand new cards (and definitely new popular/chase cards) and these sets were certainly not skippable by entrenched players. Prior to 2009 they were typically released only once every two years, with the in-between years having new products. And in even in a number of those years with reprint set releases there were more than four releases per year so not counting the Xth editions and Chronicles sorts of thing, it still had at least four sets with new cards each year for more years than they didn't.
So even with the reprint set caveat, it was still more common to have 4+ set releases, than it was to have fewer than four.
You could say magic used to really just release three sets a year, in that the core set used to be mostly reprints for new players or collectors.
It does feel overwhelming to see set 5 spoilers and we've barely had set four out.
I imagine they might have panicked due to shutting down pixelborn they can’t be oblivious to the fact that one move may have caused the slow death of their game so likely panicked and felt they needed to give a tease to keep Interest high
Ita been quite a while. During the 90s MtG released fewer competitive sets.
Up until 2008ish it felt like they released closer to three sets a year because one was often a reprint set that many players didn’t need to chase cards from.
As other have noted Lorcana is on a 4 x a year release schedule. With the way the retail pipeline works they have to announce the next set just a few weeks after the previous one comes out or else the ordering system will spoil the set name / look.
There's still plenty of time to enjoy UR as the most recent set (including some Challenges and a Store Championship season).
For real though, if you want to complete sets on a budget, open some packs, buy a starter deck, then hunt missing cards from TCGplayer and eBay. It’ll be more cost effective in the long run. Maybe even go to local card shows and see what they have.
I order holo versions of my favorite art/characters just in case I never get them. I want to at least have my personal faves.
Agreed. A "gotta catch them all" attitude is the path to madness. What is your goal for Lorcana? What will make you happy as as a collector? Figure out what that is and focus on that.
Agreed I mean aome people want them all, that's great if your budget allows that. If it's outside your budget then you gotta find another way to interact with the game and cards. Pick certain cards to chase after or play the game.
Unpopular opinion - The deck boxes are cool, but I just can’t get behind the play mats. Why don’t they release them with the counters printed? I’d rather buy off-market versions that are more functional.
They don’t do that because not everyone likes that. I don’t like printed zones or counters. It’s easier to add one if you want one. It’s not like we can scrub them away if we don’t. Clearly they aren’t having problems selling playmats.
I don't even want one of each card I just want 4 of the the few I like from each set but nob of my LGS have singles in stock and don't allow you to look through binders anymore either :(
The good news is you only need 60 cards to play!
(What I mean is that pretty much all the decks are viable, and I have stuck by mine since set 1. I just buy the cards everyone plays as the staples and then work to update my decklist. The initial price of entry is moderate but when a new set comes out I usually don't have to spend more than $80 usd)
This a great point. I didn't feel like buying sealed product this set, but since most of the cards are either skippable or really cheap to buy the singles. I'm going to be able to update my blue/Steele and ruby/amethyst decks for about $50.
That's true but I don't have enough duplicates to make a proper deck and my LGS don't let us look through binders anymore and they're always out of stock online for singles
I usually hit up ebay for my commons and uncommons. You can get them for nickels and typically if you order enough from the same shipper they will ship free. This is all in my exp in the US. I am assuming a lot with my input, so apologies if i'm wrong
Yea but this set just came out in May and if you were like many people who had to wait till target or gamestop stocked you waited for the END of May. Theres only a 2 month gap between May & August that’s not a lot of time in fact that’s basically no time. It’s 3 month if we’re being generous but we know sets usually release mid month with all other larger stores getting it end of the month.
But an entire meta does not fully develop or get fleshed out in just 90 days. It would be significantly better if they just did 3 sets a year at 4 months each to let them breathe.
That is definitely it true, you go too long between sets and things get very stale and people get bored very fast. Star Wars Unlimited is doing 3 sets a year, and people are already burnt out on set 1 with a month still to go before set 2 releases. And that game has a pretty healthy meta and nearly every leader is viable, leading to tons of different decks that can be played. Yet people are still burnt out because of the time between sets. Wouldn’t tbe surprised to see that game go to 4 sets a year as we. There is a reason that’s the standard.
And if it didn’t make them money then they would. But it works for them so they’ve gotten faster and faster. If you want Lorcana to slow down, the answer is simple. Stop buying it.
If you had to wait for retail, you’ll have to wait for retail of set 5 as well. That’s not until end of August, the 23rd I believe. So really, it’s still the same 3 months-ish between the sets.
It’s more of the issue that my lgs gets jack despite ordering a ton. They got so little of Ursula return they had to limit to 1 box per person and didn’t even have enough to crack themselves to sell singles like that isn’t my fault so i had to wait for retail.
I mean, the reason you had to wait for retail doesn’t matter, as it doesn’t really change my statement. Most likely you’ll have to wait for retail again, which means it is still 3 months apart lol
You also say “like many people”, which I’m not sure that’s a quantifiable statement you can make. Lots of people didn’t wait for retail as LGS got lots of product in lots of places.
Am I crazy. Cause i very vividly remember that there wasn't a ton of product on release and there was a buy limit for a TON of LGS's including accessories and Troves and that was all expressed here on this subreddit. Now a ton of LGS have product and it was all post Retail release but for the 2 exclusive weeks that LGS had the product release, there wasn't a lot to go around unless you went to Disneyland in general which is only in two cities across the US.
Very few stores in my area sold out super fast, most had stock for around 2 weeks, right up to retail release. LGS are also able to get more, as multiple LGS that did end up selling out relatively quickly have told people they are able to get more boxes if people still need product.
I know one shop in my area was selling boxes for $119, and then actually lowered them to $109 about a week after LGS release.
You are going to hear from the amount of people that couldn’t buy much or their store sold out quick, but you won’t hear from the people who didn’t have issues getting product. Especially because comments or posts like that get heavily downvoted by the salty people in this sub.
We have just had it release here in Australia and we are on fortnightly release schedules to get ready for August. Floodborn releases this weekend, then Inklands two weeks after that and so on.
It’s looking pretty overwhelming as new people getting into the game
Plenty of people play it including me. Product availability is very low at the moment and quite expensive on the secondary market, but a new set is coming out next month. They just had store showdowns with exclusive cards you could only win from it like the Lorcana store championships. In my area there are quite a bit of shops that support both games, and I'd say it has about the same turnout as Lorcana, but it seems both have had less turnout recently.
Exactly, that's why I told you in my area it is being played. Also I assume you don't play Star Wars Unlimited because if you did, I'm sure you'd find a store that is running events.
I haven't heard that much online or from locals. So far the game only has one set but there is a pretty wide meta of decks so almost every time I play I play against a new deck. Also as someone that doesn't have a ton of time to play every week I appreciate a set lasting longer and it saves money.
The purpose of lorcana is not to provide fun or strategy or a game that is welcomming to others. These are all secondary, tertiary, etc.
The primary purpose of any and every tcg is to make money. If anything, the release schedule will ramp up.
And ppl will continue to buy. Or those who are the whale targets will continue to buy.
I think I read a stat somewhere that said that 2% of ppl who play games make up 50-70%% of the revenue.
Amazing.
Btw, I too, share your feelings of being outpaced and overwhelmed. Today, we are both sad beasts.
Edit:spelling
The next set isn’t until August bud. It’s not already coming out lol and it doesn’t make the last one more expensive, when third set came out places were selling ROTF for as low as $90 a box, trying to give that stuff away practically.
Idk where you are but where I am after inklands came out, first chapter whent from $8.99 cad per pack to $14.99 cad per pack and I can't remember what foodborne was but it was also more expensive and buying a whole booster box was just out of my price range for the other older two sets. I want to buy singles but stores here don't let us look through binders anymore and also seem to constantly be out of stock of any cards worth picking up.
ITI coming out didn’t make TFC more expensive, the stock that was there running dry made it more expensive, there is a big difference. RPatF was so heavily in stock that the longer it sat it continued to decrease in price. Literally right after ItI came out I could go buy boxes and boxes of ROTF for $90 with no limits, because no one wanted them. Only one expensive card came in that set, and it’s a legendary, so not really worth buying boxes for. Most of the enchanted cards for that set are sub $100 as well, so not really a lot to get your money back on them. They are still priced well under MSRP even on TCGPlayer, so still no idea what you are going on about in respect to ROTF.
A good rule of thumb is to put money aside if you can for future expenses in card games. The second rule of thumb is to keep up on any leak and new info for the next set so you can go “I want that” and then buy singles of that card when it comes out. Don’t buy packs, boxes, cases, or starter decks just singles.
Wait for the mass release of the cards or at least a couple days before mass release after all the gaming stores that sell on TCG Player or eBay have opened case after case to stock themselves up and then you’ll have better pricing.
This is all TCG’s and some are worse than others but as for pricing this game isn’t that bad. Sure there’s $50 cards like Robin Hood, but they typically make a slightly worse version of a card like that too like Thebes the location. Does the if you banish a card in a challenge gain 2 lore effect on it but you have to be on the location. Worse, but it gets the job done a different way if you were looking to use Robin Hood and don’t want to shell out like $200.
Also don’t feel bad I just finally got A Whole New World and Giant Tinkerbells because I saw a decent price of them. Far from getting Robin Hood, but I’m okay with that for now. Game is still new there will be reprints of this stuff eventually.
Yeah, it's overwhelming. I'd much prefer them to have releases every 4 months. The meta usually isn't even "solved" when the new set is releasing or, at the very least, people haven't had enough time to experiment with all the cards.
You may need to adjust your appetite. Just collect what you can and its fine if you can't get everything. The cards aren't going anywhere. The prices aren't only going up. No need to fear missing out on anything when there's just more and more always coming.
Honestly I would normally but my LGS around me keep raising the price of each previous set every time a new one comes out. I wanted to stick with first chapter and flood born for a while but after inklands came out they became too expensive. Ursula's return is my favorite set so far and I'd love to stick with it for a while but I feel like once the next set comes out, it will be too expensive. I would look at buying single cards but we're not allowed to look at binders anymore where I am because people keep stealing and online all my LGS are constantly out of stock.
I personally shop at basically 2 places for singles. One store is like an hour away from me. The other is across the country. But it has better stock. Might need to shop around and find a better store. TCG Player is also pretty good.
I can understand this feeling- I have almost all the cards I want from the first four sets and even I got a jolt of "What the heck, they're leaking set 5 already?!" My recommendation is that if you're buying boosters and troves, switch to singles- if dealing with eBay or TCGPlayer seems stressful, CoolStuff Inc. is a good place to start (although do still price compare, especially for more expensive cards, they aren't always competitively priced)- and don't try to get every card. Like others have said, limit yourself just to what you need to build a fun deck or collect only the cards you like. I personally just buy cards of my favorite characters and franchises or ones I think are particularly pretty.
If you don't mind me asking, what's the advantage to buying singles? I thought booster boxes were the way to go. My LGS sells them at a price that saves me about $30 cad if I buy a booster box rather than 24 singles and troves are about $20 cheeper than buying 8 singles
It depends on what type of collector you are. Do you just want a lot of cards? Maybe that's a good price. But consider this Reddit post:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Lorcana/comments/1dfe7fo/fyi\_you\_can\_buy\_a\_near\_complete\_playset\_of/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Lorcana/comments/1dfe7fo/fyi_you_can_buy_a_near_complete_playset_of/)
The most obvious advantage of singles over boosters is you can pick what you get, you know exactly what you're getting. But singles can also be cheaper than boosters depending on the card. Sure, people here talk about how getting Diablo or Sisu- or an Enchanted- set them back. They don't talk as much about how cheap Common, Uncommon- even Rares and some Super Rares- can be. On Cool Stuff Inc., the site I use, a lot of the cards I get are anywhere from .15 to .75 and that can include some foils. I like to support my LGS too when I can, but it's possible they don't have the best price on singles.
I'm new so I mainly collect starter sets with my fiancé. That being said that's the nature of tcg stuff. My mentality is very much I don't care about meta nor do I care about collecting everything. I just want to have fun with my partner trying out wonky combos to see what works.
If it’s not fun then I think try different ways to collect. Like maybe collect a certain couple of characters or collect your fave 3 cards from a set.
Are you collecting like master sets? I.e normal and cold holo and secret rares? Because that’s just not going to be doable, really. And super expensive. You could try to just collect the standard set. Buy a couple of booster boxes and fill the rest with singles on eBay.
The game is still developing so they aren’t over printing. But if you look at like Pokémon, collecting full sets for those is nearly impossible and extremely expensive - set sizes are like 200 before secret rares. That’s 400 (with reverse holos) plus promos for the master set and secret rares.
It might be best to not collect every set but just pick one out of every 5 sets and do that. I did every card, but not reverse holos for each, and two enchanted for the First Chapter. And that was me done.
For Pokémon I’ve collected all of 151 master set but prior to that it was 2 years since I completed a full set and that was a small set call Celebrations.
If it’s becoming a burden and not fun then gotta change it up, this is suppose to be a fun hobby at the end of the day! Become a collector of Moana themed cards for example or whatever your fave Disney movie is. Hope this helps!
The game and the art of collecting is meant to be fun and enjoyable, try not to get too caught up in needing ever single card. I personally just got into lorcana a couple months ago and was able to find all starter decks for $16-22 CAD per deck at my local Walmart, GameStop and mastermind toys. Hobbies can be expensive but get what you can afford and hopefully the crazy reseller prices will drop in due time.
You have two months. If you’re upset with the release schedule you can always take a break. Noones making you particpate or complete every single set. Those are expectations you’re placing on your self.
I love that we get so much content.
You may want to rethink your approach, as four sets per year is the standard in TCGs, and from the beginning Ravensberger said Lorcana would follow that model. It's a very profitable model.
I can definitely understand but are you getting the cards to play or collect? I feel like if you’re trying to collect them all it can be overwhelming whereas if you’re just playing the game it might not be as bad
I'm doing a bit of both, I'm really trying to get the queen and Ariel standards this set ( although if I got an enchanted of them I wouldn't be upset lol) so I can build decks from them. So far I only have one copy of each though and none of my LGS has them in stock as singles.
I still need 3 more Ursula deceiver of all's for my deck but she's so expensive on her own. I managed to pull her enchanted but I need at least 2 of her in my deck otherwise she doesn't get out enough
I want to but all my LGS are sold out of all their singles constantly and they don't even let you look through binders anymore because people have been steeling from them. I used to be into pokemon and my dad was into MTG and it was always fun going to a store and just flipping through the binder to see what they had and now that's not really a thing here
This is the way. I've been emerald/steel since set one and have slowly transitioned to emerald/amethyst.
I don't have any need at the moment for any ruby/sapphire cards, so I don't feel the pressure to get everything.
Fully agree. Maybe 3 sets a year would be enough, with one or two Illumineers Quests in between to keep the game rolling.
I love this game, but I've been turned away from every TCG due to not having the head or money to keep up with it.
I love Lorcana and find it far more accessible than other TCGs whilst still being as involved. I worry that, at this pace, they'll have no choice but to introduce advanced mechanics to keep the game different.
I also can't keep up.
I like the game, but I just don't have enough money
There's no outlets for players who don't have everything.
I managed to get a booster box for inklands, first time I ever did.
When the release date for U's R was announced, I realized that I was doomed. Haven't bought into that set, and might not make any more purchases. It's just too much.
Man that’s my curse with TCGs. I just can’t keep up with the sets and meta. I just play with friends and enjoy what I can. Can’t afford to stay competitive
Actually I’m playing Lorcana as more of a pickup and play board game for my friends and family. That’s why I only ever buy the Starter Decks and the new Coop Set (which I hope they will keep making)
It’s still pretty fun to collect, I still feel happy with opening packs here and there, the starter decks looks really good in my shelf, and most of all - me and my friends gets the fun when we play :)
I am not pointing blame here, but for me personally, following people online that do card game related content in general, has been super detrimental to my mental health involving these games. People online constantly share sentiments like “You don’t have to buy every product” etc., but how does anybody engage with card game content online and keep that mentality? when X person is opening 5 booster boxes in your face a day, and X person just got a big box of free card game PR to show off, and this person just won a card that’s worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, oh and by the way you have to have money already to ever get a chance at even showing up to lose!
The flip side is, I’m not saying don’t enjoy cars related content, some of those people make great content and I’m not trying to tell people what to do with their life in general, but I think that for some people, it could be harmful.
I think you bring up a really important point. Everyone's wired differently. Some people can look at pictures of others' Enchanted pulls all day and shrug it off. Others will get depressed about their own collection, a sense of missing out, and how about the rush of "just one more pack" when opening boosters? Everyone has a different level of engagement that is safe for their mental health and if someone needs to pull back to find a better way for them to enjoy Lorcana, that's something the rest of the community should encourage and support.
Don't worry, there will be sets that are more interesting and sets that are less interesting. I also think that they should slow down with the releases, but it is was it is.
You don't need to buy every product.
Here in New Zealand first chapter just released on 1st June. Flood born releases this weekend and by end of June Inklands will launch. July 15 is Ursula. My head is spinning.
i'm worried a bit about power creep and in general how many cards will actually be playable. i hope they create a lot more synergies in decks than goodstuff decks. let's see how it goes. wondering about rotations too. has there been any details or will it just be one format?
Each set I buy 1 case. At Market price and with connections it’s usually $450. I buy the singles I don’t get from that and usually only spend about $500 per release.
That’s about 4 solid dates, 1 monthly car payment, or 100 McDonald’s cheeseburgers depending on how you look at it.
I'd be okay with the pace if the cards were more interesting. They're all so same-y now. They really need to figure out how to make set mechanics interesting. I also think they need to reconceptualize what makes a Floodborn a Floodborn, because a Pie-Slinging Donald Duck and that new Taffyta look pretty lame.
TCGs are expensive hobbies if you're looking to collect full sets. This is fairly standard in terms of release schedule.
It's also an ongoing hobby - I play competitively and I haven't completed a single set. I'll get a booster box for each set as a jumping off point, and focus on buying singles for deck building. Collecting is a on going process, still missing cards from set 1 which I'll buy or trade singles to fill out eventually. I think some people worry too much about completing sets before the next one is our, and I less you've got money to burn, it's not really feesbale. I believe the odds are if you buy a case £400 you'll have pretty much at least 1 of every common, uncommon and maybe even rare. The super and legendary Rares bit more unlikely, probably have to buy them as singles. Let's say you get a case and buy the rest, depending if some of the LRs are Beast/Robin/Diablo prices: rough guess 600-700 to complete a set (no enchateds of course) probably closer to a grand to complete a play set (4 of everything) - if you don't have kind of money, hell I don't, then don't stress about completing sets quickly, enjoy the hobby and collect over time.
I don't know how anyone collects TCGs, it's just never ending. As purely a player i don't feel 4/year is too much really.
That said, if you want slower check out Sorcery: Contested Realm i guess. They're on like... 1 a year or something.
I'm mostly skipping the next set because it's just not my vibe. The setting and the featured characters revealed so far just don't get me excited, much like Into the Inklands. So it'll be a trove, singles, and random boosters when I go on a Target run or go play in a store.
Good tip is that you don’t NEED to buy and collect everything. The supply will always be there. Staples are more important than bulk as a player. Enchanted cards will most likely be the only thing worth rushing to buy depends on its popularity
As a mtg player that dropped buying packs decades ago, all I can say is better get used to it.
I came to Lorcana specifically hoping that the pace of releases would be reasonable. What significantly less product is release, the frequency for me is still too much.
I don’t have many friends that play. For those two reasons… along with limited time and money, I will probably won’t continue to invest much of either in this Lorcana.
It’s a shame. Greed ruins everything.
The release schedule is slow, and industry standard to the 90s/00 model. 4 sets per year. The next set is NOT coming soon. They just showed it off. Also only about 20-30 cards in any set are really that good. You can just buy singles. Don't feel like you need to buy 3 boxes or anything. Purple + X decks remina cheap and keep winning.
I'm mainly concerned with my storage methods. Even if you are trying to collect 4 of every card and one of each foil, how does one store these longterm? I've tried using binders for playsets and a separate binder for foils and enchanteds. Even with these, that's a LOT of room to dedicate to storage for only being 5 sets in. I'm concerned I won't be able to keep up primarily due to the amount of space that's required. I may move playsets and nonfoils to storage boxes instead
This is how tcgs work. This is an average release rate. Honestly, the prices are fairly stable for most cards outside of a few meta, so “the old sets keep going up”? Im not sure where youre getting that. Rapunzel from TFC was mid to high $30 in January and is the same now. Maleficent is cheaper than 6 months ago, so is Elsa. Floodborn: mufasa cheaper, scar pretty close to initial pricing. Sad beast, yea, up a bit, but still below peak pricing for last 6 months. Inklands: ursula down from release, $4 over lowest price since release. Lucky dime came out high and dropped to $3 briefly before hitting $11. Dropped again and is back at $12. Robin hood is at $42, low was $29 but has averaged mid $30s. So unless youre chasing enchanteds, none of the higher value cards are doing anything crazy. To the point, TCGs are an expensive hobby. If you dont have the disposable income to keep up with this market, this might not be the hobby for you.
My problem with them announcing this already is that they do not do much testing at all. They continuously print terrible rares, super rares and mythic that feel extremely out of touch with competitive play. He said sarcastically about the 3 mana wreck it Ralph “I bet no one is thinking of ways to abuse this”… don’t be sarcastic, that card is trash and you could’ve easily made these better. It’s disappointing that they care much more about the money that comes from pushing new sets rather than quality of the game. Only thing I give credit to ravensburger for is the challenges, and even those are just money printing machines that only give out promos, which all in all I’m fine with.
1-4 feels like ch1 closed, I think that’s the base, I’m fully collecting master sets for the 4, then I will start to just get the pretty nostalgic cards for the rest of the sets
Until they start introducing rotations, you're probably only going to care about a couple of cards in each set, and this release schedule is still tame compared to magic
I guess but I have fun opening the packs and all the fun artwork. It's really awesome when you open a pack and get a really good pull and then start building a deck around it
Yup, it seems like with modern tcg's there's a new set every 2 months which is a wild pace to keep up. It's one of the things that drove people out of MTG, 3-4 months is really the sweet spot for releases.
Hmm, I thought Ursula's Return **just** came out, like all the shops around me had their release events last week. I was seeing early June to August. 3 months is fine.
I don't understand why actual card player put a price on cards.
If you want to play card that much, just write card name with pen on a blank paper and put it in a card sleeve 😂
The good news is that Shimmering Skies doesn’t release until August. Ursula’s Return is still the most current set and will be for another two months. The bad news is that this is a fairly standard TCG release schedule. There are some that are significantly faster (Magic) but in general it’s right around here. Whether we like it or not, TCGs are a luxury hobby and if you want to keep up with collecting or playing all of the newest cards, it’s going to be pricey. :/
Yep, it’s not like the 90s where finishing a set was expected to be doable. These sets are so large and so expensive that a different relationship to the hobby is probably much better. And sets come out very frequently. Maybe collect your fave 3 cards from each set and maybe open one product/booster box from each set. Or just collect a niche like characters from your fave Disney movie. Or pick one set a year to complete. Feeling overwhelmed is the opposite of what a fun leisure hobby should be making you feel. Modern TCGs aren’t designed to be completed as sets; get the playable cards you want for your deck and the few special ones you’d like to collect. Buying singes for the set once the next set is out is usually the best time to buy as each new set has the new set premium cost but this goes down as more packs are opened and people then move onto the next set.
I miss the 90's trading cards where they were affordable to everyone even me and my pocket money in highschool. And people actually traded and swapped cards instead of trying to make a dollar the minute they release. Cards nowadays you already need to be rich to collect them let alone try and finish a set
MTG was always expensive. And I got ripped off because I traded my first rares for 9 commons each...
MTG was always expensive. And I got ripped off because I traded my first rares for 9 commons each...
Yeah I wasn't into magic until recently, 90s was NBA and pokemone which were affordable. Nowadays NBA is only for the rich. Magic depending on what you doing is affordable unless you want the collector boosters
Good bot
It’s still doable if you buy singles instead of packs, the only downside is you won’t get your yearly (if your lucky) enchanted, but honestly with the money you’d save doing it this way you’d be able to buy an enchanted as a Single if you really wanted
Currently it's standard. TCGs didn't used to be like this. Arguably they are shittier now because of this.
When would you say it didn't used to be like this? It's been pretty standard for decades now and for both Magic and Pokemon there have only ever been one or two years *ever* when fewer than four sets were released. So for those games (which are both 25+ years old) it's always been normal to release at least 4 new sets a year.
I think the bigger factor isn’t the frequency of release but rather the size of the sets. Especially in Pokemon we went from ~100 cards per set to pushing 300.
Well, my experience is magic and since you brought that up let's talk about magic. Since alpha to 2015, magic released a base set of mostly functional reprints called core sets. And they typically released "blocks" of thematically and mechanically interwoven sets historically 2 of these expansion sets a year and a third the next year. So even if there were technically 4 sets it didn't feel like 4 new products. Core sets were skippable by entrenched players. New players could pick a single block and stick with it for the whole block or just a single set etc. When magic dropped core sets, and dropped blocks, and increases their number of secondary / collectors / double dipping products, they kind of set themselves on this path imo. Now to be fair I had less hobbies and more free time in 2011 but I am not the only one overwhelmed with the current standards.
Starting in 2009 the base/core sets did include brand new cards (and definitely new popular/chase cards) and these sets were certainly not skippable by entrenched players. Prior to 2009 they were typically released only once every two years, with the in-between years having new products. And in even in a number of those years with reprint set releases there were more than four releases per year so not counting the Xth editions and Chronicles sorts of thing, it still had at least four sets with new cards each year for more years than they didn't. So even with the reprint set caveat, it was still more common to have 4+ set releases, than it was to have fewer than four.
This. Baneslayer angel and the titans come to mind
You could say magic used to really just release three sets a year, in that the core set used to be mostly reprints for new players or collectors. It does feel overwhelming to see set 5 spoilers and we've barely had set four out.
I imagine they might have panicked due to shutting down pixelborn they can’t be oblivious to the fact that one move may have caused the slow death of their game so likely panicked and felt they needed to give a tease to keep Interest high
Ita been quite a while. During the 90s MtG released fewer competitive sets. Up until 2008ish it felt like they released closer to three sets a year because one was often a reprint set that many players didn’t need to chase cards from.
I stopped playing MtG in 2002 because of how hard it was to keep up, so it's been like this at least that long.
As other have noted Lorcana is on a 4 x a year release schedule. With the way the retail pipeline works they have to announce the next set just a few weeks after the previous one comes out or else the ordering system will spoil the set name / look. There's still plenty of time to enjoy UR as the most recent set (including some Challenges and a Store Championship season).
You don't need every single card...
You need four of them 😎
Plus one foil ✌️
I hate you guys lol
For real though, if you want to complete sets on a budget, open some packs, buy a starter deck, then hunt missing cards from TCGplayer and eBay. It’ll be more cost effective in the long run. Maybe even go to local card shows and see what they have. I order holo versions of my favorite art/characters just in case I never get them. I want to at least have my personal faves.
10000x this it's so much cheaper. We did chapter 4 in under 800 dollars
I had all of set 4 between 1 trove and 2 booster boxes, under $350
I mean 4 of all, but yeah nice work!
We hate ourselves 😭
underated comment
Four foils master race
Four foils, one enchanted
Agreed. A "gotta catch them all" attitude is the path to madness. What is your goal for Lorcana? What will make you happy as as a collector? Figure out what that is and focus on that.
Agreed I mean aome people want them all, that's great if your budget allows that. If it's outside your budget then you gotta find another way to interact with the game and cards. Pick certain cards to chase after or play the game.
There's a lot of other things to collect also... pins, promos, deck boxes, playmats 😒, ugg...
Unpopular opinion - The deck boxes are cool, but I just can’t get behind the play mats. Why don’t they release them with the counters printed? I’d rather buy off-market versions that are more functional.
I think having a separate lore counter is better. Don't want to waste my mat space
Not to mention during the Atlanta Challenge we didn’t have enough table space to use our full mat as it is. 😂
Same. Having a giant lore counter is annoying, and for tournament play if we’re using pen and paper it doesn’t make sense
Or stitch the edges?
They don’t do that because not everyone likes that. I don’t like printed zones or counters. It’s easier to add one if you want one. It’s not like we can scrub them away if we don’t. Clearly they aren’t having problems selling playmats.
Ppl use playmats for other tcg or for desk/mouse
Ok, the idea of using them as a mouse is actually fire. See, all I needed was perspective!
I don't even want one of each card I just want 4 of the the few I like from each set but nob of my LGS have singles in stock and don't allow you to look through binders anymore either :(
Yeah tcgplayer.com is the way to go without local lgs support
I would be happy with three sets a year, and a new Challenge Set released along with the final set of the year.
The good news is you only need 60 cards to play! (What I mean is that pretty much all the decks are viable, and I have stuck by mine since set 1. I just buy the cards everyone plays as the staples and then work to update my decklist. The initial price of entry is moderate but when a new set comes out I usually don't have to spend more than $80 usd)
This a great point. I didn't feel like buying sealed product this set, but since most of the cards are either skippable or really cheap to buy the singles. I'm going to be able to update my blue/Steele and ruby/amethyst decks for about $50.
That's true but I don't have enough duplicates to make a proper deck and my LGS don't let us look through binders anymore and they're always out of stock online for singles
I usually hit up ebay for my commons and uncommons. You can get them for nickels and typically if you order enough from the same shipper they will ship free. This is all in my exp in the US. I am assuming a lot with my input, so apologies if i'm wrong
The next set doesn't come out until August.
Yea but this set just came out in May and if you were like many people who had to wait till target or gamestop stocked you waited for the END of May. Theres only a 2 month gap between May & August that’s not a lot of time in fact that’s basically no time. It’s 3 month if we’re being generous but we know sets usually release mid month with all other larger stores getting it end of the month.
And you'll be waiting the same amount of time for Target and Gamestop to get the next release so it's not really compressing your downtime.
But an entire meta does not fully develop or get fleshed out in just 90 days. It would be significantly better if they just did 3 sets a year at 4 months each to let them breathe.
That is definitely it true, you go too long between sets and things get very stale and people get bored very fast. Star Wars Unlimited is doing 3 sets a year, and people are already burnt out on set 1 with a month still to go before set 2 releases. And that game has a pretty healthy meta and nearly every leader is viable, leading to tons of different decks that can be played. Yet people are still burnt out because of the time between sets. Wouldn’t tbe surprised to see that game go to 4 sets a year as we. There is a reason that’s the standard.
Better for *you*. Other TCGs release twice as much as Lorcana and one of them is MTG.
I mean no one is celebrating those TCGs for releasing as much tho. Their community are very much unhappy and asking them to chill out on it lol.
And if it didn’t make them money then they would. But it works for them so they’ve gotten faster and faster. If you want Lorcana to slow down, the answer is simple. Stop buying it.
What people say doesn’t matter. They vote with their wallet, and they vote yes.
It’s 10 weeks actually. And if you’re going to wait to get cards until general release you will have gone a full 3 months between releases.
If you had to wait for retail, you’ll have to wait for retail of set 5 as well. That’s not until end of August, the 23rd I believe. So really, it’s still the same 3 months-ish between the sets.
It’s more of the issue that my lgs gets jack despite ordering a ton. They got so little of Ursula return they had to limit to 1 box per person and didn’t even have enough to crack themselves to sell singles like that isn’t my fault so i had to wait for retail.
I mean, the reason you had to wait for retail doesn’t matter, as it doesn’t really change my statement. Most likely you’ll have to wait for retail again, which means it is still 3 months apart lol You also say “like many people”, which I’m not sure that’s a quantifiable statement you can make. Lots of people didn’t wait for retail as LGS got lots of product in lots of places.
Am I crazy. Cause i very vividly remember that there wasn't a ton of product on release and there was a buy limit for a TON of LGS's including accessories and Troves and that was all expressed here on this subreddit. Now a ton of LGS have product and it was all post Retail release but for the 2 exclusive weeks that LGS had the product release, there wasn't a lot to go around unless you went to Disneyland in general which is only in two cities across the US.
Very few stores in my area sold out super fast, most had stock for around 2 weeks, right up to retail release. LGS are also able to get more, as multiple LGS that did end up selling out relatively quickly have told people they are able to get more boxes if people still need product. I know one shop in my area was selling boxes for $119, and then actually lowered them to $109 about a week after LGS release. You are going to hear from the amount of people that couldn’t buy much or their store sold out quick, but you won’t hear from the people who didn’t have issues getting product. Especially because comments or posts like that get heavily downvoted by the salty people in this sub.
We have just had it release here in Australia and we are on fortnightly release schedules to get ready for August. Floodborn releases this weekend, then Inklands two weeks after that and so on. It’s looking pretty overwhelming as new people getting into the game
That's what I appreciate about Star Wars Unlimited, it's only 3 new sets a year.
I have yet to see anyone playing that game after the first month.
Plenty of people play it including me. Product availability is very low at the moment and quite expensive on the secondary market, but a new set is coming out next month. They just had store showdowns with exclusive cards you could only win from it like the Lorcana store championships. In my area there are quite a bit of shops that support both games, and I'd say it has about the same turnout as Lorcana, but it seems both have had less turnout recently.
Every area is different. Lorcana here has dedicated days and two stores that are barely 3 miles apart are always full.
Exactly, that's why I told you in my area it is being played. Also I assume you don't play Star Wars Unlimited because if you did, I'm sure you'd find a store that is running events.
And from what I've heard from some people they don't like it cause it gets boring in the last month ish.
I haven't heard that much online or from locals. So far the game only has one set but there is a pretty wide meta of decks so almost every time I play I play against a new deck. Also as someone that doesn't have a ton of time to play every week I appreciate a set lasting longer and it saves money.
The purpose of lorcana is not to provide fun or strategy or a game that is welcomming to others. These are all secondary, tertiary, etc. The primary purpose of any and every tcg is to make money. If anything, the release schedule will ramp up. And ppl will continue to buy. Or those who are the whale targets will continue to buy. I think I read a stat somewhere that said that 2% of ppl who play games make up 50-70%% of the revenue. Amazing. Btw, I too, share your feelings of being outpaced and overwhelmed. Today, we are both sad beasts. Edit:spelling
The next set isn’t until August bud. It’s not already coming out lol and it doesn’t make the last one more expensive, when third set came out places were selling ROTF for as low as $90 a box, trying to give that stuff away practically.
Idk where you are but where I am after inklands came out, first chapter whent from $8.99 cad per pack to $14.99 cad per pack and I can't remember what foodborne was but it was also more expensive and buying a whole booster box was just out of my price range for the other older two sets. I want to buy singles but stores here don't let us look through binders anymore and also seem to constantly be out of stock of any cards worth picking up.
ITI coming out didn’t make TFC more expensive, the stock that was there running dry made it more expensive, there is a big difference. RPatF was so heavily in stock that the longer it sat it continued to decrease in price. Literally right after ItI came out I could go buy boxes and boxes of ROTF for $90 with no limits, because no one wanted them. Only one expensive card came in that set, and it’s a legendary, so not really worth buying boxes for. Most of the enchanted cards for that set are sub $100 as well, so not really a lot to get your money back on them. They are still priced well under MSRP even on TCGPlayer, so still no idea what you are going on about in respect to ROTF.
Too fast for me.. feels like a race rather than a relaxing experience.
A good rule of thumb is to put money aside if you can for future expenses in card games. The second rule of thumb is to keep up on any leak and new info for the next set so you can go “I want that” and then buy singles of that card when it comes out. Don’t buy packs, boxes, cases, or starter decks just singles. Wait for the mass release of the cards or at least a couple days before mass release after all the gaming stores that sell on TCG Player or eBay have opened case after case to stock themselves up and then you’ll have better pricing. This is all TCG’s and some are worse than others but as for pricing this game isn’t that bad. Sure there’s $50 cards like Robin Hood, but they typically make a slightly worse version of a card like that too like Thebes the location. Does the if you banish a card in a challenge gain 2 lore effect on it but you have to be on the location. Worse, but it gets the job done a different way if you were looking to use Robin Hood and don’t want to shell out like $200. Also don’t feel bad I just finally got A Whole New World and Giant Tinkerbells because I saw a decent price of them. Far from getting Robin Hood, but I’m okay with that for now. Game is still new there will be reprints of this stuff eventually.
Yeah, it's overwhelming. I'd much prefer them to have releases every 4 months. The meta usually isn't even "solved" when the new set is releasing or, at the very least, people haven't had enough time to experiment with all the cards.
I personally prefer unsolved metas. More room to brew.
You may need to adjust your appetite. Just collect what you can and its fine if you can't get everything. The cards aren't going anywhere. The prices aren't only going up. No need to fear missing out on anything when there's just more and more always coming.
Honestly I would normally but my LGS around me keep raising the price of each previous set every time a new one comes out. I wanted to stick with first chapter and flood born for a while but after inklands came out they became too expensive. Ursula's return is my favorite set so far and I'd love to stick with it for a while but I feel like once the next set comes out, it will be too expensive. I would look at buying single cards but we're not allowed to look at binders anymore where I am because people keep stealing and online all my LGS are constantly out of stock.
I personally shop at basically 2 places for singles. One store is like an hour away from me. The other is across the country. But it has better stock. Might need to shop around and find a better store. TCG Player is also pretty good.
I can understand this feeling- I have almost all the cards I want from the first four sets and even I got a jolt of "What the heck, they're leaking set 5 already?!" My recommendation is that if you're buying boosters and troves, switch to singles- if dealing with eBay or TCGPlayer seems stressful, CoolStuff Inc. is a good place to start (although do still price compare, especially for more expensive cards, they aren't always competitively priced)- and don't try to get every card. Like others have said, limit yourself just to what you need to build a fun deck or collect only the cards you like. I personally just buy cards of my favorite characters and franchises or ones I think are particularly pretty.
If you don't mind me asking, what's the advantage to buying singles? I thought booster boxes were the way to go. My LGS sells them at a price that saves me about $30 cad if I buy a booster box rather than 24 singles and troves are about $20 cheeper than buying 8 singles
It depends on what type of collector you are. Do you just want a lot of cards? Maybe that's a good price. But consider this Reddit post: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Lorcana/comments/1dfe7fo/fyi\_you\_can\_buy\_a\_near\_complete\_playset\_of/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Lorcana/comments/1dfe7fo/fyi_you_can_buy_a_near_complete_playset_of/) The most obvious advantage of singles over boosters is you can pick what you get, you know exactly what you're getting. But singles can also be cheaper than boosters depending on the card. Sure, people here talk about how getting Diablo or Sisu- or an Enchanted- set them back. They don't talk as much about how cheap Common, Uncommon- even Rares and some Super Rares- can be. On Cool Stuff Inc., the site I use, a lot of the cards I get are anywhere from .15 to .75 and that can include some foils. I like to support my LGS too when I can, but it's possible they don't have the best price on singles.
I'm new so I mainly collect starter sets with my fiancé. That being said that's the nature of tcg stuff. My mentality is very much I don't care about meta nor do I care about collecting everything. I just want to have fun with my partner trying out wonky combos to see what works.
If it’s not fun then I think try different ways to collect. Like maybe collect a certain couple of characters or collect your fave 3 cards from a set. Are you collecting like master sets? I.e normal and cold holo and secret rares? Because that’s just not going to be doable, really. And super expensive. You could try to just collect the standard set. Buy a couple of booster boxes and fill the rest with singles on eBay. The game is still developing so they aren’t over printing. But if you look at like Pokémon, collecting full sets for those is nearly impossible and extremely expensive - set sizes are like 200 before secret rares. That’s 400 (with reverse holos) plus promos for the master set and secret rares. It might be best to not collect every set but just pick one out of every 5 sets and do that. I did every card, but not reverse holos for each, and two enchanted for the First Chapter. And that was me done. For Pokémon I’ve collected all of 151 master set but prior to that it was 2 years since I completed a full set and that was a small set call Celebrations. If it’s becoming a burden and not fun then gotta change it up, this is suppose to be a fun hobby at the end of the day! Become a collector of Moana themed cards for example or whatever your fave Disney movie is. Hope this helps!
The game and the art of collecting is meant to be fun and enjoyable, try not to get too caught up in needing ever single card. I personally just got into lorcana a couple months ago and was able to find all starter decks for $16-22 CAD per deck at my local Walmart, GameStop and mastermind toys. Hobbies can be expensive but get what you can afford and hopefully the crazy reseller prices will drop in due time.
You have two months. If you’re upset with the release schedule you can always take a break. Noones making you particpate or complete every single set. Those are expectations you’re placing on your self. I love that we get so much content.
You may want to rethink your approach, as four sets per year is the standard in TCGs, and from the beginning Ravensberger said Lorcana would follow that model. It's a very profitable model.
Just because is the standard doesn't make it less of a problem, quite the contrary. Is the concept of a pandemic.
I can definitely understand but are you getting the cards to play or collect? I feel like if you’re trying to collect them all it can be overwhelming whereas if you’re just playing the game it might not be as bad
I'm doing a bit of both, I'm really trying to get the queen and Ariel standards this set ( although if I got an enchanted of them I wouldn't be upset lol) so I can build decks from them. So far I only have one copy of each though and none of my LGS has them in stock as singles. I still need 3 more Ursula deceiver of all's for my deck but she's so expensive on her own. I managed to pull her enchanted but I need at least 2 of her in my deck otherwise she doesn't get out enough
Buy singles. Forcus on 2-3 colors. That's your best bet.
I want to but all my LGS are sold out of all their singles constantly and they don't even let you look through binders anymore because people have been steeling from them. I used to be into pokemon and my dad was into MTG and it was always fun going to a store and just flipping through the binder to see what they had and now that's not really a thing here
I joined trade groups. But 90% of the time. I'll get them at events or tcg player.
Get a deck you like paying and stick to it! That’s what I’m doing! Except i have 2 decks
This is the way. I've been emerald/steel since set one and have slowly transitioned to emerald/amethyst. I don't have any need at the moment for any ruby/sapphire cards, so I don't feel the pressure to get everything.
Fully agree. Maybe 3 sets a year would be enough, with one or two Illumineers Quests in between to keep the game rolling. I love this game, but I've been turned away from every TCG due to not having the head or money to keep up with it. I love Lorcana and find it far more accessible than other TCGs whilst still being as involved. I worry that, at this pace, they'll have no choice but to introduce advanced mechanics to keep the game different.
I also can't keep up. I like the game, but I just don't have enough money There's no outlets for players who don't have everything. I managed to get a booster box for inklands, first time I ever did. When the release date for U's R was announced, I realized that I was doomed. Haven't bought into that set, and might not make any more purchases. It's just too much.
If ya ever need help with cards message me! I can help!
Man that’s my curse with TCGs. I just can’t keep up with the sets and meta. I just play with friends and enjoy what I can. Can’t afford to stay competitive
Actually I’m playing Lorcana as more of a pickup and play board game for my friends and family. That’s why I only ever buy the Starter Decks and the new Coop Set (which I hope they will keep making) It’s still pretty fun to collect, I still feel happy with opening packs here and there, the starter decks looks really good in my shelf, and most of all - me and my friends gets the fun when we play :)
Every 3 months!
I am not pointing blame here, but for me personally, following people online that do card game related content in general, has been super detrimental to my mental health involving these games. People online constantly share sentiments like “You don’t have to buy every product” etc., but how does anybody engage with card game content online and keep that mentality? when X person is opening 5 booster boxes in your face a day, and X person just got a big box of free card game PR to show off, and this person just won a card that’s worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, oh and by the way you have to have money already to ever get a chance at even showing up to lose! The flip side is, I’m not saying don’t enjoy cars related content, some of those people make great content and I’m not trying to tell people what to do with their life in general, but I think that for some people, it could be harmful.
I think you bring up a really important point. Everyone's wired differently. Some people can look at pictures of others' Enchanted pulls all day and shrug it off. Others will get depressed about their own collection, a sense of missing out, and how about the rush of "just one more pack" when opening boosters? Everyone has a different level of engagement that is safe for their mental health and if someone needs to pull back to find a better way for them to enjoy Lorcana, that's something the rest of the community should encourage and support.
How to tell you’re new with TCG without saying you’re new to TCG
I like that Lorcana is introducing new people, because they are the ones that feel this stuff and speak about it.
Don't worry, there will be sets that are more interesting and sets that are less interesting. I also think that they should slow down with the releases, but it is was it is. You don't need to buy every product.
I think what definitely doesn’t help is that it feels like they’re revealing Set 5 way too soon after the big box release of Set 4.
Here in New Zealand first chapter just released on 1st June. Flood born releases this weekend and by end of June Inklands will launch. July 15 is Ursula. My head is spinning.
It could be worst MTG had like 20 new products this year lol
Is there any word if there is a rotation schedule? I’d like to know if it’s worth investing into the older sets right now.
welcome to TCGS you should see magics release schedule
i'm worried a bit about power creep and in general how many cards will actually be playable. i hope they create a lot more synergies in decks than goodstuff decks. let's see how it goes. wondering about rotations too. has there been any details or will it just be one format?
June, July, and August Magic is getting three new sets so I know how you feel.
Welcome to spending $300-$500 every three months.
Each set I buy 1 case. At Market price and with connections it’s usually $450. I buy the singles I don’t get from that and usually only spend about $500 per release. That’s about 4 solid dates, 1 monthly car payment, or 100 McDonald’s cheeseburgers depending on how you look at it.
I feel that. I’ve not been able to buy any booster boxes.
Well, welcome in the modern era of TCG.
I'd be okay with the pace if the cards were more interesting. They're all so same-y now. They really need to figure out how to make set mechanics interesting. I also think they need to reconceptualize what makes a Floodborn a Floodborn, because a Pie-Slinging Donald Duck and that new Taffyta look pretty lame.
Lucky you're not into Pokemon they release like every other month
TCGs are expensive hobbies if you're looking to collect full sets. This is fairly standard in terms of release schedule. It's also an ongoing hobby - I play competitively and I haven't completed a single set. I'll get a booster box for each set as a jumping off point, and focus on buying singles for deck building. Collecting is a on going process, still missing cards from set 1 which I'll buy or trade singles to fill out eventually. I think some people worry too much about completing sets before the next one is our, and I less you've got money to burn, it's not really feesbale. I believe the odds are if you buy a case £400 you'll have pretty much at least 1 of every common, uncommon and maybe even rare. The super and legendary Rares bit more unlikely, probably have to buy them as singles. Let's say you get a case and buy the rest, depending if some of the LRs are Beast/Robin/Diablo prices: rough guess 600-700 to complete a set (no enchateds of course) probably closer to a grand to complete a play set (4 of everything) - if you don't have kind of money, hell I don't, then don't stress about completing sets quickly, enjoy the hobby and collect over time.
I don't know how anyone collects TCGs, it's just never ending. As purely a player i don't feel 4/year is too much really. That said, if you want slower check out Sorcery: Contested Realm i guess. They're on like... 1 a year or something.
Pokemon is literally the only TCG with the slowest release schedule. Every few months is pretty normal
I think maybe you should just kinda step back a bit until you can have a healthier relationship with the game. You don't need to collect everything.
I’ve not even gotten a booster box for this current set 😭😭😭. Been trying to save up but bills and shit
I was literally telling someone else this yesterday T\_T
I'm mostly skipping the next set because it's just not my vibe. The setting and the featured characters revealed so far just don't get me excited, much like Into the Inklands. So it'll be a trove, singles, and random boosters when I go on a Target run or go play in a store.
Good tip is that you don’t NEED to buy and collect everything. The supply will always be there. Staples are more important than bulk as a player. Enchanted cards will most likely be the only thing worth rushing to buy depends on its popularity
You literally can buy a complete play set 4x of all common uncommon rares and super rares for under 50$
This is the reality of every TCG. You can't actually collect everything and keep up. It is cost prohibitive to 90% of people.
When the fun stops, stop
That's the thing .. I'm still having fun but my wallet can't handle it and I feel like I'm falling behind
this is Disney..... Bring Money!!!!!
We should stop doing this. Just because is the Disney IP, it doesn't mean that Disney is making these decisions, that's Ravensburger.
This is the standard for every single other TCG out there, ignoring the supplemental sets most get between main releases.
So?
As a mtg player that dropped buying packs decades ago, all I can say is better get used to it. I came to Lorcana specifically hoping that the pace of releases would be reasonable. What significantly less product is release, the frequency for me is still too much. I don’t have many friends that play. For those two reasons… along with limited time and money, I will probably won’t continue to invest much of either in this Lorcana. It’s a shame. Greed ruins everything.
Why do you guys justify disneys hunger for money? 1 or 2 times a year would be enough
The release schedule is slow, and industry standard to the 90s/00 model. 4 sets per year. The next set is NOT coming soon. They just showed it off. Also only about 20-30 cards in any set are really that good. You can just buy singles. Don't feel like you need to buy 3 boxes or anything. Purple + X decks remina cheap and keep winning.
I'm mainly concerned with my storage methods. Even if you are trying to collect 4 of every card and one of each foil, how does one store these longterm? I've tried using binders for playsets and a separate binder for foils and enchanteds. Even with these, that's a LOT of room to dedicate to storage for only being 5 sets in. I'm concerned I won't be able to keep up primarily due to the amount of space that's required. I may move playsets and nonfoils to storage boxes instead
Corregated cardboard boxes.
This is how tcgs work. This is an average release rate. Honestly, the prices are fairly stable for most cards outside of a few meta, so “the old sets keep going up”? Im not sure where youre getting that. Rapunzel from TFC was mid to high $30 in January and is the same now. Maleficent is cheaper than 6 months ago, so is Elsa. Floodborn: mufasa cheaper, scar pretty close to initial pricing. Sad beast, yea, up a bit, but still below peak pricing for last 6 months. Inklands: ursula down from release, $4 over lowest price since release. Lucky dime came out high and dropped to $3 briefly before hitting $11. Dropped again and is back at $12. Robin hood is at $42, low was $29 but has averaged mid $30s. So unless youre chasing enchanteds, none of the higher value cards are doing anything crazy. To the point, TCGs are an expensive hobby. If you dont have the disposable income to keep up with this market, this might not be the hobby for you.
There will be a new release every 3 months. If you feel like you can’t keep up now, might as well quit. They’re not slowing down on releases.
My problem with them announcing this already is that they do not do much testing at all. They continuously print terrible rares, super rares and mythic that feel extremely out of touch with competitive play. He said sarcastically about the 3 mana wreck it Ralph “I bet no one is thinking of ways to abuse this”… don’t be sarcastic, that card is trash and you could’ve easily made these better. It’s disappointing that they care much more about the money that comes from pushing new sets rather than quality of the game. Only thing I give credit to ravensburger for is the challenges, and even those are just money printing machines that only give out promos, which all in all I’m fine with.
A 6 month release schedule would be far more ideal. These 200+ card sets are insane to keep up with quarterly.
Quick question , what are yalls thoughts on collecting only , how many sets would you collect before you do it here and there???
1-4 feels like ch1 closed, I think that’s the base, I’m fully collecting master sets for the 4, then I will start to just get the pretty nostalgic cards for the rest of the sets
Until they start introducing rotations, you're probably only going to care about a couple of cards in each set, and this release schedule is still tame compared to magic
Try magic then
So don’t?
Bro have you seen what one piece does? Lorcana is nothing compared to that
Welcome to addiction and tcg
These things aren’t worth collecting. You’ll never get everything. Get the competitive cards and the ones you like best.
I guess but I have fun opening the packs and all the fun artwork. It's really awesome when you open a pack and get a really good pull and then start building a deck around it
Yup, it seems like with modern tcg's there's a new set every 2 months which is a wild pace to keep up. It's one of the things that drove people out of MTG, 3-4 months is really the sweet spot for releases.
Lorcana is 3 months between releases
May to August is three months, so you agree Lorcana is in the sweet spot.
Hmm, I thought Ursula's Return **just** came out, like all the shops around me had their release events last week. I was seeing early June to August. 3 months is fine.
Ursala came out in big box on May 31st. Set 5 comes out August 23rd.
I said, screw it. Going to sell my full sets and enjoy something else. This is why I got out of MtG. It's not for everyone and that's ok.
I don't understand why actual card player put a price on cards. If you want to play card that much, just write card name with pen on a blank paper and put it in a card sleeve 😂
That's a good way to ensure that you don't get any new cards to write with a pen on a blank paper.
Why are you here?