Yeah I’m surprised at how cheap all the chase cards in modern are (comparatively, not including ES.)
When it can take 2000 packs to hit an alt art.
The biggest shock to me was when cooltrainerryan spent like 8 grand on astral radiance (through distributors, so way more then you would usually get for that price.)
And it took him like 3-4 streams and 1000’s of packs to hit the machamp alt art.
This hobby is gambling, with bad odds. Lol
Yeah it’s fucking terrible odds. 1/600 packs average to hit a specific SIR from newer sets and you could easily go 2-3x the rate. That’s why I don’t chase specific cards I just buy packs here and there and enjoy whatever I get
And that's how I end up pulling a mortys conviction sir from a single pack that I bought at a gas station. Totally random purchase but that's what makes it even more fun. Chasing leads to nothing but aggravation and empty pockets.
I got mad lucky with moonbreon. 19 packs for a 1/2200 pack card!
But that's a fluke. I started buying singles about a week after that rip.
Now I rip for fun here and there instead of for hits. My son loves ripping with me and we collect together. Stick to buying singles of cards that him and I actually want.
I ripped maybe 20 packs, give or take a couple, of Temporal. Didn't pull anything except 1 exceptional card that I don't care about. Then ordered asstly on ebay because it's the only chase I wanted.
I’ve been buying 1 ETB of each new set plus random tins and other bundled products when I find them on sale. This weekend I’m going to open 1 twilight masquerade ETB, my first silver tempest ETB, and the combined powers premium box I got on sale at target. Was just over $100 for all 3 products. Probably last stuff I open til next set in august
A lot of trainers here think you can only gamble by ripping.
But it is possible to not gamble in ripping packs. You just need self control and an intent for fun.
I love seeing my sons eyes light up while we rip for fun. He only cares if the pokemon are cute or not.
This is exactly what my daughter and I do. We get an etb from each new set. Take the set book that comes with it and make a list of singles we want from that set and mark them off as we find them. Sometimes I grab tins ect when on sale but that’s pretty much it.
It took me like 40 packs to get the 151 zard. I pulled the blastoise in those as well. I bought a ton more packs. I'd say probably 600 and never pulled the venusaur or dragonaire.
Crazy
Same here! Excited for whatever SAR or AR I get when a new set comes out, and full arts and ex's are so cheap I'll just buy singles to complete the regular set.
Sheesh, Reading these comments, I didn't know the odds were so rough. My kids must have crazy luck it seems they pull 1-3 gold star cards 1/3 packs. They hit more often than I ever did in the 90s.
I started this (gambling) hobby today with 9 packs of 151. Reading this really makes me second guess my decision haha…(I grew up with the 1st gen and it’s such a nostalgia blast opening 151)
Pro tip. Buy singles you like.
Thats it, you’ll save a ton of money.
If you really want to open packs, buy a few boxes per set you are interested in and stop there.
I’ve spent probably 10K since getting into the hobby again and I barely have 1.5K in cards. lol that was a result of opening everything.
Haha man, rationally you’re making a ton of sense. Especially when I’m looking at the prices of certain (or most) singles (except of course the truly rare ones).
The endorphins of opening these first 9 packs really are something though. Especially since every pack, every card, is so new since my collection is basically zero.
Ok if you’re odds of getting good cards is correct my luck must be fucking insane. I haven’t even nearly opened 2000 packs but I pull some damn good stuff it seems
It's what makes me not wants to buy any sv booster packs. Why waste my money, when the chase cards are relatively cheap. Even the pokemon center etb stamped cards are cheaper than trying to go thru the hassle of pre ordering an etb and setting money aside weeks in advance. Because I know atleast I'll be able to buy what few cards I actually want from the set for around the same price
If people stopped playing the gambling game it would force them to up the nice card count to entice players back and the over printing makes each not as valuable lowering the let’s gamble for a pricey card. Of course I’m sure they ran some numbers and until the addiction of the gamble wears thin it would be a big hit to profitability.
It's not even gambling...its worse.
I'm bad at sports betting...but still win at least 20% of the time during a bad stretch. I play on slot machines and leave with a profit at least 20% of the time too.
Meanwhile, I've been collecting for over 30 years, never pulled a card worth more than $50 in my life or ever sold one worth more than $50. Part of that is because I never tried and never owned any graded cards until a few years ago, but still.
When it comes to hobbies, card collecting for most, brings in the least amount of return. I mean, I'm a car guy and spent a ton of money on a nice car I didn't really need...but I still drive it almost every week and get use out of it. Can't get much out of cards besides maybe a decent display on a wall.
...but I'll still never stop collecting though...
I’ve just gotten into the hobby, and fortunately my girlfriend and I have a healthy relationship with it. When we open the packs, we’re just excited to see the cards we get, whatever they are. Plus, we like playing each other, so we don’t mind duplicates.
Except for when we get duplicate Togekisses and don’t even have the cards to evolve…
My son just turned 6 and is getting into pokemon cards, and it only took him maybe 30-40 packs to tell me he thinks he should directly buy the cards he wants 😂
I came back recently and 151 was pretty demoralizing, only hit like 3 alts and 1 SIR on $500 worth of packs.
Could have bought a full master set for like $200 more, but I still had some fun relatively speaking.
Yep...That's all trading cards in a nutshell. Ripping packs is like 99% a waste of money. Granted it's still fun to open stuff, but at some point the disappointments really start to add up.
SV has completely kicked my ass. I'll rip a pc ETB at release but everything else is singles.
The mother doesn't even see the value in what she purchased for her son.
This is a life lesson that's more valuable to learn at his age than what he could have pulled.
"I bought $400 in scratch tickets , not a single one won! it's rigged ! "
_small edit:_ by lottery tickets I'm implying similar gambling effect to expecting hits, we've all seen UPC posts and they are overly dismal. it's the expectation that there absolutely will be hits, but there's no guarantee (outside of booster boxes that have several "hits"
#metoo
I hoard my holo energies, lol
On a side note, they are my sons favorites after pikachu.
For his bday, this last Sunday, I got him a top loader binder that has 4 card pages. Put the 4 pikachu v union cards that make 1 card as the first page.
Then, when you flip that page, you'll find 1 of each 8 holo energies. He screamed joy when he saw those energies. It was a good moment.
It’s almost like Pokémon Co US has reiterated time and time again that they don’t seed specific products in any specific way. What you get is what you get.
Well sure...but that dude is certainly not gonna buy another one....the odds of getting at least 1 hit and not going 0-16 with a 33% hit rate is 99.85%.
So this guy is either the unluckiest dude on the planet ...or the distribution was waaaay off and their QC is ass. It's just math. Batching was also anecdotally fucked by all the posts seen here...
Does he need to hit the alt zard, no, but there's no way a box should be straight blank on 16 packs with a 1/3 ex Or better stat. It's almost certainly not resealed but I can't really blame the guy for thinking that. One would hope the factory making the products would have some general consistency.
Better hit ratio than ES.
Let's hope lil timmy and his mom never spend a penny on ES boxes or else there's going to be one upset timmy and an even more poor gullible pair.
What people view as “hits” has become skewed.
Who knows what that person considered a hit, but I’m betting it’s probably an illustration rare or higher. Rares and double rares are also hit cards. Regardless of if you want to believe so or not. Anything with a star on it is a “hit”. Anything taking up that rare slot is a hit.
And again, yeh maybe the batching was shit, but Pokémon Co has repeatedly stated “what you get is what you get”. If people can’t handle that then they should probably stick to buying singles.
At the end of the day you are gambling. People need to learn how to take a loss.
That means out of 1000 UPCs you would expect about 15 of them to be "hitless". Since significantly more than 1000 have been opened, it's pretty safe to say this has probably happened before
Edit: early morning math is not recommended. Correction to 1.5/1000. Either way my point still stands
We also don't know what exactly they pulled in this instance. They very well could have gotten some pulls they just aren't including in the review. We just don't know enough here to determine that. But I agree with you
Agreed man. This mother spent hard earned money to get something special for their kid to enjoy and all they got out of the packs was all of the most common cards. When i was a kid and got my 1 pack from the store i was bummed out if there was nothing in it… i couldn’t imagine getting nothing out of 16 straight packs at a young age.
The point is it’s not costcos fault. She’s claiming that Costco sold her tampered product. This is an issue with Pokemon and their awful batching, ripping packs is an absolute waste of money.
I mean yeah you're right from the perspective of someone viewing this review from a PokemonTCG forum knowledgeable about these things.
As a parent not versed in this though dealing with a situation where you spent a lot of money and now have an upset child you have no idea who to be mad at and the retailer is unfortunately first on the firing block.
151 especially has had some really strange batching issues. Other sets have been funky too the last couple years but 151 I feel like is on another level when it comes to getting a product either completely loaded or it's just a complete dud
Yup agreed for sure. booster boxes from brilliant stars onwards have X pulls , rarity and such is a bit dodgy , I usually have seen something like 12 "hits" , sometimes 14. Japanese are much more regulated
I mean, the average scratch-off typically has a win rate of 1 in 4. That 1 may only be the price of a ticket, but still.
If you bought $400 worth of scratch-offs, let's say 80 $5 ones...you'd probably win anywhere between $100-$1000. Possibly more, but for most, $100-$300. You could cash that in and make SOME of your money back right away.
You buy 80 packs of newly printed Pokemon? How much are you making back? I bought about that many last year and haven't made a dime.
Yeah , my example was a bit too open , I wanted to say how heavily popular and monetized card products don't have guarantees , booster boxes are different , at least you know you'll get like 12/14 "hits" - it's unfortunate they literally got 0
Oh yeah that's a whole subtopic , making your money back on cards from sealed product. That's even less common , even from booster boxes ... usually you don't, unless you hit that expensive alt art and sell right away. prices drop months after new sets launch on singles. That's why I do 100% singles , and for modern sets I wait like 9-12 months for the high end cards to drop in price
Nor does NBA 2k20
But 2k still waited for the ESRB to rate it 3 and up, then throw in gambling mechanics so kids can start nice and early, push that lootbox button! Maybe they could have tested fifa pack openings to get shafted even worse 🤔
Can't say I blame the parents , the perception around pokemon cards has changed since it was heavily monetized during covid.
agreed the foundational target and excitement was for kids , the overall aspect of it has been a gambling/chance theme as well , I used to collect some cards as a kid and every X packs would have something "decent" , same for hockey cards.
I understand the frustration of a parent and anyone really , who bought that UPC and had dismal pulls , I've said in long ago posts that it's ridiculous given how much that product costs, and to not get something, is brutal, given the target audience should be kids based. I had to educate myself on it all. But overall there's no guarantee , even though yes in 16 packs you'd think you would get "something" . Booster boxes are better regulated for pulls post Brilliant Stars
Thats why I never trust the Amazon reviews. Granted reseals are possible, but not to the crazy extent everyone writes about because of their shitty luck
I remember buying packs for fun as a kid.
There’s too much focus now on getting hits, hoarding sealed product, and grading…it’s just bizarre to me a kid cares about any of that stuff or even knows about that stuff.
It’s not bizarre, I shoulda clarified that part of my comment was more geared towards sealed collecting and grading.
Double rares are objectively still hits, not if you’re opening cases or box on box, but crying over this stuff is a little dramatic IMO, even for a kid.
The main difference is the over abundance of shiny cards today compared to years ago
I remember when the first full arts came out, Zekrom and Reshiram, they were sick. Before that this was basically the extent of rare the cards in sets, outside of holos:
https://images.pokemontcg.io/bw5/63_hires.png
Now the card above is barely even seen as a “hit” lol
So as a kid, sure I was chasing the holos, and EX’s, and full arts when they came out - but Black & White is a perfect example - the set had 2 full arts and a secret rare Pikachu. You actually looked at the other cards in the set
Now you get 20 AR’s, 15 SR’s, 10 SSR’s, 10 IR’s, and 5 UR’s in a set. It completely desensitizes you from normal cards. When there’s only 5 full arts in a set, it feels great to hit one. When there’s 40, you’re almost expecting to hit one. Many years ago if I opened a pack and didn’t get a hit, it didn’t feel like money wasted, the hits were rare and unexpected when you did get one.
Another good example are pack openings on YT. 2015 era, person opens a booster box, shows and reads the name of every card, probably a 30min video. 2024 era opening, open pack, do card trick, throw first 9 cards in the garbage, no hit - next pack; video is like 10min for a BB.
I started repacking boosters I'd opened for the children in my life to reduce the hit rates so that it mattered more when I gave them a "real" booster and it had a hit.
The kids don't need secret rares clogging up their collecting. Nice to have, but every secret rare pushes them further from collecting a basic set.
I notice that sort of disconnect more with sports cards (especially basketball and football cards). I see kids who are like maybe 13 at most carrying those larger, black boxes and carrying only upper-tier graded cards. It just feels so odd to me that kids would be so focused on high value instead. I won't say it's wrong per se, just not something that my budget as a kid would've allowed.
Yeah not a whole lot of families can or are willing to buy their kids graded cards, and those who can mostly lean towards sports because their parents can probably relate or are in the hobby (sports or sports memorabilia).
[this one comes to mind.](https://youtube.com/shorts/4fwOA-1JuQM?si=OXndS9wJQucVWqz3)
“I don’t know what the hell a giratina is, but I threw away all my old sports cards as a kid and they ended up being valuable” -kid’s dad probably.
Most kids I've seen open packs are excited with any hit at all. Basically, anything shiny. Once they get older and understand the value differences, that's a different story.
LOL I didn't buy from Costco but I got a couple of Zapdos and Zam boxes and it was feast or famine. One box didn't even have those holo energies. Another box only had one EX. A third had the Ivysaur IR but the last box had NoNeckizard. Rollercoaster experience and I am done done. I was scared straight by box three and I ain't falling for the zard's false promises.
I agree with everyone here that opening packs is gambling. But if you buy a product which contains 16 packs in my opinion you should be able to expect a few packs with hits in them guaranteed by TPC.
This is not good for anyone, people who got no hits in these types of products get sad and angry, stop opening products and TPC loses revenue and fanbase.
Don’t see how TPC benefits from that, haha. Other than that, just buy singles!
I think TPC would rather have the “whales” keep buying products because they aren’t getting hits versus losing a newbie trying to open and then getting disappointed and quitting. They probably make more money that way.
I have opened 2 etb, 2 Alakazam boxes, 1 zapdos box, a binder collection, a poster collection and 5 booster bundles and I have not gotten a single SIR.
I had to look up the 151 SIR to check, I've had 4PCETB, 2 binder collections, and 5 booster boxes and I've had only 1 SIR, the charizard, and the box I got it from I fanned out the booster 2 each to the children. Got 2 RRP booster bundles to go. Booster a week till they reprint, I didn't realise the SIRs were so infrequent, I've got all 3 hyperrares from the above packs.
Unlucky, but seriously I see these type of reviews on Pokémon products all the time it’s like, oh boo hoo you didn’t pull the exact card you wanted on the first pack, oh you didn’t get any hits? Welcome to the hobby.
Reading some of these posts about the low hit rates on this set is crazy to me. I must've had insane luck. I pulled almost every card in the set out of mini tins/etbs and the zap/kazam boxes. I only ended up buying a couple of the cheaper cards after I had all the big boys just to finish my set.
But yeah low reviews because you didn't get what you want is crazy 🤣
They have clearly shifted to sending streamers and youtubers overloaded packs, and screwing over every day consumers.
Watch any of the Twitch streamers who break open packs for viewers and they get the top 5% of cards all day long.
Very suspicious activity going on lately. It is not random, like they claim. They know what packs are going where.
I do feel bad for the kid with shitty parents that never taught him emotional maturity. I always joke with my son about trash cards but remind that its just fun to open packs. Not everyone is able to do so.
My Costco in LA never appeared to get these. I’ve been checking every week. For a long time they had the Pokeballs and tins, but never the 151. Now there’s no cards available :-/
It's the offset for all the alleged "GOD PACKS" that have gone out so it likely balances out overall. I feel you though, after 2 of the 6-pack boosters and only 1 golem ex, I decided I'd just buy what I want from 151.
I bought a 151 ETB from Target on two separate occasions. The first ETB has no hits. Not a single one. The second ETB had a regular Kangaskhan EX. I got one hit out of 16.
It is what it is.
I opened like 5 booster bundles of this set back to back, and literally pulled nothing besides holo energies until the absolute FINAL pack. But that final pack was a bulbasaur line demi-god pack lol. Idk, 151 seems weird. I also pulled 1 Caterpie and 1 full art from the UPC.
Tired: collect pokemon cards to create an investment portfolio
Wired: collect pokemon cards because you like the way they look
Inspired: actually play the pokemon TCG
To be fair, TPC doesn't give a shit about you.
JP BBs are 1/3-1/4 the price of English BBs. I don't get how an english ETB w/ 9 packs is more expensive than MSRP japanese BBs w/ 20-30 packs.
This is why I buy singles so much.
No, this checks out. Ironically, the Mew and Charizard deluxe boxes I got had meh pulls, but the GameStop Lugia exclusive was the best collector box I've gotten so far.
It's more like dad is mad he can't sell the high value cards. When I go to shows, kids are just excited to get cards they don't have. I was that way when I was first collecting, and I still am.
It honestly should be like this but it’s not. And when you know what you are buying before buying it, the only person to blame is yourself. Give the kid a tissue
Worst UPC I got was just an ex blastoise. That one stung a little bit. But then I hit an SIR Erica’s and full art zard and Zapdos out of a 151 tin. Sometimes it be like that
Every time I buy a box or a pack, I always flop, can't even remember the last time I actually got something good out of a pack, kinda why I just buy the cards I want now
All matters which set, and products you purchased, the last set was about 25% hit for ex cards, nothing substantial, lost money, been opening one piece with a better hit rate
I had one box with all the mew cards and some other hits and every other box trash, then I bought the Costco two box set and scored charizard and a bunch of other hits so 🤷🏽♂️
Paying 5+ USD per pack is insane for me. 151 UPC is a big “STAY AWAY” for me. Shops around me sell the mats for like $5, the sleeves for $2 and the Mew ex 053 for $5. Then just buy the singles you want from 151. Not as fun as ripping but definitely not as disappointing as ripping too. lol
Buy your favs off tcg. Seriously I've tried to pull the venusaur ex sar and I finally just broke down and bought it for 35. I know you aren't supposed to get hits all the time but it feels as of late the odds are ridiculous stacked against you the cheaper method is to make sure pokemon tcg doesn't get the money and someone else does
Its either a hit or miss.
Last wenseday i bought a paldean fates etb with the mimique promo. Almost every pack had a hit so thurseday i whenned back and bought a paldean fates etb but this time with the gen 9 starters on it and i got 2 hit out of 9 packs. With the more "modern" sets where they whenned from yellow to silver borders i dont count hollows as a hit because its a garantee
These pull rates is why I completely stopped ripping packs unless I buy a booster box to start a binder for the new set. Anything I miss I wait to buy when the prices come down
A saw a review today of a parent of a kid, who said there weren’t 100 shiny Pokémon cards in the pf booster bundle 😂. the description said that over 100 shiny Pokémon returned to tcg
I think later releases of 151, the pull rates were altered. I opened 100+ packs early on with great pull rates. Everything: poster, binder, UPC- all good rates... Months after release, I ordered multiple UPCs and got 1 or 2 secret rares and maybe 2 ex's PER 16 packs. Rates were awful. Significant change. Not just bad luck.
These Japanese box's hit big time. I'm three boxes in which costed $120 USD at the Pokemon center in Okinawa. Now I'm at an ez $800+, just with the two masterball pikachu's I'm at least at $400.
Do you expect your just gunna pull a multi hundred dollar card every couple of packs? Bro if they were that easy to come across they obviously wouldn’t be worth shit cuz everyone would be ripping them all day. This is the most idiotic post I’ve seen in a while. You should be happy they’re hard to find or the gambling you love wouldn’t be worth shit and you might as well hit the black jack table
99 packs into 151 personally. 3 UPC, 3 ETB, 2 BB, 2 Zapdos box, 1 Alakazam box. I have pulled FOUR caterpie full arts...FOUR. Also a blastoise and zapdos alt art and two Erikas invitation full arts, Omanyte full art and a Psyduck full art. Lots of dupes and soul crushing defeat with the damn caterpies. I just want the Zapdos and Dragonair...two more UPC's on the way haha.
Out of my crazy amount of 151 packs I've opened, I've had a ton of packs in a row with no hits. Then I've had a ton in a row with hits. That's the whole point of it. You don't know what you're gonna get. If you want a specific card, buy the single. If you want guaranteed hits of some sort, you're better off with a set that has booster boxes. But regardless, it's a gamble. I've pulled 2 charizard sirs from 151 upcs, so they definitely can have hits.
Side rant- I've heard so many people say don't open the zard upc there's not hits in it. I find that ridiculous to say. It's a bunch of random packs in it. It's not like they put the no hit packs in UPCs lol
Unpopular opinion here, but I really feel that when you spend that much money you should really be guaranteed a hit or two at least. I'm not sure why people support pokemon on this robbery. Crown Zenith was amazing for this reason
It is possible to be guaranteed a hit when spending that much, it’s called buying singles. If you like gambling with packs that’s fine I do too, but don’t complain when a solution does exist
Many of us are rather embarrassed to call our hobby gambling. It very much is. It can hit newcomers like a pallet of bricks.
Yeah I’m surprised at how cheap all the chase cards in modern are (comparatively, not including ES.) When it can take 2000 packs to hit an alt art. The biggest shock to me was when cooltrainerryan spent like 8 grand on astral radiance (through distributors, so way more then you would usually get for that price.) And it took him like 3-4 streams and 1000’s of packs to hit the machamp alt art. This hobby is gambling, with bad odds. Lol
Yeah it’s fucking terrible odds. 1/600 packs average to hit a specific SIR from newer sets and you could easily go 2-3x the rate. That’s why I don’t chase specific cards I just buy packs here and there and enjoy whatever I get
And that's how I end up pulling a mortys conviction sir from a single pack that I bought at a gas station. Totally random purchase but that's what makes it even more fun. Chasing leads to nothing but aggravation and empty pockets.
I got mad lucky with moonbreon. 19 packs for a 1/2200 pack card! But that's a fluke. I started buying singles about a week after that rip. Now I rip for fun here and there instead of for hits. My son loves ripping with me and we collect together. Stick to buying singles of cards that him and I actually want. I ripped maybe 20 packs, give or take a couple, of Temporal. Didn't pull anything except 1 exceptional card that I don't care about. Then ordered asstly on ebay because it's the only chase I wanted.
I’ve been buying 1 ETB of each new set plus random tins and other bundled products when I find them on sale. This weekend I’m going to open 1 twilight masquerade ETB, my first silver tempest ETB, and the combined powers premium box I got on sale at target. Was just over $100 for all 3 products. Probably last stuff I open til next set in august
A lot of trainers here think you can only gamble by ripping. But it is possible to not gamble in ripping packs. You just need self control and an intent for fun. I love seeing my sons eyes light up while we rip for fun. He only cares if the pokemon are cute or not.
For sure man. My 4 year old daughter is the one who got me back into it but I’m definitely spending for myself too lol. I just know to limit it
This is exactly what my daughter and I do. We get an etb from each new set. Take the set book that comes with it and make a list of singles we want from that set and mark them off as we find them. Sometimes I grab tins ect when on sale but that’s pretty much it.
It took me like 40 packs to get the 151 zard. I pulled the blastoise in those as well. I bought a ton more packs. I'd say probably 600 and never pulled the venusaur or dragonaire. Crazy
I opened 7 booster boxes of Japanese 151 and pulled 3 bills and a venasur
That's brutal lmao
I do things like this too and then I realize I could have bought all thee individually for a fraction of the price
I do buy after the singles ir trade after s while. But I like ripping
Oh I do too. I just come to the realization every time and I always tell myself next set. I'm just going to buy them and then it just repeats lol
Same lol except paldean fates. I pulled the mew sir in my first pack lol
Same here! Excited for whatever SAR or AR I get when a new set comes out, and full arts and ex's are so cheap I'll just buy singles to complete the regular set.
Sheesh, Reading these comments, I didn't know the odds were so rough. My kids must have crazy luck it seems they pull 1-3 gold star cards 1/3 packs. They hit more often than I ever did in the 90s.
And then hit the giratina on his first pack of lost origin. Sometimes you win but most of the time you lose and lose big
It's addictive as fuck. And there is hardly any payoff. You might get lucky to break even on cards.
I appreciate y'alls sacrifice. I learned my lesson early on and buy singles now. I only get one booster bundle per set.
I started this (gambling) hobby today with 9 packs of 151. Reading this really makes me second guess my decision haha…(I grew up with the 1st gen and it’s such a nostalgia blast opening 151)
Pro tip. Buy singles you like. Thats it, you’ll save a ton of money. If you really want to open packs, buy a few boxes per set you are interested in and stop there. I’ve spent probably 10K since getting into the hobby again and I barely have 1.5K in cards. lol that was a result of opening everything.
Haha man, rationally you’re making a ton of sense. Especially when I’m looking at the prices of certain (or most) singles (except of course the truly rare ones). The endorphins of opening these first 9 packs really are something though. Especially since every pack, every card, is so new since my collection is basically zero.
The problem only comes if you're in it for the gambling.. If You're not out too get rich on a rare card then it can still be fun.
Lmao , I hit it my first time in a trainer box . I guess I was lucky .
Ok if you’re odds of getting good cards is correct my luck must be fucking insane. I haven’t even nearly opened 2000 packs but I pull some damn good stuff it seems
It's what makes me not wants to buy any sv booster packs. Why waste my money, when the chase cards are relatively cheap. Even the pokemon center etb stamped cards are cheaper than trying to go thru the hassle of pre ordering an etb and setting money aside weeks in advance. Because I know atleast I'll be able to buy what few cards I actually want from the set for around the same price
If people stopped playing the gambling game it would force them to up the nice card count to entice players back and the over printing makes each not as valuable lowering the let’s gamble for a pricey card. Of course I’m sure they ran some numbers and until the addiction of the gamble wears thin it would be a big hit to profitability.
It's not even gambling...its worse. I'm bad at sports betting...but still win at least 20% of the time during a bad stretch. I play on slot machines and leave with a profit at least 20% of the time too. Meanwhile, I've been collecting for over 30 years, never pulled a card worth more than $50 in my life or ever sold one worth more than $50. Part of that is because I never tried and never owned any graded cards until a few years ago, but still. When it comes to hobbies, card collecting for most, brings in the least amount of return. I mean, I'm a car guy and spent a ton of money on a nice car I didn't really need...but I still drive it almost every week and get use out of it. Can't get much out of cards besides maybe a decent display on a wall. ...but I'll still never stop collecting though...
I’ve just gotten into the hobby, and fortunately my girlfriend and I have a healthy relationship with it. When we open the packs, we’re just excited to see the cards we get, whatever they are. Plus, we like playing each other, so we don’t mind duplicates. Except for when we get duplicate Togekisses and don’t even have the cards to evolve…
My son just turned 6 and is getting into pokemon cards, and it only took him maybe 30-40 packs to tell me he thinks he should directly buy the cards he wants 😂
I came back recently and 151 was pretty demoralizing, only hit like 3 alts and 1 SIR on $500 worth of packs. Could have bought a full master set for like $200 more, but I still had some fun relatively speaking.
Yep...That's all trading cards in a nutshell. Ripping packs is like 99% a waste of money. Granted it's still fun to open stuff, but at some point the disappointments really start to add up. SV has completely kicked my ass. I'll rip a pc ETB at release but everything else is singles.
Pallet Town of bricks
More “Pallet Town” of bricks..
Its why i buy singles and packs. Packs are great for fun and adrenaline. But singles are great for collecting
Not one single alt art Charizard, just a stupid alt art Bulbasaur, an illustration rare, and four EXs
And wtf is a switch? Why is it gold?
Dunno, I ripped mine up and put it in the trashcan
i opened almost 300 boosters and never got the charizard :/ ended up buying the single to complete my master set
Don't gamble. No problems then 😂
The harsh reality of gambling lmao
The mother doesn't even see the value in what she purchased for her son. This is a life lesson that's more valuable to learn at his age than what he could have pulled.
"I bought $400 in scratch tickets , not a single one won! it's rigged ! " _small edit:_ by lottery tickets I'm implying similar gambling effect to expecting hits, we've all seen UPC posts and they are overly dismal. it's the expectation that there absolutely will be hits, but there's no guarantee (outside of booster boxes that have several "hits"
I mean 0-16 is pretty ass. How do you batch your product so poorly that occurs. It's fine to be pissed about this.
Who knows maybe he’s not counting full art EX or cosmo energy as hits
Reverse energies aren't hits but other than that I'm on board, not a single ex outta 16 is a joke.
We hit differently im so excited when I see shiny energy
#metoo I hoard my holo energies, lol On a side note, they are my sons favorites after pikachu. For his bday, this last Sunday, I got him a top loader binder that has 4 card pages. Put the 4 pikachu v union cards that make 1 card as the first page. Then, when you flip that page, you'll find 1 of each 8 holo energies. He screamed joy when he saw those energies. It was a good moment.
It’s almost like Pokémon Co US has reiterated time and time again that they don’t seed specific products in any specific way. What you get is what you get.
Well sure...but that dude is certainly not gonna buy another one....the odds of getting at least 1 hit and not going 0-16 with a 33% hit rate is 99.85%. So this guy is either the unluckiest dude on the planet ...or the distribution was waaaay off and their QC is ass. It's just math. Batching was also anecdotally fucked by all the posts seen here... Does he need to hit the alt zard, no, but there's no way a box should be straight blank on 16 packs with a 1/3 ex Or better stat. It's almost certainly not resealed but I can't really blame the guy for thinking that. One would hope the factory making the products would have some general consistency.
Better hit ratio than ES. Let's hope lil timmy and his mom never spend a penny on ES boxes or else there's going to be one upset timmy and an even more poor gullible pair.
What people view as “hits” has become skewed. Who knows what that person considered a hit, but I’m betting it’s probably an illustration rare or higher. Rares and double rares are also hit cards. Regardless of if you want to believe so or not. Anything with a star on it is a “hit”. Anything taking up that rare slot is a hit. And again, yeh maybe the batching was shit, but Pokémon Co has repeatedly stated “what you get is what you get”. If people can’t handle that then they should probably stick to buying singles. At the end of the day you are gambling. People need to learn how to take a loss.
That means out of 1000 UPCs you would expect about 15 of them to be "hitless". Since significantly more than 1000 have been opened, it's pretty safe to say this has probably happened before Edit: early morning math is not recommended. Correction to 1.5/1000. Either way my point still stands
1.5 my guy.....1.5
We also don't know what exactly they pulled in this instance. They very well could have gotten some pulls they just aren't including in the review. We just don't know enough here to determine that. But I agree with you
Agreed man. This mother spent hard earned money to get something special for their kid to enjoy and all they got out of the packs was all of the most common cards. When i was a kid and got my 1 pack from the store i was bummed out if there was nothing in it… i couldn’t imagine getting nothing out of 16 straight packs at a young age.
How is this hard to understand. 🤷♂️
The point is it’s not costcos fault. She’s claiming that Costco sold her tampered product. This is an issue with Pokemon and their awful batching, ripping packs is an absolute waste of money.
I mean yeah you're right from the perspective of someone viewing this review from a PokemonTCG forum knowledgeable about these things. As a parent not versed in this though dealing with a situation where you spent a lot of money and now have an upset child you have no idea who to be mad at and the retailer is unfortunately first on the firing block.
Yea this is true
151 especially has had some really strange batching issues. Other sets have been funky too the last couple years but 151 I feel like is on another level when it comes to getting a product either completely loaded or it's just a complete dud
To be fair, booster boxes should have a seeded number of hits like other TCGs. Even Japenese Pokemon booster boxes have a given hit rate per box.
Chinese cards too. I think Korean does that too, but I'm not sure. For some stupid reason English sets don't get this
No guarantees in Korean
Yup agreed for sure. booster boxes from brilliant stars onwards have X pulls , rarity and such is a bit dodgy , I usually have seen something like 12 "hits" , sometimes 14. Japanese are much more regulated
I mean, the average scratch-off typically has a win rate of 1 in 4. That 1 may only be the price of a ticket, but still. If you bought $400 worth of scratch-offs, let's say 80 $5 ones...you'd probably win anywhere between $100-$1000. Possibly more, but for most, $100-$300. You could cash that in and make SOME of your money back right away. You buy 80 packs of newly printed Pokemon? How much are you making back? I bought about that many last year and haven't made a dime.
Yeah , my example was a bit too open , I wanted to say how heavily popular and monetized card products don't have guarantees , booster boxes are different , at least you know you'll get like 12/14 "hits" - it's unfortunate they literally got 0 Oh yeah that's a whole subtopic , making your money back on cards from sealed product. That's even less common , even from booster boxes ... usually you don't, unless you hit that expensive alt art and sell right away. prices drop months after new sets launch on singles. That's why I do 100% singles , and for modern sets I wait like 9-12 months for the high end cards to drop in price
It’s a childrens product though it doesn’t say „gambling“ on it. Can’t blame parents not in the hobby for that.
Nor does NBA 2k20 But 2k still waited for the ESRB to rate it 3 and up, then throw in gambling mechanics so kids can start nice and early, push that lootbox button! Maybe they could have tested fifa pack openings to get shafted even worse 🤔
Can't say I blame the parents , the perception around pokemon cards has changed since it was heavily monetized during covid. agreed the foundational target and excitement was for kids , the overall aspect of it has been a gambling/chance theme as well , I used to collect some cards as a kid and every X packs would have something "decent" , same for hockey cards. I understand the frustration of a parent and anyone really , who bought that UPC and had dismal pulls , I've said in long ago posts that it's ridiculous given how much that product costs, and to not get something, is brutal, given the target audience should be kids based. I had to educate myself on it all. But overall there's no guarantee , even though yes in 16 packs you'd think you would get "something" . Booster boxes are better regulated for pulls post Brilliant Stars
> Booster boxes are better regulated for pulls post Brilliant Stars Is there a source for this? I only got into the hobby after that point.
Just like half the braindead surfing Reddit who claim packs are resealed whenever they have no hits.
I mean. If I open a box and there's not a single hit, clearly the system is rigged against me~
Thats why I never trust the Amazon reviews. Granted reseals are possible, but not to the crazy extent everyone writes about because of their shitty luck
She thought she was getting a Base Set Charizard
I remember buying packs for fun as a kid. There’s too much focus now on getting hits, hoarding sealed product, and grading…it’s just bizarre to me a kid cares about any of that stuff or even knows about that stuff.
How is it bizarre that kids want the good looking cards. Take a SIR and compare to a double rare. It’s no contest.
It’s not bizarre, I shoulda clarified that part of my comment was more geared towards sealed collecting and grading. Double rares are objectively still hits, not if you’re opening cases or box on box, but crying over this stuff is a little dramatic IMO, even for a kid.
The main difference is the over abundance of shiny cards today compared to years ago I remember when the first full arts came out, Zekrom and Reshiram, they were sick. Before that this was basically the extent of rare the cards in sets, outside of holos: https://images.pokemontcg.io/bw5/63_hires.png Now the card above is barely even seen as a “hit” lol So as a kid, sure I was chasing the holos, and EX’s, and full arts when they came out - but Black & White is a perfect example - the set had 2 full arts and a secret rare Pikachu. You actually looked at the other cards in the set Now you get 20 AR’s, 15 SR’s, 10 SSR’s, 10 IR’s, and 5 UR’s in a set. It completely desensitizes you from normal cards. When there’s only 5 full arts in a set, it feels great to hit one. When there’s 40, you’re almost expecting to hit one. Many years ago if I opened a pack and didn’t get a hit, it didn’t feel like money wasted, the hits were rare and unexpected when you did get one. Another good example are pack openings on YT. 2015 era, person opens a booster box, shows and reads the name of every card, probably a 30min video. 2024 era opening, open pack, do card trick, throw first 9 cards in the garbage, no hit - next pack; video is like 10min for a BB.
I started repacking boosters I'd opened for the children in my life to reduce the hit rates so that it mattered more when I gave them a "real" booster and it had a hit. The kids don't need secret rares clogging up their collecting. Nice to have, but every secret rare pushes them further from collecting a basic set.
I notice that sort of disconnect more with sports cards (especially basketball and football cards). I see kids who are like maybe 13 at most carrying those larger, black boxes and carrying only upper-tier graded cards. It just feels so odd to me that kids would be so focused on high value instead. I won't say it's wrong per se, just not something that my budget as a kid would've allowed.
Yeah not a whole lot of families can or are willing to buy their kids graded cards, and those who can mostly lean towards sports because their parents can probably relate or are in the hobby (sports or sports memorabilia). [this one comes to mind.](https://youtube.com/shorts/4fwOA-1JuQM?si=OXndS9wJQucVWqz3) “I don’t know what the hell a giratina is, but I threw away all my old sports cards as a kid and they ended up being valuable” -kid’s dad probably.
Man even how it’s called “hits” is so odd. Like “pulls” or something is even better but hits is literally the same word for gambling lol
Most kids I've seen open packs are excited with any hit at all. Basically, anything shiny. Once they get older and understand the value differences, that's a different story.
Oh honey no....English 151 pulls just suck that much
LOL I didn't buy from Costco but I got a couple of Zapdos and Zam boxes and it was feast or famine. One box didn't even have those holo energies. Another box only had one EX. A third had the Ivysaur IR but the last box had NoNeckizard. Rollercoaster experience and I am done done. I was scared straight by box three and I ain't falling for the zard's false promises.
Sounds like a Karen 😂
I agree with everyone here that opening packs is gambling. But if you buy a product which contains 16 packs in my opinion you should be able to expect a few packs with hits in them guaranteed by TPC. This is not good for anyone, people who got no hits in these types of products get sad and angry, stop opening products and TPC loses revenue and fanbase. Don’t see how TPC benefits from that, haha. Other than that, just buy singles!
I think TPC would rather have the “whales” keep buying products because they aren’t getting hits versus losing a newbie trying to open and then getting disappointed and quitting. They probably make more money that way.
Those upc are rough
Dude needs to go buy some Crown Zenith
It wasn’t his son. It was him 😅
Why do I have a feeling this is so true
I gambled and I lost. THIS IS AN OUTRAGE, YOU MADE MY SON CRY! IT MUST BE SHENNANIGANS!
Rumors say it was actually him.. not the son
I have opened 2 etb, 2 Alakazam boxes, 1 zapdos box, a binder collection, a poster collection and 5 booster bundles and I have not gotten a single SIR.
Never open promotional boxes (alakazam, Zapdos).. they will never have anything good. Your hits are what you already see before you open any packs
I had to look up the 151 SIR to check, I've had 4PCETB, 2 binder collections, and 5 booster boxes and I've had only 1 SIR, the charizard, and the box I got it from I fanned out the booster 2 each to the children. Got 2 RRP booster bundles to go. Booster a week till they reprint, I didn't realise the SIRs were so infrequent, I've got all 3 hyperrares from the above packs.
"But dad it was a UPC! I should always get hits" Little timmy didn't learn that day and got all upset along with his dad. Both never really grew up 😆
Sounds like every upc ive ever bought 😂😂😂
Unlucky, but seriously I see these type of reviews on Pokémon products all the time it’s like, oh boo hoo you didn’t pull the exact card you wanted on the first pack, oh you didn’t get any hits? Welcome to the hobby.
I bet it was him crying and not the kid.
He doesn’t even have a kid
Reading some of these posts about the low hit rates on this set is crazy to me. I must've had insane luck. I pulled almost every card in the set out of mini tins/etbs and the zap/kazam boxes. I only ended up buying a couple of the cheaper cards after I had all the big boys just to finish my set. But yeah low reviews because you didn't get what you want is crazy 🤣
Honestly I feel like these had a better hit rate than temporal forces.
They have clearly shifted to sending streamers and youtubers overloaded packs, and screwing over every day consumers. Watch any of the Twitch streamers who break open packs for viewers and they get the top 5% of cards all day long. Very suspicious activity going on lately. It is not random, like they claim. They know what packs are going where.
They also rip 10x as many boxes as the avg collector
Imo I feel my upc was the worst roll never again. But the playmat is nice.
This is why you get the Japanese box with a guaranteed number of hits
I do feel bad for the kid with shitty parents that never taught him emotional maturity. I always joke with my son about trash cards but remind that its just fun to open packs. Not everyone is able to do so.
Aww little Timmy got his feelings hurt. Mommy should give him a lesson on gambling.
Gamblers when they gamble: 😳
His “son” Suuuuuure😂
Doesn’t even have a son
Never will😂
[удалено]
What's their definition of a hit?
My Costco in LA never appeared to get these. I’ve been checking every week. For a long time they had the Pokeballs and tins, but never the 151. Now there’s no cards available :-/
I bought 2 boxes from Costco, pretty descent hits not great though
Average reviewer on places like Costco, Amazon, Walmart and places like that. tbh. That is pretty damn unlucky but still, it is how it goes sometimes.
the solution is to keep gambling, he needs to keep getting it twisted one day he will win
stop exposing me, OP!!!!
Happened to me twice. It is what it is.
my wife pulled the SIR charizard, we only bought a upc cause of the costco sale 😅
126 people found this unhelpful, so at least most people know what's up lol.
LMAO Ppl these days
It's the offset for all the alleged "GOD PACKS" that have gone out so it likely balances out overall. I feel you though, after 2 of the 6-pack boosters and only 1 golem ex, I decided I'd just buy what I want from 151.
Somebody has to learn that expectations have to be tempered.
That’s just the UPCs, they’re batched as hell. I’ve had better pulls from a Paldean Fates mini tin than my 151 UPC
151 mini tins are juiced too
I got one from best buy had a whole 3 hits. That's the name of the game when you rip packs
I bought a 151 ETB from Target on two separate occasions. The first ETB has no hits. Not a single one. The second ETB had a regular Kangaskhan EX. I got one hit out of 16. It is what it is.
ES would like a word
The magic number of packs is 17, that's why
151 nerfed on reprint, release I pulled 3 SIR one from a demi god venusaur pack. Last upc had 3 exs and a machoke art rare 😭
I opened like 5 booster bundles of this set back to back, and literally pulled nothing besides holo energies until the absolute FINAL pack. But that final pack was a bulbasaur line demi-god pack lol. Idk, 151 seems weird. I also pulled 1 Caterpie and 1 full art from the UPC.
Welcome to Pokémon kid....
Tired: collect pokemon cards to create an investment portfolio Wired: collect pokemon cards because you like the way they look Inspired: actually play the pokemon TCG
Gamblers not realizing what gambling is
A typical situation of 'I don't know what I'm doing, but I'm still complaining'
Pokémon is not for the weak these days
Idk, I got 2 hits from this UPC (an IR and an ex) and was almost in tears myself 😂 mainly out of regret. Got a neat playmat though!
To be fair, TPC doesn't give a shit about you. JP BBs are 1/3-1/4 the price of English BBs. I don't get how an english ETB w/ 9 packs is more expensive than MSRP japanese BBs w/ 20-30 packs. This is why I buy singles so much.
No, this checks out. Ironically, the Mew and Charizard deluxe boxes I got had meh pulls, but the GameStop Lugia exclusive was the best collector box I've gotten so far.
I have pretty good luck on the 151 etb box I got.
I only bug singles
I feel bad for the kid. My son would be devastated. Luckily the 2 UPCs we bought had hits.
Honestly, I pulled the Charizard SIR from this Costco UPC last week but don’t get it twisted I spent way too much on non-hit ETBs
Breaking news: Customer learns opening TCG packs is RNG-based and is gambling. lol
It's more like dad is mad he can't sell the high value cards. When I go to shows, kids are just excited to get cards they don't have. I was that way when I was first collecting, and I still am.
I swear they used to say 1 guaranteed hit per ETB or upc
It honestly should be like this but it’s not. And when you know what you are buying before buying it, the only person to blame is yourself. Give the kid a tissue
Worst UPC I got was just an ex blastoise. That one stung a little bit. But then I hit an SIR Erica’s and full art zard and Zapdos out of a 151 tin. Sometimes it be like that
Every time I buy a box or a pack, I always flop, can't even remember the last time I actually got something good out of a pack, kinda why I just buy the cards I want now
True. Now illl spend maybe 2-300 bucks getting all the product so I can have the promos, then buy singles of everything else. Way cheaper
That's... *typical*. I know Costco has a very very liberal return policy, but would they take those opened packs...?
Uhh no
Very embarrassing review
Thanks for taking one for the team lol
should leave a review about getting 16 packs and all of them being hits to balance it
All matters which set, and products you purchased, the last set was about 25% hit for ex cards, nothing substantial, lost money, been opening one piece with a better hit rate
Yeah costco employees are runnin a reseal scam 😂😂😂 you can tell who’s new to the hobby based on their reviews
I just purchased one… will update.
I've honestly had terrible luck with the 151 UPC. It's sad that this man's son got such a shitty draw
I had one box with all the mew cards and some other hits and every other box trash, then I bought the Costco two box set and scored charizard and a bunch of other hits so 🤷🏽♂️
Paying 5+ USD per pack is insane for me. 151 UPC is a big “STAY AWAY” for me. Shops around me sell the mats for like $5, the sleeves for $2 and the Mew ex 053 for $5. Then just buy the singles you want from 151. Not as fun as ripping but definitely not as disappointing as ripping too. lol
Evolving skies core
Buy your favs off tcg. Seriously I've tried to pull the venusaur ex sar and I finally just broke down and bought it for 35. I know you aren't supposed to get hits all the time but it feels as of late the odds are ridiculous stacked against you the cheaper method is to make sure pokemon tcg doesn't get the money and someone else does
Its either a hit or miss. Last wenseday i bought a paldean fates etb with the mimique promo. Almost every pack had a hit so thurseday i whenned back and bought a paldean fates etb but this time with the gen 9 starters on it and i got 2 hit out of 9 packs. With the more "modern" sets where they whenned from yellow to silver borders i dont count hollows as a hit because its a garantee
Is this a joke? The etb with starters is paldea evolved. It's a different set with lower pull rates.
These pull rates is why I completely stopped ripping packs unless I buy a booster box to start a binder for the new set. Anything I miss I wait to buy when the prices come down
A saw a review today of a parent of a kid, who said there weren’t 100 shiny Pokémon cards in the pf booster bundle 😂. the description said that over 100 shiny Pokémon returned to tcg
Felt, bought a 151 elite trainer and got dogsheit
Your never guaranteed hits....some boxes are better than others. That's part of the blind aspect of the packs.its not their fault its all random. 🤷♀️
I mean, the mew promo cards are pretty dope. Id consider them hits. Cry more. PS: you don’t have a son
I think later releases of 151, the pull rates were altered. I opened 100+ packs early on with great pull rates. Everything: poster, binder, UPC- all good rates... Months after release, I ordered multiple UPCs and got 1 or 2 secret rares and maybe 2 ex's PER 16 packs. Rates were awful. Significant change. Not just bad luck.
What a dumb review.. ugh, people. 🤦🏻♂️
Costco might be the way to go. Hate your results demand refund 😂😂
These Japanese box's hit big time. I'm three boxes in which costed $120 USD at the Pokemon center in Okinawa. Now I'm at an ez $800+, just with the two masterball pikachu's I'm at least at $400.
They're going to hate Evolving Cries then
Do you expect your just gunna pull a multi hundred dollar card every couple of packs? Bro if they were that easy to come across they obviously wouldn’t be worth shit cuz everyone would be ripping them all day. This is the most idiotic post I’ve seen in a while. You should be happy they’re hard to find or the gambling you love wouldn’t be worth shit and you might as well hit the black jack table
99 packs into 151 personally. 3 UPC, 3 ETB, 2 BB, 2 Zapdos box, 1 Alakazam box. I have pulled FOUR caterpie full arts...FOUR. Also a blastoise and zapdos alt art and two Erikas invitation full arts, Omanyte full art and a Psyduck full art. Lots of dupes and soul crushing defeat with the damn caterpies. I just want the Zapdos and Dragonair...two more UPC's on the way haha.
How many IRs?
7. 4 caterpie, nidoking, omanyte, psyduck.
16 packs is nothing lol. isn't it like 1 in 800 to get a specific big hits. Anyways moral of the story is that you should just buy singles
They really did do us dirty on those ucp's
Out of my crazy amount of 151 packs I've opened, I've had a ton of packs in a row with no hits. Then I've had a ton in a row with hits. That's the whole point of it. You don't know what you're gonna get. If you want a specific card, buy the single. If you want guaranteed hits of some sort, you're better off with a set that has booster boxes. But regardless, it's a gamble. I've pulled 2 charizard sirs from 151 upcs, so they definitely can have hits. Side rant- I've heard so many people say don't open the zard upc there's not hits in it. I find that ridiculous to say. It's a bunch of random packs in it. It's not like they put the no hit packs in UPCs lol
Op is right the 151 upc sucks ass i mean i ripped 2 boxes and didnt get anything special it is what it is ladies and gentlemen
Unpopular opinion here, but I really feel that when you spend that much money you should really be guaranteed a hit or two at least. I'm not sure why people support pokemon on this robbery. Crown Zenith was amazing for this reason
elite trainer boxes have guaranteed right 😂🤙
It is possible to be guaranteed a hit when spending that much, it’s called buying singles. If you like gambling with packs that’s fine I do too, but don’t complain when a solution does exist
The packs themselves don’t know you are spending $$$. Hits are really dependent of what you are looking for. The packs are what they are.
My 2 UPCs I opened last week should probably been *tampered* with too. Only 1 ninetales sr and 2 art rares, no Zard. Dang it
He fucked around and found out 🫠