GameStop’s Pokémon 30th Celebration Midnight Release Wasn’t What I Expected
Wondering where to get your Pokémon TCG 30th Celebration products? Maybe give GameStop a try. For Pokémon’s biggest TCG release ever, I attended GameStop’s midnight launch. And the experience was not only very positive…it was almost magic.
The pros and cons of buying Pokémon cards from GameStop
GameStop’s flyer for the 30th Celebration midnight release
Before getting into my experience at the 30th Celebration midnight release event, we do have to address the elephant in the room when dealing with GameStop – and any “local” game shop now.
GameStop came under fire earlier this year when they listed the 30th Celebration Ultra Premium Collection for $600. Since then, that price has dropped to $400. And while it is $200 less than the original listing that caused the outrage, the current price point is still well above the suggested retail price.
However, it’s also well below the current market price for these products, making it a middle-point between big box store prices and what you’ll be likely to find online.
![30th Celebration Ultra-Premium Collection [Night] Pokemon Card](https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/704191_in_1000x1000.jpg)
30th Celebration Ultra-Premium Collection [Night]
ME: 30th Celebration
Market Value
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Overall, this seems to be the route GameStop is taking – acting as a buffer between big box store MSRPs (and their corresponding crowds) and the reseller ceiling you’ll likely find online.
With GameStop, you’re paying for convenience
With GameStop, you are essentially paying a premium for convenience. Preordering products was easy. I ordered mine only a little more than a week out. And while Elite Trainer Boxes were sold out at that time (ETBs tend to be the most popular product from a Pokémon set like this), just about everything else was in stock – although selling quickly.
Picking up the products was also straightforward – much more so than what you’re likely to experience at a big box store. Although the products themselves will cost you quite a bit more.
How the Pokémon TCG 30th Celebration midnight release went at GameStop
Going into the night of the GameStop midnight release for Pokémon 30th Celebration, I was both apprehensive as well as excited. The promise of being one of the first to legally get their hands on this landmark set can’t be anything but thrilling. At the same time, I wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into.
The employee who I ordered the products from strongly implied that I needed to be at the shop at 8:00pm the day before Pokémon 30th Celebration’s release. In my head, I was picturing hordes of people waiting in line to get their preorder receipts. Just in case that was the case, I packed chairs, water and a Nintendo Switch as I didn’t know how long I would have to wait just to “check-in.”
I was, however, pleasantly surprised to find the store essentially empty when I arrived at the designated time. There was no line to get my receipt for the preorders, and I was free to leave and come back closer to midnight.
Getting in line for the midnight release
JWA waiting in line for the GameStop midnight release
Pretty much the same thing happened for the actual midnight release. After going home and watching some Pokémon, I headed back to GameStop, once again expecting a long line around the block. Instead, the store was once again empty, and in fact because I got there half-an-hour early, I was the first one waiting in line for the release event.
Just shortly before 12am, the GameStop employees locked the door, and those beautiful 30th Celebration products materialized out of plain brown cardboard boxes.
GameStop employees unload the precious 30th Celebration products
For someone like me who has been writing about this set for months, this certainly felt like a big moment. By this time, a respectable-sized line had formed. In keeping with the overall relaxed nature of the midnight release, those in line did not seem overly rushed. Perhaps they also understood they were paying a premium to be here, and they were okay with that.
Like a line for a ride at Disneyland, the GameStop employees calmly let us in five at a time to collect our products. We got to pick which Tech Sticker Collection we wanted, before heading on our merry way. The excitement in the crowd, however, was gently palpable: many cheered for us as we walked by. They also knew how big of a deal this was for anyone who loves Pokémon cards.
GameStop Pokémon TCG: 30th Celebration midnight release – the magic is in the timing
Going into GameStop’s midnight 30th Celebration release, I knew very little of what to expect. The idea of a midnight release felt sort of like a party. You know…like those book release events some of us went to when we were kids. Maybe there would be games to play inside, or some Pokémon-themed event to grant a sense of grandeur to match the occasion.
There was none of that. Indeed, the magic of the evening (and there was an undeniable magic about it) came almost entirely from the timing. The midnight release was cool because we got Pokémon TCG: 30th Celebration at midnight. End of story.
On the way home, I drove by Best Buy. Some were sitting on camping chairs with their hoods pulled low against the breeze. Others had pop-up canopies established, and looked to be playing trading card game battles against each other under the makeshift shelter. Honestly, they looked like they were having a great time.
And maybe therein lies a little of the truth of TCGs, too. Maybe you can prioritize convenience and happily attend a midnight launch event that you pay a premium for, just to have a memory attached to those cards you pull.
Or maybe you prefer the grind. Maybe the stories you’ll tell of how you stayed up all night just to get your products at the price they’re supposed to be brings back nostalgia for an earlier era of TCGs.
Whatever the answer is for you, I’m glad of one thing: seeing the Pokémon TCG bringing fans together once again, 30 years after a very, very small Joseph asked his mom for his first Pokémon TCG pack from a store that doesn’t even exist anymore.
