We are in the midst of a major Pokemon card boom right now, and it is causing some weird things to happen. Technically, we have been in that boom since the beginning of the pandemic but it feels like when things were getting back to normal and we are seeing the same kind of incredible demand that hit Evolving Skies and Celebrations like a fast-paced reissue.
We are in the midst of Pokemon's second pandemic-era boom and then thanks to the back-to-back mega super special releases of Prismatic Evolutions or Journey Together and the upcoming Team Rocket-themed Destined Rivals. People were scrambling to get Prismatic Evolutions at Costco, and while we haven't seen the same level of chaos around Journey Together, we are seeing sold-out shelves and exorbitant prices on the second-hand market. Unfortunately it is not seem like a Journey Together really deserves the hype it's getting.
Pokemon Journey Together isn't as good as it's being made out to be
Prior to its launch, it was easy to understand why Journey Together was such a hot topic. The return of Trainer's Pokémon for the first time in a long time made many of us feel nostalgic, and coming off the spectacular rush of Prismatic Evolutions, there was a lot of FOMO energy in the air. Like most people, I hadn't been able to buy the Prismatic packs, so when Journey Together launched, my fingers were itching for some shiny cardboard.
Journey Together did not really live up to hype. I go into more detail about this in my full review, but suffice it to say that it's not the full-scale League-sequel to Gym Heroes that many were hoping. The original Trainer's Pokémon card set is very limited, featuring only a single character from the past four generations. Rather than Gym Heroes or Gym Challenge the better comparison would actually be the deck building collaboration Battle Styles from 2021 and we all know how (un)popular Battle Styles was.
Unfortunately the market has yet to realize just how mediocre a set Journey Together really is. If you are looking for the sealed product on TCGPlayer, you will find booster boxes for as much as $237 while ETBs are available for $80 and booster bundles for $45 or $7.50 per pack. No one should spend double or triple the MSRP for a Journey Together product. If you are paying this much for this set, you’ll almost certainly regret it.
What’s the Value Proposition of Journey Together?
Every set should have a chase card, and the market has decided that the Secret Illustration rare version of Lillie’s Clefairy is the one. It is currently priced at $206, because something has to be done.
Lillie's Clefairy wins almost by default. The other trainers Hop Ann, and Iono are not really that popular anymore, and in Pokémon, cute little girls like Lillie will always demand a premium (I assure you So I do not make the rules). But Lillie is not a high-tier character like Cynthia or Misty nor is a Clefairy a typical chase Pokémon. This card does not seem particularly playable, so the only logical reason for this card to be so expensive is that everyone expects this set to have a very expensive card.
And I am no market analyst and this is not a financial advice, but I suspect that anyone who invested heavily in Journey Together will lose everything on it. It is a great shame because if everyone behaved normally about it and did not pick up every loose pack as quickly as possible this would actually be a pretty fun set to open and collect.
Pokémon has promised three times that it's in the process of increasing supply to meet demand, but in the case of Journey Together, I think this is a problem that will resolve itself in a month or two once everyone realizes that no one really wants this thing that badly.
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