Disney Lorcana: The First Chapter Booster Box topped the December 2023 TCGplayer Top 25 Sealed Products chart (see “December 2023“), which ranks the most active products on the platform by dollar volume, showing the beginning and ending prices of each product. This chart also revealed some new developing trends in the TCG market.
The “Big Five” TCG market plotline continued into the end of 2023 (see “Big Four or Five“) where Disney Lorcana and One Piece CG have really turned on the afterburners. Starting with Disney Lorcana, sales of booster boxes really blasted off in December 2023 as product supply increased finally hit the market (see “‘Disney Lorcana’ Plans“). Booster box prices returned to Earth as more and more product shipped to retail, but TCG fans took advantage of the lower prices by scooping up some of the newly printed boxes.
In general, this is an excellent development for Disney Lorcana as now fans have reasonably-priced access to product and can pick up the cards they need to play. One of the previously mentioned issues with the game (see “Pivotal Point in Early TCG Lifecycle“) was that the product was underprinted relative to demand, and the inflated secondary market product prices were creating a barrier to entry for new players. The newly printed supplies of First Chapter and Rise of the Floodborn should work their way through the market over the next several months, and help retailers boost their in-store organized play.
As for One Piece CG, this game is perhaps one of the healthiest TCGs on the market right now. The player enthusiasm is high, the chase cards are gorgeous and desired amongst collectors, and the game has some pop culture pin action going on due to the hundreds of anime episodes hitting U.S. streaming via Crunchyroll (see “‘One Piece’ Dubs Arrive“). Everything is looking up for One Piece CG going into 2024, and the TCGplayer sales numbers for December 2023 reflect that.
Moving onto Magic: The Gathering, the pressure from emerging card games is real and will likely continue into 2024. The Lost Caverns of Ixalan was an excellent set, featuring both collectible cards and cards that were powerful in gameplay throughout various formats, but the product was still only able to chart as high as #9 in December a short time after its release. The Tales from Middle-earth Bundle sold well, and charted higher at #5, but selling older, already successful Magic product is not what WotC needs to gain momentum right now (see “Another 1,100 Employees“).
Standard needs to become “a thing” again at the in-store play level; everyone knows it, even WotC (see “Revitalizing ‘Magic: The Gathering’s’ Standard Format“). A healthy Standard format sells new sets, and it is a rotating format, so players will need to pick new cards for their decks as the format evolves. The biggest roadblock to Standard becoming popular at stores again is MTG Arena because it is easier and cheaper for players to play digitally than buying cards to play IRL. This is sort of a “rock and a hard place” issue for WotC as they can’t really pull the plug on Standard on MTG Arena just to force players back into stores without losing some revenue. WotC is going to have to get creative with answers to this issue (and soon) if they want to boost the sales of Standard sets and return Magic to a leadership position in the TCG market.
Pokemon TCG was in a bit of lull over the course of December 2023 as a lot of their major releases hit near Black Friday in November (see “November 2023“). Booster boxes are still doing fine, and special collections are still selling well. The only issue Pokemon TCG really faces is the sales of Ex boxes and decks, which seem to pile up at mass and sit on shelves for a while. Pokemon TCG’s future still looks bright, as the demand for their game continues to remain strong.
Source: ICV2
