MVP139: Brendan Carrion on Lorcana Reprints, Restocks, and the Future of the Game
The launch of Lorcana has been a roller coaster for game stores. The absurdly high demand combined with a very limited supply of product has created a perfect storm for game store owners looking to sell, as well as consumers and collectors looking to buy. Online communities of players/speculators have accused game store owners of scalping and gouging if anything is priced above MSRP, with game store owners justifiably pushing back and defending the market price as the only viable option given the circumstances.
Basically, no one is happy about the Lorcana launch and the whole thing has been extremely frustrating for all parties.
As of the publishing date of this podcast, restocks of Chapter 1 are just now hitting the shelves of game stores several weeks later than originally promised by Ravensburger, with Rise of the Floodborn just around the corner.
As a collectible card game, Lorcana will be scrutinized as an example for years to come. Despite all it's challenges, and they are substantial at this point, there is still massive potential for Lorcana to become a major player in the collectible card game market.
And that's what Brendan Carrion and I discuss in today's episode! Let's talk about the future of Lorcana as a collectible card game, it's place in the pantheon, where Ravensburger went wrong with the launch (and where they went right), and speculate on whether Lorcana is the next big thing.
Topics Discussed
- The popularity and anticipation of Disney's Lorcana card game
- Comparison of Lorcana to Pokemon and its market impact
- Ravensburger's supply challenges
- The speculative nature of collectible card games
- The secondary market for collectible cards and investment perspectives
- The effect of volatile card prices on game stores and industry ethics
- The controversy and value of reprinting cards in the collectible market
- Challenges faced by retailers with pre-orders and customer expectations
- Ravensburger's cautious approach to printing and market delivery
- Potential impact of a new Star Wars card game
- The complexity of card game production and consumer awareness
