Pokémon Shining Fates expansion now available

The Pokémon Company International officially launched the first collection of the new Shining Fates Pokémon TCG expansion today. This is the sixth Sword and Shield expansion and it focuses on numerous shiny Pokémon.

Shining Fates is different than previously released expansions, though, since it won’t be sold in individual booster packs. Special collections will be launched throughout the year—and some fans are already having a tough time trying to get their hands on the new cards.

The Shining Fates expansion has six main collections: the Mad Party Pin collection featuring different Pokémon, the Shining Fates Pikachu V, the Elite Trainer Box, the Shining Fates Tin collections, the Shining Fates Premium collection, and the Mini Tins.

Among the more than 190 cards, there are over 100 shiny Pokémon and 30 Pokémon V and VMAX in this expansion. You can check out and download the full list of cards on the Pokémon TCG website.

Trainers will find incredible cards such as the shiny Charizard in its mega form, shiny Ditto VMAX, Dragapult, Dhelmise VMAX, and new trainers like the Ball Guy, Cara Liss, Rose, and Skyla.

The Pokémon Company International has even given trairners a few tips on how to use this new expansion, like pointing to Helping Hands as a good tactic to use Amazing Reshiram’s Amazing Blaze attack, which requires multiple types of Energy and can do a massive 270 damage.

Another tip is using Rillaboom’s Voltage Beat Ability to keep loading Energy onto Dhelmise VMAX, making its Swinging Chain attack grow to Dynamax levels of damage.

If you browse through stores like Target, Best Buy, and Walmart, however, you’ll see that it’s hard to find all of the Mad Party Pin collections and the retailers that have them are mostly sold out.

With the collections selling out, prices have skyrocketed on websites such as eBay and Amazon. Shining Fates Pikachu V, for example, is priced at $19.99 on Best Buy, while the same collection is listed at $39 on eBay and even $55 on Amazon. The Shining Fates Elite Trainer Box costs $49.99, yet you can find it for $120.

If you’re interested in acquiring this expansion, be patient and wait for more stock to become available.