Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s TCG debut has a major quality control issue

The Pokémon TCG has entered a new era with the first Scarlet and Violet set officially releasing on March 31 in the West. And, while most fans are popping packs and looking for the cards they want from this product, there have been plenty of issues reported with the quality and consistency of some packs. 

The most common complaint flying around on social media regarding the SV set is that certain packs will feature cards that have clearly been damaged during the pressing process at the various factories it is done at.

Whether it be single cards, foil or not, multiple images have been shared where cards are bent in a very specific spot that creases the art and creates a fold. This is happening in single packs, boxes, and other products too so it is impossible to avoid when purchasing something that was released from one of the first printings for this new set. 

For Pokemon TCG collectors, this would automatically destroy the value of anything pulled from the set, but even if a kid gets a pack and opens it because they simply love Pokémon, getting such a poor-quality card is disappointing.

Those clear bends and creases are a pressing issue that happens when cards are printed, but it doesn’t stop there either, as Elite Trainer Box promotional cards have also been shown to be poorly packaged. 

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Several players have shared images of their promo cards, which are packed in small packages and placed loosely in the ETBs, being bent or otherwise damaged. Unfortunately, this is a common problem due to the general packaging of the contents inside that box and has been an issue in prior releases.

However, it isn’t all bad news since all of these printing issues have led to some players getting error boxes. An error box is a product that is packaged like a normal variant of its type but ends up having pull ratios that far surpass the normal rates or a specific error that consistently repeats itself, such as the different packs containing the exact same cards in the same order over and over again.

In this case, one player purchased multiple booster boxes of SV and opened one, only to find almost every main holo was the Secret Rare version of Arcanine ex and Gyarados ex. 

This held for five of six booster boxes in the case, with the final results totaling over 40 SR Arcanine ex, over 50 Gyarados ex, and plenty of other hits like the Special Illustrator Rare versions of Miriam, Great Tusk, and more. You can view the full breakdown on Reddit. 

For anyone who has had problems with their packs being damaged, you can try reaching out to The Pokémon Company’s support website, though it is unlikely anything can be done unless you purchased the product from the Pokémon Center website.