Amazon's October Prime Day has wrapped, and with it most of the price cuts on Pokemon's 30th Celebration cards.
Over the two-day sale, Amazon cut prices across the Pokemon catalog: the 30th Celebration Elite Trainer Box dropped to $159.99 through an invite-only request system, third-party sellers listed the same box for $175.97, and a Japanese-language MEGA Expansion Pack display box fell to $259. Lego's 587-piece Eevee set hit $47.99, matching its all-time low on Amazon, and Pokemon Legends: Z-A for Switch 2 dropped to $39.88. Most of those listings expired when the sale closed. The invite-only Elite Trainer Box offer is the one still open, since it runs on requests and email invitations rather than a fixed sale window.
That lottery format is itself a tell: when access to a $160 cardboard box runs through invite requests instead of a straightforward listing, demand has outstripped print runs, not just hype. It's the same rationing pattern collectible card games lean on during real shortages, and it suggests 30th Celebration supply problems haven't eased months after launch.
Don't expect that to change for the next anniversary set. Scarcity by invitation is cheaper for retailers than scarcity by price war.