Despite being around for a good few decades now, Pokemon cards are more popular than ever. So much so that many people still have questions about how they are randomized and packaged. We are going to answer some of your most burning questions on this page.
First things first, how are Pokemon cards packaged? Well, they are packaged in various places around the United States and Europe. They are bundled up into boxes of various quantities (depending on the product being sold). Any company that wishes to sell these Pokemon cards will need to purchase a certain amount of product at a time.
Let’s go into a bit of depth on this, just so you know what we are talking about.
How Are Pokemon Cards in Packs Randomized and Packaged?
How Pokemon cards are packaged will be based on the type of product. For example, if it is a booster pack, there will be 36 booster packs per box. These boxes will then be packaged 6 to a crate. For the most part, a retailer would have to purchase 6 booster boxes at a time, although there are ways around this rule.
In fact, the vast majority of Pokemon trading card boxes( (including promo boxes) will be boxed up into sixes. A retailer would need to purchase six at a time. Although, once again, there are ways around this.
If you open up Pokemon Cards, you will very quickly notice that every single booster pack is different. Sure, you will get a certain number of each rarity of card (more on that in a short while), but the cards will always be different.
Now, it is unknown exactly how Pokemon randomizes their cards. They don’t want to let the secret out, just in case people are able to guess which cards are in each box (this has happened before).
What we can tell you is that the cards will be randomized and printed out onto big sheets. Each sheet will have a completely different selection of cards on them. These sheets will then be cut up and distributed among the various booster packs.
The booster packs will then be put into the box they belong in. In most cases, this means that they are going to end up in a booster box. However, a good chunk of them will end up in Pokemon promo boxes and Trainer Kits.
They all come off the same product line, so you can be sure that each and every one of them is going to be 100% randomized. You are never going to be able to guess the exact cards that you will find in each of the Pokemon booster packs!
Related: Value of 1st Edition Pokémon Cards
How Are Booster Packs/Blister Packs Packaged?
Pokemon Booster Packs are, most of the time, going to be printed out and put into booster boxes. Each booster box will hold 36 different booster packs. As we mentioned before, these booster packs are going to be completely randomized. There has only been one set where it was easy to predict which cards were in each booster pack, but that only lasted for a short while.
Blister packs come in two variations:
- Single blister packs
- 3-pack blister pack
In both cases, the blister packs are going to contain randomized booster packs. These will be printed off in exactly the same way that the standard booster packs are. However, instead of heading into a booster box, they end up in a pack.
The vast majority of 3-pack blister packs will actually contain booster packs from two different sets. Although, how these packs are selected will not matter. The included sets are always going to be pre-determined, it is just the cards that are going to be completely randomized.
Single Pokemon blister packs are only available to certain stores e.g. Walmart and Costco. This is so they can hang them up on the racks. They are much easier to sell than booster packs when they are sold like that.
It is unknown how many of these packs need to be purchased at a time, although it is likely going to be 36 of them. However, since these are larger stores, they are likely purchasing a lot of them at once. We are talking hundreds of packs.
3-pack blister packs are going to be available in all stores. These are going to be bundled up into packs of six at a time, just like most of the other Pokemon products that you can purchase.
All booster packs will contain the following cards:
- 5 or 6 common cards, depending on the booster pack.
- 3 uncommon cards
- 1 rare card
At least one of these cards will be a reverse holo card. You may also find an energy card, if you have purchased a booster from one of the earlier sets. These were removed from later sets of Pokemon.
To check the current price and availability of Pokemon Booster packs, click here to view the selection on Amazon.
How Are Pokemon Booster Boxes Packaged?
As mentioned earlier, Pokemon booster boxes are always going to be randomized. This will happen at the factory. The cards will be randomized.
36 boosters will be placed in a booster box. The booster box will then be bundled up with 5 other booster boxes.
When a retailer wants to buy booster boxes to sell, they must buy 6 of them at a time. There is a small exception to this rule, though. There are some Pokemon card distributors that will sell individual boxes, but this normally happens as the Pokemon card set gets a little bit older and they are looking to clear away some of their older stock.
To check the current price and availability of Pokemon Booster Boxes, click here to view them on Amazon.
Final Thoughts
Pokemon cards are packaged and manufactured in various Pokemon card factories around the world.
All Pokemon cards will be completely randomized. This means that outside of knowing rarities, you have no way of knowing which Pokemon cards will be found in each booster pack.
Most products are sold in bundles of 6 to retailers i.e. six booster boxes, six promo boxes. The one exception will be booster packs, which can only be purchased as part of a booster box.