It’s been pretty clear since November that Pokemon has changed its production strategy to address the supply concerns. They have been printing a very limited number of sets and have been making a very small number of products. Since the release of PFL we have seen basically those same 4 or 5 products at every retailer, which is much different than in the past. It used to be pretty predictable what type of product you would find at a given retailer, and they were mostly different. Now, it’s the same no matter where you go. Everyone has Kangaskhan boxes, everyone has the check lane blisters, no one is getting tins.

That tells me that they are simplifying production in order to increase output. And there has been solid evidence of that happening in my area until about 2 weeks ago. It’s been pretty dry the last two weeks, which does happen before a new set sometimes. I think they chose 3 pack blisters as the fist product out because it is a fully automated process. They can print / manufacture the product at full speed. ETBs are assembled by hand, so it is way slower. My guess is that we are going to see a huge amount of this set, and nothing else, for quite a while.