Pokemon Center Report – Rage of the Broken Heavens + Card Sleeves

Two Pokemon Center reports in one weekend?! Rare but true.

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I arrived to the Center on Friday 2 hours early and there was no one waiting in line, I guess to be expected on a work day, although a bunch of people seemingly jumped out of no where a few minutes before opening. I noticed, however, strange signs on some of the doors saying the entrance was “over there” which, at the time, made no sense, as the Center wasn’t even open yet.

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Once the Center opened, exactly at 10 am, we entered only to realize part of the store was blocked off and temporarily inaccessible. The staff put up a barricade of posters near the entrance

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And this display is providing a second barricade inside the store. At the time, I thought maybe they were setting up for the Pikachu Mega Campaign the next day, but since we’re currently in the future and I know all the answers, I now understand staff were busy setting up the Pikachu Mega Shop in this location.

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Getting back to cards! Friday marked the release date for the latest Break expansion set, Rage of the Broken Heavens, and along with sales of the actual expansion deck cards, we also got new card sleeve designs, and a deck box. Unlike the last couple of card sleeve releases where we had to go directly to the registers and give our order to the cashier, this time, all the sleeves were on display in the store. The staff had the foresight to put sleeves in multiple areas of the store as well, with the best part being it took a good 5-10 minutes for people to find the alternate sleeve location. This was fine for me, because it gave me time to take photos.

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Card sleeves in no particular order: Mega Scizor

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The main artwork from the Broken Heavens expansion set with shiny Gyarados.

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Slowpoke looking goofy.

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And a not often seen Pokemon duo: Trubbish and Garbodor.

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These two Special Jumbo Mega Mewtwo card packs also came out on Friday the 11th. Each pack comes with 1 jumbo sized card, 1 special card, 4 packs of Blue Shock and 4 packs of Rage of the Broken Heavens.

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The Pokemon Center started a special campaign for the new expansion on Friday as well: for every 2 boxes of cards bought, you get 1 of 2 exclusive card carrying cases. One design features the main artwork from Broken Heavens and the other design is Espeon. (While supplies last!)

With the end of the year quickly approaching and the New Years announcements already made last week, I’m not too hopeful for anything exciting tomorrow, but I guess we’ll see! I wouldn’t mind being wrong.

Merchandise Overview – December

12.4

[Merchandise] Reservations start for Steiff Pikachu plush

12.5

[Pokemon Center] Zygarde Core Pokemon Center Exclusive Plush
[Pokemon All-Stars Plush] Altaria, Buneary, Dedenne, Eevee, Espurr, Gengar, Goomy, Gulpin, Jigglypuff, Lucario, Oddish, Poliwag, Psyduck, Skitty, Wailord, Wobbuffet

12.10

[Banpresto] Pokemon XY & Z Zygarde Core Plush
[Banpresto] Charizard Night Bath Towels (3 designs)

12.11

[TCG Card Sleeves] Mega Gyarados (Pokemon Center Exclusive) Mega Scizor, Slowpoke, Garbodor
[TCG] Mega MewTwo X / Y Jumbo Card Pack
[TCG] Rage of the Broken Sky expansion pack
[Pokemon Center Campaign] Rage of the Broken Sky campaign starts

12.12

[Pokemon Center] Monthly Pikachu – January
[Pokemon Center] Large Sleeping Plush (Bulbasaur, Ditto, Mudkip, Pikachu)
[Pokemon Center] Pikachu Mega Campaign
[Pokemon Center] Pikachu #025
[Ichiban Kuji] Pikachu and Friends: Japanese Modern Art

12.18

[Merchandise] Sepia Graffiti additions
[Collaboration] Its’Demo x Pokemon Part 3

12.19

[Pokemon Center] Block Style Art Promotion
[Pokemon Center] Ash’s Greninja Promotion

12.23

[Banpresto] Pokemon XY & Z Air Plush – Pikachu
[Banpresto] Pokemon XY & Z Air Plush – Pokeball
[Banpresto] Rolly-Polly (Korotto Manmaru) Plush: Partners Edition (Ash’s Greninja, Dedenne, Pancham, Pikachu, Zygarde Core)

12.26

[Pokemon Center] Steven Stone Promotion
[Pokemon Center Exclusive Plush] Ash’s Greninja, Zygarde 10%
[Pokemon Center] Metal Charms (Ash’s Greninja, Zygarde Core, Zygarde 10%, Zygarde Perfect Forme)
[Merchandise] Talky Pikachu Plush
[TCG Card Sleeves] (Premium + Pokemon Center Exclusive) Hypno
[TCG] Battle Sets: Grass/Fighting, Fire/Electric, Water/Psychic
[MonColle] Ash’s Greninja, Zygarde Special Pack, Zygarde 10% Forme, Pokemon World Map
[Takara Tomy] Zygarde Core Plush
[Pokemon Game] Pre-orders start for Pokemon 2DS Bundle

12.28

[Pokemon Merchandise] Fuzzy Dedenne, Fuzzy Eevee (Mascot Size), Fuzzy Pikachu Female (Mascot Size), Fuzzy Pikachu Male (Mascot Size)