Disney Lorcana's Collector Boosters Will Make Or Break The TCG
Two weeks ago, I broke the news that Collector Boosters will soon be arriving in Disney Lorcana. A product image appeared online before being quickly taken down, but after reaching out to Ravensburger, it confirmed that the product was real and that more information would be coming this Summer.
Reactions to this news were about as polarizing as I expected, with players in the comments on a Reddit post about the story covering an emotional range that ran from “not bothered” to “this is the end of Lorcana.”
The reality is that this is a huge watershed moment for the TCG, and one that will either take it to the next level and on par with the likes of Pokémon and Magic: The Gathering in terms of collectibility, or see its fan base run for the hills in disgust with what their beloved card game has become.
Disney Lorcana Is Heading Into The Unknown
The biggest problem right now regarding the introduction of Collector Boosters in Disney Lorcana is that we simply don’t know what this product entails. Lorcana is already highly collectible, and that’s without an excess of card variants or serialized chases.
Odds of serialized cards coming to Disney Lorcana are low, for the same reason that they don’t appear in any of the Magic: The Gathering Marvel sets. Topps currently holds the license and already produces serialized Disney cards, and exclusivity may be an issue. Ravensburger has released some serialized Lorcana cards as promo offerings through it's competitive events, but these have not been for sale in packs, which may be a loophole to get around the Topps licensing.
Let's say serialized cards aren’t even in the discussion; what is left for Disney Lorcana’s Collector Boosters to bring to the table? Waves of additional variants, pack-exclusive cards, and better odds of hitting rarer cards are the likely answer. Oh, and an exacerbation of supply issues and scalping, of course.
Unlike many other TCGs, Lorcana sticks to a slim product lineup, which is a huge positive in most cases, until availability becomes an issue.
However, until it is 100 percent confirmed what a Collector Booster truly is in Lorcana, the rampant speculation and prophesying of doom is entirely moot. The biggest worry for players right now should be that there are potentially months of dead air ahead, with nothing said, and the community is left to worry itself silly over something that could end up being a net positive for the game.
How Collector Boosters Can Help Disney Lorcana
I want to start by looking at how the Collector Booster product can help everyday Lorcana players and collectors. The Lorcana sealed market is currently struggling, just like any other high-level TCG.
Packs, Troves, and Booster Boxes are impossible to find for new and old sets alike, which in turn rapidly forces the singles market to mark up prices. In short, it’s getting expensive to collect Lorcana cards and play the game.
The introduction of a high-end product like the Collector Booster could ease the strain on the supply of base products, as those who are in it only as an investment will shift their attention away from packs with the lowest likelihood of pulling expensive cards.
Assuming that Collector Boosters will work as they do in Magic: The Gathering and will only be sold in a single printing run, scalpers will be too busy fighting over the limited stock to concern themselves with anything else. While the MTG market is far from perfect, the constant clamoring over Collector Boosters due to their limited nature typically means regular Play Boosters are much easier to come by, and the singles market is relatively stable, as the volatility is limited to variants found only within said Collector Boosters.
Then, when the hype dies down a few weeks or months later, the singles market becomes much more reasonable, so the longer you’re willing to wait, the better it gets. It’s all speculative and dependent on Collector Boosters being similar to the MTG product, but there is absolutely a future where this new launch eases the strain on supply and makes Lorcana easier to access.
What Is The Worst Case Scenario?
On the other side of the coin, however, is a reality in which this product compounds the issues Lorcana is already facing. A doubling down on scalping and hoarding will crush existing players who just want to collect and play the game. This could then lead to a mass exodus, and whatever community remains is just using the game as a means to flip products for profit.
It’s clear, based on the responses to my initial story of Collector Boosters being real, that some players out there use Disney Lorcana as a bonding experience with their children. This is because it’s one of the simplest TCGs to play without being dumbed down or boring, and the characters are so well-known to a younger audience that it's easy for them to relate to, and nostalgic for parents to boot. So the current trend of Lorcana following Pokémon and MTG and being more about value is somewhat heartbreaking.
The addition of extra variants and pack-exclusive cards also alienates collectors who, until now, have found it relatively easy to complete base or master sets, if you exclude the Iconic headliners, which can sometimes reach obscene prices. I personally collect sets of MTG cards, and now have to pick and choose which subsets I actually want to collect because everything is split between Standard, Commander, bonus sheets, and whatever else Wizards of the Coast comes up with to increase the number of cards per launch.
Players shouldn’t be forced to make those compromises. Disney Lorcana is, at its core, a game that’s heavily catered to its players, but there’s a risk of this relationship being lost if Collector Boosters aren’t handled correctly.
The Future Still Looks Bright, For Now
The impending official reveal of Collector Boosters is a big moment for Disney Lorcana, and, deep down, I believe it will be handled with care and grace, with the community in mind rather than revenue.
It feels as though there is no world where this product is revealed and has no meaningful impact on the game, but I would love to be sitting here in a year or two's time talking about how Collector Boosters took Lorcana to the next level, and its fanbase is still the same awesome one that has been playing since The First Chapter, only bigger.
Ravensburger has built up more than enough goodwill over the last three years to experiment with the game in hopes of making it a better overall experience for collectors and players. However, if this doesn’t pan out as expected and the results of this launch risk having a long-lasting negative effect on the game, I only hope that Ravensburger is willing to continue talking to players and reach agreeable compromises for the greater good.
- Franchise
- Disney
- Original Release Date
- September 1, 2023
- Publisher
- Ravensburger
- Designer
- Ryan Miller, Steve Warner
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