Published June 17, 2026
While covering the J&J All-Star Card Show in Louisville, I met a man named Marcelo who works behind the scenes in a part of the card business most collectors rarely see.
Marcelo helps card shops, breakers, live sellers, and other businesses find inventory, with most of his work centered on Pokémon. We started by talking about the show, but the conversation quickly moved toward product availability, Pokémon’s expanding printing capacity, and the challenges facing independent card shops.
I spend plenty of time looking at the cards and sealed products inside dealer showcases. Marcelo focuses on how those products reach sellers in the first place.
More Pokémon Cards Are Coming
One of the first topics Marcelo brought up was the expansion of Millennium Print Group, the North Carolina company that prints Pokémon cards and other trading card products.
The Pokémon Company International acquired Millennium Print Group in 2022 with plans to expand its capabilities, infrastructure and scale. More recently, Millennium confirmed a long-term lease for a major manufacturing campus in Morrisville, North Carolina.
The project covers more than 1.27 million square feet, including over 400,000 square feet of existing space and an additional 866,000-square-foot manufacturing building planned for the property.
The expansion will not change Pokémon card availability overnight. Existing buildings must be converted, while construction on the new manufacturing space is expected to continue into 2027. Still, the project represents a significant long-term increase in North American trading card production.
Marcelo said some collectors are already worried about what that additional capacity could mean. More printing often creates concerns about oversupply, especially among people who collect sealed products or consider scarcity an important part of long-term value.
He sees the expansion differently.
“Some collectors are worried that the new facility will lead to oversupply. I see it as Pokémon adding the capacity it needs to keep up with demand and improve card quality.”
Whether the added production eventually creates an oversupply will depend on whether the number of products entering the market surpasses what collectors, players, and sellers are willing to buy.
Pokémon has already been producing cards at a remarkable pace. The company reported that total Pokémon TCG production had passed 85 billion cards as of the end of March 2026, an increase of approximately 10 billion cards from the previous year.
Despite that enormous output, popular products can still be difficult for stores and collectors to secure in meaningful quantities. That helps explain why Marcelo views the expansion as an attempt to catch up with demand rather than an immediate warning sign.
The Pressure on Small Card Shops
Marcelo expressed more concern about the future of independent brick-and-mortar card shops.
He pointed to the number of major retailers carrying Pokémon products, including Target, Best Buy, GameStop, and Dick’s Sporting Goods. These companies operate on a scale that most family-owned card shops cannot match.
Large retailers have national distribution networks, greater purchasing power, and more room to operate on smaller margins. Local shops must cover rent, payroll, insurance, and other expenses while competing for many of the same products.
That challenge affected Marcelo’s own plans. He had considered opening a card shop but decided to pause the idea after looking at the difficulty smaller stores face when trying to secure inventory consistently.
“I considered opening my own shop, but sourcing inventory is always going to be difficult for smaller stores. With larger retailers entering the market, I decided to pause that plan and focus on helping other sellers find products.”
Rather than take on the overhead of a storefront, Marcelo now helps existing stores, breakers, and live sellers source the inventory they need.
Independent card shops still offer plenty that big-box retailers cannot. They host tournaments, trade nights, and community events. They buy collections, sell singles, assist with grading submissions, and develop long-term relationships with collectors.
However, those stores still need desirable products on their shelves. Even a well-run shop may struggle to bring customers through the door if it cannot consistently secure popular releases.
Marcelo was not suggesting that independent card shops will disappear. His concern is that access to inventory may play a major role in determining which stores can remain competitive.
Marcelo Remains Bullish on Pokémon
Despite the challenges facing smaller businesses, Marcelo remains optimistic about the overall Pokémon market.
“I believe the Pokémon market is stronger than ever. Demand and interest continue to grow, and I do not see that changing anytime soon.”
His outlook comes from working with businesses that regularly need more inventory, including card shops, breakers, and sellers operating on live-shopping platforms.
Each part of the market creates a different kind of demand. Collectors want sealed products and individual cards. Players need cards for their decks. Breakers require a steady flow of boxes to maintain their schedules, while live sellers need enough inventory to keep their audiences engaged.
All of them are competing for products moving through the same supply chain.
That does not mean the market is without risk. Increased production could eventually place pressure on sealed product prices. National retailers could make it harder for independent shops to compete on new releases, and demand from breakers or live sellers could change as buying habits evolve.
Still, Marcelo’s work gives him a direct view of how difficult it remains for businesses to secure enough Pokémon inventory.
A Different View of the Card Market
Most conversations at card shows center on recent comps, grading, trades, or the cards sitting inside a dealer’s showcase. My conversation with Marcelo offered a different view of the business.
Every booster box at a card shop, pack opened during a livestream, and case used in a break had to move through a supply chain before reaching the collector.
Marcelo views Pokémon’s new manufacturing capacity as an opportunity to improve availability and meet demand. At the same time, he questions whether smaller stores will be able to secure enough desirable inventory while competing with national retailers.
Whether his outlook proves correct will take time. The effect of Millennium Print Group’s expansion will depend on how much Pokémon production increases and whether collector demand continues to grow alongside it.
The next several years should also reveal how independent shops adapt as larger retailers devote more attention to trading cards.
For now, Marcelo continues working in the middle of that changing market, helping stores and sellers find the products their customers want.
It was an unexpected conversation during a Saturday card show in Louisville, but it changed the way I looked at the cards and sealed products moving around the room.