Disney Lorcana details next steps as booster boxes soar 260% over original price

Disney Lorcana, the new collectible card game mixing classic animated films with Magic: The Gathering-style mechanics, has had a rocky launch. Convention mishaps aside, there’s simply not enough product to meet the incredible demand. This week, as the cost of booster pack boxes climbed past 260% of their original price again on at least one online marketplace, publisher Ravensburger said on X that help is on the way.

“The October booster pack restock will begin to roll out at local game stores in North American starting next week,” the company said in its public statement. It added that a full reprint of the launch set of cards, announced in September, is on target to ship by the middle of November.

The second set of cards for Disney Lorcana, titled Rise of the Floodborn, is also expected in November.

“We hope that this reprint quantity will make the game more readily available,” Ravensburger said. “Our goal is for fans to have no difficulty finding product to get started.”

Since launch, independent retailers near me have been rationing product, doling out just a handful of items for the fans who regularly show up to play in-store. In Chicagoland, for instance, most local game stores Polygon contacted are only offering one or two booster packs to each customer that attends their weekly organized casual-play events. Meanwhile, competitive events are few and far between as collectors and investors scoop up the best cards from booster packs. It’s also likely that a large portion of the initial product launch is still sitting in private hands unopened, being hoarded by speculators gambling on its future value.

In the same thread, Ravensburger also laid out its plans to jumpstart organized play in 2024.

“We want to announce that starting in Q2 2024, we will have both official fan events and an official competitive circuit,” the company said, adding that these events will be a way for fans “to share their love of Disney Lorcana even if they may not necessarily play the game.”

If you’re interested in trying out Disney Lorcana, the game’s starter decks are a good option. You’ll want to shop around, however. The decks, which launched with a roughly $17 price point, are currently going for nearly $40 online through retailers who sell via Amazon. Many consumers on social media report finding them for the launch price at retail — when they are in stock.

Disney Lorcana is far from the only card game dealing with a flurry of interest from regular consumers and investors alike. Cards for the Pokémon Trading Card Game have been going for record prices for years now, with big box retailers like Target going so far as to halt the sale of new cards during peak periods, citing safety concerns. Meanwhile, the hunt for Magic’s singular One Ring card saw Collector Booster boxes for The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth selling as high as $518. The card was eventually found and sold to rapper Post Malone for $2 million.

Update: Our original story included an incorrect link to a retailer. We have updated it for clarity.