>>55264489TPC (and Nintendo) have always love the artificial scarcity of their products. If they didn't want this to happen to Van Gogh Pikachu they would've printed tons of these and kept putting them on the Pokemon Center website to meet demand. Of course they didn't do that, and they probably never will. This scarcity is what controls the brand. If the general audience thinks Pokemon cards are easy to get and there's enough for everyone, then the value will go down, which means less pack ripping.
You're right, it's LITERALLY printing money. I remember the amiibo fiasco where the Robin/Lucina/Ness amiibo were 2 per store AFTER Nintendo was already made well aware of the demand of these things and the huge lack of supply. As a kid I remember the launch of 1st edition packs and how each store would have to push some kids away, and I have a memory of having to leave a prerelease without any 1st Ed Neo Discovery packs, which sucked for me because my little kid brain was autistically obsessed with Smeargle. Either way they know what they're doing and have known for a long time, and I can only hope they'll stop making these controversies happen.
