The Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG) is entering a new production era. According to PokeBeach, Millennium Print Group has signed a major manufacturing lease for 2025, occupying a 1.27 million square foot campus in Morrisville, North Carolina. This move aims to centralize and expand the printing of Pokémon cards for the North American market.
Key Takeaways: Who This Impacts
- Collectors: Fans can expect more consistent product availability at big box retailers. This expansion is designed to prevent the “empty shelf” era seen between 2020 and 2022.
- Players: Better supply typically leads to more accessible prices for modern sets. As production scales up, the barrier to entry for building competitive decks should remain lower.
- The Secondary Market: With full scale operations aiming for billions of cards per year, modern sets will likely remain highly available. This could discourage extreme scalping since scarcity will be harder to manufacture.
- Local Community: The move brings a significant number of manufacturing jobs to the Morrisville and Durham area in North Carolina, solidifying the region as the heart of Pokémon TCG production.
This expansion is the physical result of a plan that began years ago. In April 2022, The Pokémon Company International (TPCi) officially acquired Millennium Print Group, which had been its primary printing partner since 2015. At the time of the acquisition, TPCi stated its goal was to scale the printer’s infrastructure and capabilities to meet the unprecedented global demand for the hobby. By securing this new campus, the company is finally moving from existing smaller facilities into a dedicated hub that spans three buildings.
When Will We See More Cards?
While this news is thrilling for fans who have experienced product shortages in the past, immediate effects on store shelves will not be seen right away. The project includes both utilizing existing space and constructing new facilities. The company intends to renovate about 400,000 square feet of current buildings starting in 2026. However, the majority of the expansion will come from a new facility covering 866,000 square feet, which is not expected to be completed until 2027. Full-scale operations at this new site are projected to commence in late 2028.
What This Means for the Hobby
The scale of this move shows that The Pokémon Company views the current high demand as a permanent shift rather than a temporary fad. In 2023, the company printed approximately 11.9 billion cards, which is a massive increase compared to the roughly 2 billion cards printed annually before 2019. This new facility will allow them to maintain these high numbers with better efficiency and oversight.
The move into the Spark LS campus represents a transformative milestone for the hobby. It ensures that the infrastructure exists to keep the game growing for the next decade.
Sources:
- PokeBeach: “Pokemon’s Millennium Print Group Signs Largest U.S. Manufacturing Lease of 2025“
- Business North Carolina: “Morrisville campus nabs nearly 1.3M square feet lease“
- Hypebeast: “The Pokémon Company has acquired its trading card game manufacturer“
