As new card games go, Lorcana has some of the most interest we’ve ever seen well before release. Many of us are eager to pre-order Lorcana cards in advance to open on day one. So how and where can we do that?
Lorcana was released on August 18th in Local Game Stores first, giving local game shops a head start on bigger stores. Booster packs, booster boxes, starter decks, the Gift Set, and the Illumineer’s Trove were all available from that day.
Then two weeks later on September 1st, it was available from large retailers. Amazon, shopDisney, select Disney stores, Target, Walmart, Best Buy, GameStop, Barnes & Noble, FYE, and Hot Topic sell Lorcana in the USA.
These big stores generally only get certain products. Big box stores tend to mainly have starter decks, gift sets, and individually-sleeved packs. They do sometimes get a few full booster boxes.
This means Local Game Stores will have everything first, bringing people into the places where the competitive play will take place. This is a really good thing for the game to promote playing and not just collecting.
Can You Pre-Order Lorcana?
Yes, pre-orders were available in all of the countries that will sell Lorcana – That includes the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.
Read the full article
Can I Buy Lorcana In My Country? What Languages Will Lorcana Be In?
However, stock has been very limited. Many stores got just a handful of boxes to sell even when they’d ordered hundreds. Lorcana was basically sold out for most places on pre-order, and it’s probably going to be hard to buy stock for a few sets.
There are commonly limits on the amount each individual can buy and stores have been strongly encouraged to only sell in person. This limits people buying up bulk amounts from lots of different places to resell.
Pre-orders on eBay had popped up at inflated prices. We’d urge caution if you’re thinking of buying on eBay. If you can, wait until you can buy in person at MSRP.
Have Pre-Orders Already Opened?
Yes, as we closer to release on August 18th – most local game stores have now opened up their pre-orders. Some big box stores also have pre-orders up. Best Buy seems to have opened their pre-orders but has already sold out.
Unfortunately, the allocations for what many stores will be given versus what they ordered has been quite bad. That has left some stores having to cancel pre-orders. Some stores are also selling Lorcana products at much higher than MSRP.
Disney and Ravensburger seemed keen to avoid this, so had told stores that they shouldn’t do pre-orders at all, or limit them to much less than what was ordered.
Pre-Orders Only From August 1st?
We had heard that Ravensburger had told stores in some European countries that pre-orders should not be made available until August 1st. Ravensburger is distributing product directly to some countries in Europe and therefore has more control over stock and stores than other third-party distributors.
They’d also said that stores they find selling before then may be sanctioned and not have their distribution pre-orders fulfilled. Some card games try to put these types of restrictions in, but they rarely enforce them. It seems like Ravensburger might be a bit firmer on this.
How To Pre-Order Safely
Go to your local game store and talk to the people that work there. Ask if they’ll be getting Lorcana in and see if they have a pre-order list where you can reserve cards to buy on the day. The earlier the better.
If they don’t seem friendly, are selling way more than MSRP, or don’t seem to have a local player base – you might want to avoid them. Make friends with your FLGS (friendly local game store) and support them!
Once you’ve found a good store with a friendly vibe, you’ll have a hangout for casual games, and a place you can trust for all types of nerdy fun.
Will Lorcana Sell Out?
Unfortunately for us all signs point to the first release being quite hard to get. One large US distributor warned: “Allocations WILL Occur“. “Allocations” in game store language means getting allocated less than ordered.
Another distributor writes: “We advise waiting for confirmation of quantities from your account manager before pre-selling. Any retailer conducting pre-sales will be doing so at their responsibility of supply and expense“.
It turns out the allocations for Lorcana have been very sharp – meaning lots of stores are getting much less than they expected. It will likely be a tough few months, but there are extra waves of product expected later.
Read our full, in-depth article explaining Why Is Lorcana Sold Out?
In general, many new card games struggle a lot fulfilling orders on their first one or two releases, then things get easier as demand is accounted for. There are some good signs, and Lorcana have even responded to worries on Twitter with comments like: “We have increased production and will continue to do our best!” and “We’ll do our best! We have already increased production to support Disney Lorcana: The First Chapter“.
As a result, we think that it will be quite hard to get pre-orders at all, let alone close to release. Then in the first few weeks it will be very hard to get anything unless local stores ration how much individuals can buy.
We’ll likely then see a second and possibly third wave of stock coming in over the next couple of months approaching the second set release – the date of which was just announced.
