Pokémon’s latest card set has landed. Is it already doomed from the start?
Underhyped
It is no surprise that Shrouded Fable isn’t as hyped up compared to other sets that have come out in the Scarlet and Violet era. As a matter of fact, with preorders reaching a record low, many a collector have already looked past it even before its release to the more hyped-up “Stellar Crown” set.
Undersized
The set is small, that’s for sure. It is considered likely a specialty set in the Scarlet and Violet series, featuring only 64 base set cards and 35 secret rares. In comparison, Twilight Masquerade had 167 base set cards alone.
Historically speaking, these small card sets have done relatively well – if we’re talking way older. Think Generations or even Southern Islands – they have held up their values.
However, even if we take more “modern” small sets (Dragon Majesty, Pokémon Go), they haven’t held up their value as well. The cards scale relatively lower compared to other larger sets.
Unfortunately, I do see Shrouded Fable to follow in suit of the modern small sets. I believe it will do even worse, for various reasons explained further down. It will likely sit on shelves for a while when everyone has moved onto Stellar Crown. This is unfortunate, as there are some relatively unique chase cards given its dark theme.
Delayed
As with other specialty sets such as Paldean Fates, there will be no booster box released for this set. Rather, only the Elite Trainer Boxes will be released along with an assortment of other collection boxes. However, the ETB has been delayed from the Pokémon Company, releasing on August 23rd, in comparison to the proposed date of August 2nd.
This is the cause of the massive downfall of the interest in Shrouded Fable. In these sets without booster boxes, ETBs are the bread-and-butter, the ones that feature exclusive cards and box designs. With so many local shops getting cancelled preorders from the delay, this hurts the local businesses as well. And why would so many people cancel their preorders?
Well, if people were to receive their Trainer Boxes on August 23rd, Stellar Crown is just around the corner with a planned release date of September 13th (Friday the 13th lol)! With a little over 2 weeks before a more theme-friendly, popular set comes out, this delay is easily causing people to look beyond this set release.
Weird Theme
Take a look at some of the chase cards from Shrouded Fable.
Aesthetically pleasing? Maybe.
Clean? Maybe.
Appealing to everyone, especially kids? Yeah, probably not.
One thing is for sure though. Similar to “The Shining,” this set will find a niche group of fans that go crazy for this type of stuff. This isn’t good or bad, but rather food for thought.
And considering the majority of the card market relies on social media and influencers hyping up specific cards, there seems to be few YouTubers singing its praises.
On the other hand, look at Stellar Crown’s cards. This aligns more traditionally with the glittering gold and rainbow unicorns of Pokémon cards.
Here are two cards from the Japanese Stella Miracle.
Big difference from Shrouded Fable? Yeah, I’d agree with that too. But, this doesn’t mean anything good or bad.
Conclusion and Investment Tips
What does this say about the future of Shrouded Fable having a place in the Scarlet and Violet series? Well, we don’t know for sure. It may not be dead on arrival, as many PokéTubers are still opening them and completing relatively easy master sets. However, its initial progress has been severely affected by its rocky start.
Should you invest into Shrouded Fable?
My prediction is: there will always be a crowd for Shrouded Fable, but it won’t be big.
As a matter of fact, the new Greninja and Kingdra promo boxes feature one of, if not, the most beautiful and decorated promo cards in the Scarlet and Violet era.
Cardsiege’s Conclusion: Invest in singles when prices dip (a month or so after Stellar Crown releases), buy Greninja/Kingdra. promo box.