Pokemon TCG collectors are raising alarms over the Japanese Abyss Eye set after reports emerged that booster packs can reveal their contents before being opened, a practice the community calls "pack searching" that has long been a sore spot for collectors and resellers alike.
Abyss Eye booster packs
The issue surfaced shortly after Abyss Eye dropped in Japan on May 22nd, with fans posting secret rare cards to social media almost immediately. The set features highly sought-after pulls including Mega Darkrai ex, Mega Zeraora ex, and Mega Chandelure ex, along with a connected art pairing between Silvally (#093) and Gladion's Fighting Spirit (#116) that collectors have been buzzing about since the set was announced.
What pack searching actually means for buyers
Pack searching refers to physically feeling, weighing, or otherwise inspecting sealed booster packs to identify which ones contain rare cards before purchasing. When it works, it lets bad-faith buyers cherry-pick the best packs from retail displays and leave behind the duds, which other customers then unknowingly buy.
The concern with Abyss Eye is that the pack structure may make this easier than usual. Collectors on social media and forums have noted that certain high-rarity cards appear to create detectable differences in pack feel or weight, though the specifics vary across reports. This is not a new problem in Pokemon TCG history, but each set that surfaces the issue reignites the debate about how The Pokemon Company handles pack manufacturing quality control.
If you are buying Abyss Eye packs from retail displays, purchasing sealed booster boxes rather than loose packs is the safest way to guarantee an untampered product.
The secret rares driving demand
The timing matters here. Abyss Eye is a high-demand set. The full secret rare lineup runs from #082 through #118, covering everything from standard illustration rares like Fomantis and Primarina to the big chase cards. Mega Darkrai ex (#118) in particular has drawn enormous praise from the community, with artists like Akira Egawa drawing repeated shoutouts on the PokeBeach forums for delivering what collectors are calling some of the best artwork in recent memory.
When chase cards are this desirable, the incentive to pack search goes up proportionally. A Mega Darkrai ex special illustration rare or a Gladion's Fighting Spirit trainer SAR would fetch significant money on the secondary market, which is exactly why collectors are worried about loose packs being picked over before they reach buyers.
Mega Darkrai ex SIR art
English release and what it means for Pitch Black buyers
For players and collectors outside Japan, the clock is ticking. All Abyss Eye cards will appear in the English Pitch Black set, currently scheduled for release on July 17th. That gives the community roughly seven weeks to watch how the pack searching situation develops in Japan and pressure retailers or The Pokemon Company to address any manufacturing issues before English product hits shelves.
The broader Pitch Black lineup looks strong on paper. The Mega Evolution era continues to drive collector interest, and sets featuring Mega Darkrai ex as the flagship card tend to move fast at launch. If pack integrity issues follow the set into its English printing, expect the conversation to get significantly louder.
Japan's TCG schedule also has Storm Emeralda (featuring Mega Rayquaza ex) and a 30th Anniversary celebration set both arriving later this year, so the stakes for maintaining collector trust are high across the board.
The resale concern collectors can not ignore
Here's the thing: pack searching does not just hurt individual buyers. It distorts the secondary market. When searched packs flood resale platforms, buyers paying for "fresh" product end up with statistically worse odds, and the perception that a set has been heavily searched can suppress demand even for legitimate sealed product.
For a set with as much hype as Abyss Eye, that would be a real problem. The community has been vocal about wanting accountability, and some collectors are already recommending that buyers stick to trusted retailers or sealed case purchases rather than grabbing loose packs from open displays.
If you want to stay across everything happening in the Pokemon TCG space and similar card games, the gaming guides hub is a solid resource to bookmark. For a look at how digital card games are handling similar collector mechanics, Kaiju Cards offers an interesting comparison point, and the Kaiju Cards review breaks down how its pack system stacks up in practice.
