The most anticipated Pokémon TCG set in recent memory, the 30th Celebration set, drops on September 16, and considering the current state of the hobby, collectors are already bracing for disappointment.
However, there may be a small glimmer of hope for those wishing to see some Pokémon TCG stock on shelves next week, as it appears that The Pokémon Company has just cancelled thousands of botted 30th Celebration orders on the Pokémon Center website.
According to reports from multiple users across X and several Pokémon TCG-related subreddits, an unquantifiable number of 30th Celebration orders placed through the Pokémon Center were cancelled overnight.
While The Pokémon Company hasn’t released a statement or explanation for the sudden wave of cancellations, collectors believe that orders placed using bots are primarily being targeted. It’s a fair assumption, considering that Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa reassured shareholders in July that “The Pokémon Company will continue to take measures to respond to this issue.”
🚨Pokemon Center woke up and chose violence!
THOUSANDS of bot orders in a gigantic wave have just been cancelled of 30th Celebration preorders.
Keeping an eye out for another round to drop on Pokemon Center eventually! pic.twitter.com/UpJR18r2M9
— Poke Signals (@PokeSignals) September 7, 2026
That being said, multiple users who claim to have placed legitimate purchases through the Pokémon Center website have complained that their 30th Celebration orders have also been caught in the crossfire.
“I [sat in the] queue for hours on my phone and get detected as a bot? Why??” reads one post on the r/PokemonTCG subreddit. “I can’t beat the scalpers and botters. Why do I even care about Pokémon anymore. I buy shirts and stuff too. There no way it thought I was a bot.”
“Mine got canceled. I had one order,” stated another commenter. “I waited in the virtual line for hours. I was not, nor am, a bot. Seems like some people are just getting screwed.”
Some have theorized that the Pokémon Center website has tracked links for purchases that directed to the website from Pokémon TCG Discord alert servers, but others believe that the Pokémon Company has simply “oversold” its available stock.
Either way, it’s going to sting for legitimate collectors, as the only way to secure the Pokémon Center ETB promo cards (without paying scalpers) is to purchase said ETBs through the Pokémon Center website…and they’re already being listed on eBay for four times their recommended retail price.
