The biggest industrial deal of the year in the USA
This is not an ordinary expansion of a production line. As industry reports confirm, Millennium Print Group (the TPCi subsidiary responsible for printing the cards) has signed the largest manufacturing lease in the United States for 2025.
The company will occupy the huge Spark campus in Morrisville (North Carolina), with a total area of 1.27 million square feet. To illustrate the scale of the project: that is about 118,000 square metres. We are talking about an area that could fit more than 160 mid-sized supermarkets! Millennium, acquired by Pokémon in 2022, runs printing in both the USA and the Netherlands, but the new investment is meant to become the brand's true, giant operational heart.
The plan involves adapting more than 400,000 square feet of existing buildings and, crucially, building a brand-new production hall of 866,000 square feet.
Before the new factory runs at full capacity, it is worth keeping an eye on the availability of the current bestsellers while they are still in shops:
Why did the system "get clogged"? The numbers don't lie
The decision to expand on such a scale is no accident. Throughout 2025, TPCi officially admitted that its printing plants were working at the limit of their capacity. The bottleneck became the physical impossibility of printing more sheets in the existing facilities.
Production statistics show an interesting dynamic:
From March 2022 to March 2023, a record 11.9 billion cards were printed.
A year later (2023 to 2024), that number fell to 10.2 billion.
However, this drop turned out to be misleading in light of what happened in autumn 2024. The launch of Pokémon TCG Pocket drew millions of new and returning players into the hobby. Demand for physical cards shot up at a moment when production capacity had already been reduced or was fully booked. The result? Shortages at distributors and rising prices on the secondary market.
When will we feel the difference? The 2027 outlook
Although the news of the new factory is encouraging, as players and collectors we need to be patient. According to the schedule, construction of the new facility in Morrisville will be completed only in 2027.
What does this mean for the market?
Short term: Over the next year or so, we may still see periodic stock shortages, especially around the releases of high-profile sets.
Long term: Once the new lines are up and running, card supply will rise dramatically. That is good news for tournament players (cheaper singles) and a warning for "sealed" investors who rely on products being hard to find.
Takeaways for buyers
TPCi's huge investment is a clear signal: the company has no intention of slowing down and wants to satisfy the market's growing appetite. Until the new machines start running, however, a sensible approach to buying is key.
During shortages, prices can vary drastically from shop to shop. Some retailers use the "hype" to push up their margins. So instead of overpaying on impulse, it pays to wait. History shows that every "availability crisis" is followed by a reprint, so patience translates into real savings.
Looking for premium products? Check out the current selection: