The "Big Five" TCG market plotline continued into the end of 2023 (see "Big Four or Five") where Disney Lorcana and One Piece CG have really turned on the afterburners. Starting with Disney Lorcana, sales of booster boxes really blasted off in December 2023 as product supply increased finally hit the market (see "'Disney Lorcana' Plans"). Booster box prices returned to Earth as more and more product shipped to retail, but TCG fans took advantage of the lower prices by scooping up some of the newly printed boxes.
In general, this is an excellent development for Disney Lorcana as now fans have reasonably-priced access to product and can pick up the cards they need to play. One of the previously mentioned issues with the game (see "Pivotal Point in Early TCG Lifecycle") was that the product was underprinted relative to demand, and the inflated secondary market product prices were creating a barrier to entry for new players. The newly printed supplies of First Chapter and Rise of the Floodborn should work their way through the market over the next several months, and help retailers boost their in-store organized play.
Standard needs to become "a thing" again at the in-store play level; everyone knows it, even WotC (see "Revitalizing 'Magic: The Gathering's' Standard Format"). A healthy Standard format sells new sets, and it is a rotating format, so players will need to pick new cards for their decks as the format evolves. The biggest roadblock to Standard becoming popular at stores again is MTG Arena because it is easier and cheaper for players to play digitally than buying cards to play IRL. This is sort of a "rock and a hard place" issue for WotC as they can't really pull the plug on Standard on MTG Arena just to force players back into stores without losing some revenue. WotC is going to have to get creative with answers to this issue (and soon) if they want to boost the sales of Standard sets and return Magic to a leadership position in the TCG market.
