Fans of nerd culture are no doubt aware of the ubiquitous Pokemon franchise. It's a multimedia franchise that has spawned video games, anime, untold amounts of merchandise, and a wildly popular trading card game that is still being supported to this day. Whether through Pokemon Go or are just by Logan Paul's latest publicity stunt, the card game's popularity cannot be overstated. Now The Pokemon Company is in the process of outright buying Millennium Print Group, the North Carolina-based company behind the manufacturing and printing of the card game since 2015, with the intention of improving the quality of their game going forward.
While the official press release (via Pokebeach) is light on details, it's more of a declaration of intent behind the purchase itself. Quoting Pokemon Company International's President Kenji Okubo, "by joining forces in a more meaningful way, our goal is to enhance the ways our organizations work together and continue to bring the highest quality Pokémon TCG products to market. Simultaneously, we aim to develop Millennium into an even better, bigger, state-of-the-art version of their already exceptional organization, benefitting not just Pokémon, but all of their customers."
As for Millennium Print Group's thoughts on the purchase, CEO Terry Pegram was optimistic. "This exciting new chapter for Millennium Print Group has tremendous beneficial impact for both our business and its employees. We look forward to continuing to support our team members and customers while growing Millennium to be a premier printer for trading cards in the world.”
Given both Millennium Print Group and Pokemon Company International's history, the report of a purchase was not unexpected. A particular area of note is that while this purchase will allow for a closer relationship and potentially a more refined production pipeline, the focus won't be just on the Pokemon TCG but other products as well. With this in mind, it seems this won't make a major difference for consumers aside from more of what they already have come to enjoy from these manufacturers.
