First Partner Illustration Collection — Series 2
Called 16 June 2026 · #pokemon-alerts · Resell Vault Drops
- In · retail
- £14.99–18
- Out · eBay UK solds
- £40–45
- Net · per unit
- +£23–28
- ROI · at the low end
- 135%+
Why we called it
The First Partner series is Pokémon's 30th-anniversary promo line — cheap, nostalgic, and reliably 2–3x at resale. Series 2 dropped on a Friday; by the Tuesday before, members had allocation intel most store managers didn't have.
The briefing was granular: Menkind branches holding ~100 boxes each, an Entertainer branch with 48 in the back and another delivery due, Waterstones at ~30, Sports Direct with barely 10 despite the biggest queues. The route wrote itself — skip the queue theatre, collect the volume quietly, and be done by mid-morning. The follow-up review called it plainly: the in-store cook was a huge success across the board.
The edge
What members knew before everyone else worked it out.
- Verified per-branch stock counts, sourced from delivery sheets and member calls.
- A route built on expected value: Waterstones → Entertainer → Menkind, avoiding the low-stock queue traps.
- EU pre-order angle included via a Dutch retailer for reshippers, days before UK release.
- £17 in, £40–45 out — multiplied across the ~100-box allocations members were pointed at.
How it played out
- 16 Jun
The briefing
Three days out: retailer strategy, phone-ahead scripts, and early allocation estimates.
- 18 Jun
Final counts
Branch-level numbers land — 100 at Menkind, 48+ at Entertainer, 10 at Sports Direct. The route is finalised.
- 19 Jun
Drop morning
Members run the route from opening. The review the following week confirms the cook succeeded across the board.
The takeaway
Everyone knew the release date; members knew the stock counts. On a £17 product, that difference — 100-box branches versus 10-box branches — was the entire trade.
You missed this one
The next call is already being written
Every flip on this page was pinged to members before it happened — with retail, resell and risk attached. Pro membership includes every drop alert, in-store stock checkers and the weekly calendar.
Join Pro — catch the next one
