A Look at Pokemon Stage 2 Premium Checklane Blisters

The Pokémon Company is trying something different with the release of Rebel Clash. In addition to established two-card evolution blister packs, Rebel Clash marks the return of three-card premium checklane blisters. Buyers of this product will be able to add a complete Basic, Stage 1, and Stage 2 evolution line to their Pokémon trading card collection or their competitive decks.

Stage 1 blisters have been exclusive to Target stores since the release of the Team Up expansion last year. It appears that the Stage 2 blisters will only be sold at Wal-Mart, which is where I found the Galarian Obstagoon blisters featured in the photo at the top of this post. Also available is a blister featuring a complete line of Gastly, Haunter, and Gengar. Both the Obstagoon and Gengar lines first appeared in February's Sword & Shield base set, with Obstagoon and Gengar themselves being printed as rare holographic cards.

In addition to the Galarian Zigzagoon, Linoone, and Obstagoon cards, the blister includes a booster pack from the latest Pokémon Trading Card Game expansion, a code card to unlock the rare holo Stage 2 card in the Pokémon Trading Card Game Online, and a coin to be used while playing the game.

In a surprise change from premium checklane blisters released during the Sun & Moon era, the highest stage evolution cards retain their in-set holofoil treatment, making them no different from versions found in booster packs.

Running the numbers for the value you get from a Stage 2 premium checklane blister gives an iffy picture at best. These things sell for $6.99 apiece. A Stage 1 premium blister costing $4.99 contains everything else in the Stage 2 blister minus the middle stage evolution card. Two extra dollars for one uncommon card? I think not.

Value-wise, the Stage 1 premium checklane blisters are a much better deal, selling for the same price as a standard single card blister. Blister packs in general serve mainly as a way for young collectors to easily obtain holographic cards of popular Pokémon to add to their collection. That being said, Galarian Obstagoon is seeing some dominance in competitive play right now; but you can most likely purchase enough Zigzagoon, Linoone, and Obstagoon cards secondhand to make a full playset for the price of one of these blisters.

These new Stage 2 premium checklane blisters don't make a whole lot of sense for competitive players. But if you're just a casual collector looking to add a full line of Pokémon to your binder, they may be worth a look.

Nissan Will Drastically Cut Global Lineup

On May 28, Nissan announced that it will cut its global lineup of cars, trucks, and SUVs by 20 percent. The cuts will trim Nissan's fleet from 69 vehicles to just 55. The announcement comes amid the Japanese company's first annual loss in 11 years.

However, Nissan also released a video on its YouTube channel that teases 12 new vehicles to look forward to in the coming years. The video begins with silhouettes of cars driving by the first letter of their name. In alphabetical order, we can surmise that the letters correspond to Ariya, Armada, Frontier, Kicks, Micra, Navara, Note, Pathfinder, Qashqai, Rogue, Terra, and Z.

Yes, you read that correctly. Nissan is going to be bringing a new generation Z sports car as a replacement for the 370Z that has been sold here since 2009. No specifications are known at this time, but it seems like the new car will hew closely to the styling of the 370Z while adding some throwback elements from the original Datsun 240Z.

The video then fades to a wide shot with all 12 vehicles driving side by side. The vehicles drive toward and eventually pass by the camera. Finally, vehicle names flash one after the other on screen: Ariya, Armada, Frontier, Kicks, Navara, Note, Pathfinder, Qashqai, Rogue, Terra, X-Trail, Z.

Curiously, there is no mention of the Micra. It's place in the list has been taken up by the X-Trail, which is what our Rogue is known as in the rest of the world. Please keep in mind I'm only guessing that the M car is the Micra. It is definitely smaller than the Rogue, which means it can't be a Murano. Yet it appears to ride quite a bit higher than the Note. There are no other vehicles with names that begin with M in Nissan's lineup. The car to the left of the mysterious M car is definitely the Kicks, and the truck to the right of it is definitely the Navara.

What do you readers think? Did Nissan make a mistake, and this car is actually a reimagined X-Trail? Or could the next generation Micra transform into a crossover?

The other question this video raises is what is going to happen to Nissan's US lineup. The video shows plenty of crossovers and trucks, but no other cars aside from the Note (which isn't sold here) and the Z. Based on the video, the Armada, Frontier, Kicks, Pathfinder, Rogue Sport (i.e. Qashqai), and Rogue are safe. That leaves, the Titan pickup, the two NV vans, the GT-R, the Leaf, and Nissan's entire sedan range.

Let's start with the sedans. The Versa is a prime candidate for the chopping block. It sells mainly on its low base price, and even then less than 67,000 found homes in 2019. As Nissan strives to reinvent itself into a profitable company, low volume, low margin cars like the Versa don't have much chance. The Sentra and the Altima are in better shape. Nissan sold 184,618 Sentras and 209,183 Altimas last year. As for the Maxima, only 35,076 left dealer lots. Pricing on the Altima ends where the Maxima begins, and there isn't much equipment on the Maxima aside from a V-6 that you can't get on an Altima. Nissan would be wise to prune the high and low ends of its sedan line to focus on the strong selling middle ground.

Nissan brought this GT-R to the 2019 Boston Auto Show.

Next we have specialty cars like the Leaf and the GT-R. The upcoming all-electric Ariya crossover pretty much spells the end of the slow-selling Leaf. Nissan remains committed to electric vehicles, and clearly hopes that more people will be attracted to the added practicality offered by the Ariya.

The GT-R should probably be dead by now. Everything that made it such a gamechanger back in 2009 has since been surpassed by other more modern sports cars. Then there's the price. At $80,000, the GT-R was a decent value in 2009. Fast forward to 2020, and Nissan is asking $113,000 for base GT-Rs. If a GT-R NISMO fancies you, prepare to cough up more than $200K for one. Nissan has made no indication when or if it will produce a new GT-R. A company wide restructuring provides the perfect opportunity for Godzilla to make a graceful exit.

The Nissan NV 1500 is a beast. Here I am sitting in one

at the 2011 Boston Auto Show.

The Nissan Titan and NV commercial vans are probably safe. Sales of the Titan have been decent in recent years thanks to a long overdue redesign in 2016. The small NV200 van is a worldwide product and thus likely to survive for a few more years. The larger NV comes in 1500, 2500, and 3500 configurations and is built on the same platform as the Titan. If the Titan survives, it seems likely that the NV will, too.

Now I'd like to hear your thoughts. What Nissan models do you think are most at risk? Where would you like the company to focus its efforts in the future? Feel free to let me know in the comments.