The promotion is over, but the hunt continues. Personal barter experience: how to exchange S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 cards with other stalkers
The real Exclusion Zone now begins behind the supermarket checkouts. The appearance of black packages with the STALKER 2 logo in ATB provoked a real fever among fans: stocks designed for two months evaporated in two weeks. Now, to collect a full almanac of 48 cards, stalkers have to bypass speculators in the "Wild Territory" of marketplaces, use fan PDA applications for trading and arrange blind dates.
We immersed ourselves in this community and learned why adult uncles are ready to do anything for card number 3 and learned their incredible hunting stories.
The real Exclusion Zone now begins behind the supermarket checkouts. The appearance of black packages with the STALKER 2 logo in ATB provoked a real fever among fans: stocks designed for two months evaporated in two weeks. Now, to collect a full almanac of 48 cards, stalkers have to bypass speculators in the "Wild Territory" of marketplaces, use fan PDA applications for trading and arrange blind dates.
We immersed ourselves in this community and learned why adult uncles are ready to do anything for card number 3 and learned their incredible hunting stories.
Officially, the promotion was supposed to last until June 9, but the hype was so serious that the entire circulation of cards, which is millions of copies, was sold out in just a record 15 days. The ATB supermarket chain officially confirmed the early termination of the collaboration with GSC Game World, as the stocks in the warehouses simply ran out under the pressure of "artifact hunters."
The first 20,000 interactive almanacs were sold out in the first few days, which forced the organizers to urgently print an additional 100,000 copies and introduce an online reservation system.
I am writing this article with a completed interactive album in my hands, and I feel like a true veteran of the Zone, because I was lucky enough not only to purchase the interactive almanac, but also to collect a complete collection of 48 unique cards thanks to exchanges with other collectors.
As of today, my personal "bribe" amounts to over 150 cards, along with 50 packets of instant porridge, and the path to this result was full of unexpected encounters, digital espionage, and even tactical trips to neighboring towns.
Best places to exchange
Stalker2ATB Checklist Service
For those who did not have time to fill their almanac before the "ejection", the main lifeline was the Stalker2ATB Checklist service , which our editorial team recognized as the most effective tool for survival in conditions of scarcity.
This is a real digital PDA, where each user can register, mark the available artifacts and instantly see what exactly they are missing for a complete set. The system works on the principle of intelligent matching: it automatically selects exchange options for you with other people in your area or city.
A recent update to the service added a critically important feature — the ability to choose specific meeting points, which usually duplicate the addresses of ATB stores, which greatly simplifies the logistics of the exchange. After publishing the ad, you leave your contacts on Telegram or Instagram, and, as practice shows, offers start coming in within the first few hours.
The developer of this service, Vladislav Tsvetkov, shared with dev.ua impressive statistics that confirm the scale of the "stalker" movement.
“The news from ATB about the early termination of the promotion provoked a real boom on the platform: the daily number of new exchange announcements instantly increased by 50%,” notes Vladislav.
According to the developer, today the Stalker2ATB Checklist platform is used by over 70,000 people, of whom 41,000 are actively building their collections, but only about 4,100 lucky people were able to collect all 48 numbers. There are currently 7,500 active ads on the site.
"The absolute record holders in terms of shortage are cards No. 3 and No. 39, they appear in half of all exchange requests, while the others are distributed evenly," Vladyslav added.
It was these numbers that became a headache for thousands of collectors, and we confirm this data, it was No. 3 that was the most difficult to get of all.
The server was created by the popular Stalker blogger Vatislavovich even before the official launch of the campaign. The server became the heart of a lively community, where card trading has become a part of fan culture, with a special card tracking bot. This bot automatically publishes collectors' statuses, helping fans of the series find each other without unnecessary spam in chats.
The advantage of this method is that here you are communicating with ideological supporters of the game who understand the value of each character or monster in the image, and the probability of a successful and honest exchange is much higher here.
Wild territory — OLX
From the first days of the promotion, the OLX marketplace was instantly occupied by outbidding buyers of all stripes and turned the site into a Terikon with its mounds. A strict economy of profit reigns here, and it is extremely difficult to find an offer specifically for an exchange; usually you are only offered to buy a missing collection card. Prices for rare copies, such as No. 35, can start from 250 hryvnias and reach an absurd 2,500 hryvnias for one card.
The situation with almanacs is even more tense, with the official price of 399 hryvnias, and on the secondary market they are offered for 1,000, 10,000 and even 60,000 hryvnias for a set with all the cards . Gamers even began to organize a kind of "protest" against speculators, ordering goods through OLX delivery and simply not picking them up so that the overbuyers would lose money on logistics. In response, sellers switched to a full prepayment system, which made this method of collecting a collection the riskiest due to the threat of fraud.
We recommend this method only as a last resort.
Voice of the Zone: Who are these people?
My own card hunts have allowed me to meet incredible people who dispel the myth of “childish toys.” For example, Marina, whom I met to exchange card No. 43 for No. 3, came in six months pregnant and said she was collecting a collection for her husband. Their family already has 152 cards, but they had to order the almanac separately via an online form because they were no longer available in stores.
Another collector, Denis, about 30 years old, said that immediately after our exchange, he had two more meetings with other collectors scheduled. According to Denis, all the collectors were adults, except for one boy who was 15 years old.
"I started changing today, as soon as I saw the news that there would be no more cards in ATB. I'm only changing my fourth or fifth card today, I've already lost count of how many there were. In total, I have about 60 cards," Denis shared his successes.
He said that his friend has already collected his second full collection, and Denis himself often "hunts" for cards with characters from the game and is indignant that the cards have run out of sales so quickly.
"It's easier for me to buy five cards for 20 UAH once a week and put them aside for a while, and then bang, and in less than a month it's all over. I planned to use the oatmeal life hack on the weekend, but at first there was no porridge, I had to take "Mivin", I spent 600 UAH, and at the checkout they said that there were no more cards," Denis complains, but he is happy about Voronin's appearance in his collection.
Shortage, resale for 2000 UAH and hype. How the hunt for the STALKER 2 almanac is going and where to look for cards if they are already sold out
Denis also pre-ordered the almanac online and is waiting for June when it will arrive personally to him.
During our exchange, 40-year-old stalker Serhiy received the final card #15 with the character Faust to complete his collection. He shared that he collected 73 cards in total, mostly thanks to his wife, who constantly went to ATB.
"I never bought the almanac. I traveled a lot, even to my parents' place in the Zhytomyr region - a village. There's nothing at all. My friend from Poland says: 'Seryoga, I'll give you some money, and you buy me an almanac and cards.' I just have a pack of unopened cards, so I'll send them to him. Well, I'll finish the repeats too," said Serhiy.
The phenomenon of this promotion is that it brought together adults who grew up on the original game and are now ready to make serious efforts for the sake of a sense of nostalgia. The excitement was so unpredictable that the organizers had to scale up production on the fly. There are already rumors of future similar events before the release of new DLC, and even the launch of English-language versions of the cards for the foreign market.
However, this experience also became a lesson, as the creators of future promotions should prepare much larger quantities in advance and implement effective mechanisms for protecting against overbuying, so that the hunt for cards remains an exciting adventure, and not a financial ordeal. After all, STALKER is about atmosphere, research, and mutual assistance, even if this assistance consists of simply giving someone an extra number 39. Happy hunting, stalkers, and remember: The Zone does not forgive mistakes, but always gives a chance for a successful exchange.
