With 18 person long lines, literally 18 people waiting for the vendor to show up and stock the shelf at Target, scalping and Pokemania has gotten out of hand. People should not be lining up in frickin Target to buy Pokemon cards. They’re nice pieces of cardboard, but they are just cardboard.
(Fun fact, every person in that line was male and almost all seemed to be in their 30’s and early 40’s. I don’t know what to do with that information but it’s interesting.)
And this is happening across Kroger company Pokemon machines and Target locations. It’s not a one off event. People are literally bringing folding chairs to sit inside grocery stores waiting for the machines to be restocked. They of course proceed to empty the machines the second the vendor leaves. How is that okay?
The Pokemon Company has seemingly responded through its vendors or perhaps directly through software to attempt to limit the amount of product being purchased with purchase limits and lockouts. Presumably this has helped limit scalping from machines, but it doesn’t stop Pokemon scalpers and hoarders from flooding into retailers like Target in search of ever more Pokemon product.
The scalping is continuing if not getting worse. And we have a Team Rocket set coming up, so I guess don’t expect things to get better.
Strict purchase limits across ALL retailers are necessary, no matter how annoying they may be to some. We are in a Pokemania and while The Pokemon Company may view that as beneficial for them, it really isn’t. People are being turned off from the hobby left and right. People are just done putting up with this nonsense. Scalping is out of control, the endless talk of money is out of control, and the seeming gambling addiction people are feeding is out of control.
This is a card game, not a way to get rich. Maybe take a moment to remember what it was like to be a kid opening a base set booster from Toys R US. You weren’t out there concerned about getting top dollar with a PSA 10. You were actually enjoying the cards. You actually wanted to play with the cards. You wanted to genuinely collect the cards. That is how you should be approaching the Pokemon trading card game, as if you’re a kid again. As if you’re letting your inner child out. Not as if you’re going to pay rent with the card you just pulled while livestreaming.
This has all gotten completely out of hand. The scalping and Pokemania need to end.