Summary
Another day, another example of thePokemon Trading Card Gamebeing exploited by scalpers. Last month, I reported how single Pokemon card prices were up by as much as 150 percent, andsealed products were increasingly hard to get hold of. This came off the back ofspecific promos selling for over $100 before they’d even been releasedand the game’s next expansion, Journey Together, beingresold for more than four times its market value.
Then, just two weeks ago, I attended theLondon Card Show. The event itself was great, but itencapsulated everything that was wrong with the TCG in its current state. I estimated that around 40 percent of vendors were selling products they’d bought online at rates significantly higher than retail.
With the Pokemon European International Championships taking place in London this weekend and a pop-up Pokemon Center store part of the festivities, some opportunism was likely, but after speaking to people who attended the first day of the event and visited the Pokemon Center store, it once again doesn’t look good.
Pokemon EUIC Pokemon Center Pop-Up Store Faced Major Scalping Issues
I spoke to five people who attended the Pokemon EUIC’s first day yesterday, each of whom painted a very similar picture.
Entering the Pokemon Center pop-up was mostly fine; there were some delays, which were to be expected, but with The Pokemon Company making visitors book time slots, things worked well. It wasn’t until entering the store that things took a turn.
The Pokemon Company was clearly anticipating issues, refusing to stock both Prismatic Evolutions and Scarlet and Violet 151 expansions, both of whichhave faced notorious scalping—but that didn’t stop people. A variety of Pokemon Center Exclusive Elite Trainer Boxes were available at four per customer. You’d expect this to limit shoppers to four Elite Trainer Boxes total, but it turns out that those there early enough were able to purchase four of each box, with some walking away with bags full and leaving scraps for the rest of the attendees.
These products are all sold out online, so naturally, they went pretty quickly, but people didn’t help matters by taking full advantage of the pre-set limits. The store opened to the public at 12:30, and by 4:30 pm, they were all gone. Paldean Fates went first, and everything else soon followed.
While it’s hard to say whether all of these people were indeed there just to make a quick buck, aninflux of listings on both eBayand Facebook Marketplace suggested there were more than a few.
It wasn’t just the trading cards that were purchased in high quantities, either.
The Pokemon Center stocked a range of merchandise exclusive to the event, much of it focused on Psyduck. This also sold out very quickly.
One person I spoke to was able to enter the store with the press and influencers roughly an hour and a half before it opened to the public, and they told me that certain items, like a Psyduck hoody, sold out before the public was even able to enter. This wasn’t helped by the fact that clothing didn’t have a purchase limit.
Certain items, like a Psyduck hoody, sold out before the public was even able to enter.
Of course, while some items will be kept and treasured, much of this merchandise has ended up oneBay at vastly increased prices. I even received reports that retail stores had attended the event to purchase items and relist later. Although I haven’t been able to verify this, one store named to me has limited edition World Championship merchandise listed online, so it isn’t out of the realm of possibility.
It’s yet another damning indictment of where the Pokemon Trading Card Game is at the moment, and The Pokemon Company certainly has a job on its hands if it plans to quell things.
