Japanese Pokémon card collectors faced a crisis recently when the Pokémon card company ran out of the newest packs, and now one Japanese store is banning adults from buying them altogether.
The new Clay Burst and Snow Hazard packs, based on Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, became so popular upon release that the Pokémon Company ran out of packs, having to bolster their production to keep up with demand. This led to many of the rare cards becoming highly sought after online, selling for above-market premiums until supplies returned to normal, but if you’re an adult in Japan, you might still have difficulty getting your hands on the latest booster packs.
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Hareruya 2, a Pokémon trading card specialty store found in Akihabara, Japan, announced that they’d be allocating half of their Pokémon card stock to young adults only. This is subject to an ID check which means if you’re older than a certain age, you won’t be allowed to make your purchase. The store also placed a limit on how many packs can be bought at one time to prevent reselling. Only 10 packs may be bought per day.
The other half of the Pokémon card stock will be purchasable by adults but with the same 10-pack per day limitation. Admittedly it’s a pretty good idea. Once scalpers saw how much they could make off the rare cards online, many quickly scooped up remaining stock and sold them on for a much higher price, with some packs reportedly going for thousands.
By limiting the card stock in the store, it gives young collectors who genuinely care for the hobby rather than the value of the cards, a chance to pick up some of the cool new cards and add them to their collections. While it may seem like a drastic decision by the trading card shop, anything to disrupt scalpers and their schemes is a good idea in my opinion.
The value of Pokémon cards continues to grow, especially with an increasingly active online marketplace for some of the rarer cards, both new and old. YouTuber Logan Paul made headlines for purchasing a card for $5 million, and recently, one lucky bidder won an ultra-rare Trophy Pikachu card for $300,000.