Brawl over trading cards – When Pokémon is banned from store shelves

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Pokemon Walmart Fights

The greed for trading cards like the Pokémon TCG is taking on absurd proportions. Bad behaviour and fights are on the rise. Large retail chains like Walmart and Target in the USA are reacting

Collectible card games like the Pokémon TCG have been a popular as well as lucrative hobby since last year. However, in the USA, the joy and euphoria is turning into indecency and sometimes even violence.

Brawl over trading cards leads to sales stop

Multiple US media such as Fox6 reported in early May on an act of violence outside a shop of the large retail chain Target. In the US state of Wisconsin, four men allegedly attacked a customer in Target’s customer car park because they were arguing over the trading cards he had bought. The victim then drew his gun, causing the attackers to end the brawl that had begun and flee. But the consequences to the sale followed a few days later.

The rush for trading cards is related to the increased interest and prices on the secondary market. In addition to Pokémon, sports cards from major US professional leagues have been particularly affected by this. “To ensure the safety of all our guests and colleagues, starting May 14, trading cards from MLB, NFL, NBA and Pokémon will no longer be sold in shops,” Target writes in response to events like the Wisconsin attack.

Products selling for $60 from big-box stores have been resold for $100 to $120 on sales platforms like ebay at the same time. This has led to a hunt by resellers – also called scalpers – for the trading cards. The lure of quick value appreciation seems high.

Due to the lack of decency, wholesale markets have already had to store the Pokémon merchandise in display cases or have taken further drastic measures. According to Vice.com magazine, Target was already prepared to call the police on frantic Pokémon shoppers in April. Already at that time, it was limiting purchases of trading card products per person.

The second major retail chain, Walmart, had already halted direct sales of trading cards a week before the emergency brake at Target. “Trading card categories have been removed from sales areas and sales of these have been discontinued due to inappropriate customer behaviour,” the official message said in May. Until there are further instructions from management, vendors are not to offer any more of these products.

Because new supply was usually made available on Friday morning, some overzealous shoppers camped outside the shop the night before to be among the first in line. Walmart had put a stop to that.

Anyone who experienced the mass rush at the PlayStation 4’s launch day in 2013 will also see the parallels of the rush for Pokémon cards at major retail chains. The February promo at McDonalds also caused an uproar when adults ordered large quantities of Happy Meals to get their hands on many limited edition cards.

At least since the arrival of social media star Logan Paul, the hype around Pokémon cards has gone unchecked. The Pokémon Company is aware of the significantly increased interest and announced in February that it would increase production of the latest trading cards to the maximum of their capabilities.