by Sean Grogan
Riots, fights, and stealing have become rampant in the last few months, over, who would have guessed? Pokemon. Pokemon has been a worldwide phenomenon since its creation in February of 1996. However, recently the franchise’s physical card game has become a catalyst for immoral and illegal behavior in such large amounts that it begs the question: why all of this over cardboard?
Trading cards have always held the promise of collecting and reselling for crazy prices later on. They were staple of most kids' childhoods, including mine. But every so often the hobby gets an influx in popularity, causing things to fall out of control. We saw this only a couple of years ago in 2023 when the booster set “151” was released as a nostalgic reminder to older fans of the franchise’s existence and ongoing popularity. But even this was minor blip compared to what has been seen in the past months, during which groups not even interested in the series are solely interested in the value of the sought-after cards.
Now I understand that it isn’t my place to judge someone for wanting to make a profit off something, if it isn’t hurting anyone. The issue is that the amount of printing done for these new sets of cards in relation to the number of people interested in them is scarce. These groups who buy packs to make a profit aren’t just buying a box or two, but entire stocks from stores, willing to spend tens of thousands of dollars for a gambler's chance of getting a rare card worth a fraction of the dollars they spent in the first place. The issue, however, isn't the fact that these groups are wasting their money, but the fact that so many regular enjoyers of the hobby aren’t given the chance to purchase even one of these boxes.
This disappointment has led to riots over empty shelves and fights in the aisles over just a box of cards that could be worth less than its store price. This hasn’t stopped smaller stores, more in touch with the community behind the chaos, from raising their prices by hundreds of dollars because they understand the scarcity of the product.
I feel that we honestly need to take a step back and realize that the idea that these cards are so rare this early on into their publication is ridiculous. It made sense for famous cards like the 1st Edition Charizard to be worth so much money, because of its age and rarity. But new groups will see cards in leaks and raise the market value by thousands of dollars before the first release. And that value will only go down further and further after the release because in a moment the Pokemon Company can choose to restock all stores of these scarce sets. Causing one last punch to the face for these groups that isn’t physical, but economical.
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