i used to collect pokemon cards up until now and the scalpers ruined it for me, the absolute hassle to find one single pack, the prices doubling, and seeing people open packs just to make profit made me quit
Controversial
Are scalpers the reason this hobby is alive?
Not metaphorically. Literally. If we look at the photos people post of Pokรฉmon sitting on Target shelves in 2019. Stacks of it. Untouched. Nobody fighting over it. Nobody streaming it. Nobody refreshing a page at midnight for it.
Why were the shelves full? Is it because nobody wanted it?
Then the scalpers showed up and did the one thing the Pokรฉmon Company never could: they made it feel scarce. They made it feel valuable. They turned a kidsโ card game into something that felt like it mattered, and the second something feels like it might be worth chasing, everyone wants in.
But hereโs the part nobody admits. It was never really about the resale.
Itโs about the kid who now begs to go to Target every week. The wife who started pulling packs โjust to see.โ The girlfriend who has her own binder now. The group chat that lost its mind over a drop. Scalpers gave us something to look forward to together โ and something to complain about together.
Thatโs not a market. Thatโs a community. And it didnโt exist when the shelves were full.
We hate them. And yet weโve never had more fun.
Yeah itโs a pain in the you know what to hunt these days, but I can truly say that Iโm having fun making memories with my family through Pokemon