11-Year-Old Selling Pokemon Cards Isn't A Fan: 'I Just Flip Cards'

Scalper culture has reduced joy and whimsy in Pokémon collecting, replacing playful fandom with constant vigilance. A card show anecdote describes a child who does not know much about Pokémon but flips cards after learning from influencers that cards are a good investment. Pokémon Company-related reporting says official events will ban partnered vendors from selling graded slabs, restrict sales of items over $1000, and limit sales of certain Japanese Pokémon Center plushies and cards not yet available overseas. The rules are set to begin at Indianapolis Regionals and also be enforced at Pokémon World Championship in San Francisco. Fans also describe meeting an 11-year-old who said, “I just flip cards,” and lacks knowledge of Pokémon games or anime.

"Maybe because I was so young when was first starting out, I still have a lot of joy and whimsy attached to the series, but it's been pretty tragic to watch the light leave the eyes of our collective consciousness when we see the little yellow guy because scalpers have turned the whole thing into a get-rich-quick scheme. There's something darkly funny about hearing that PokéBeach was talking to a kid at a recent card show and the boy told them that he didn't actually know much about Pokémon, but he'd begun flipping cards after seeing influencers talking about how it was a good investment right now."

"relayed this anecdote in the context of reporting that will be banning partnered vendors from selling graded slabs at its official events, as well as preventing sales for items over $1000, as well as plushies and cards from the Japanese Pokémon Center that are not yet available overseas. The Pokémon Company won't be making an official announcement, but the rule will go into effect at the Indianapolis Regionals this weekend, and will also be enforced at the Pokémon World Championship in San Francisco in August."

"The fansite also talks about meeting an 11-year-old kid named Rob at a recent card show, who told them he had not played the games or watched the anime. Instead, he said his experience with was far less whimsical: "I just flip cards," he told . "I don't know much about Pokémon." He went on to say that TikTok and Instagram influencers had taught him that cards were "the be"

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