The Pokemon Trading Card Game has seen a surge in interest, leading to significant availability issues as collectors are facing empty store shelves. Scalpers are heavily impacting the market by reselling cards at inflated prices, making it difficult for true fans to acquire cards. As younger generations are introduced to the hobby, there are growing concerns that these scarcity issues could damage the community and experience for future players. With major retail sales reported around $10.8 billion for the fiscal year, the franchise remains incredibly popular despite these challenges.
"It's rough right now," said Jake Wagman, a 23-year-old Pokemon card collector in Toronto. "I blinked and product is impossible to find. It's unavailable."
"All of a sudden people are just like seeing Pokemon... and they're buying a product and they don't even know what they're buying because they think it'll be valuable," said Wagman.
Collectors worry that if it goes on for much longer, this could damage the hobby, especially for the children that make up the next generation of fans.
The Pokemon Company boasts retail sales in the billions... Total retail sales for the 2023 fiscal year reached $10.8 billion US, or more than $15 billion Cdn.
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