It is exhausting seeing how many aspects of the experience people try to exploit as part of some money-making scheme. The cards are obviously the most prominent example of this, as scalpers and the content creation mill have turned the act of buying and selling packs into a lucrative business at the expense of players being able to derive any joy from the hobby .
The video by TikTok user mromano2003 has accumulated over 12 million views on the original post alone, not counting all the times it's been reposted elsewhere by other accounts on different platforms. It shows a scalper buying an entire display of cards at one of Walmart's Las Vegas stores. About a week later, Walmart stores are receiving word from corporate to enforce a five-package limit on purchases per visit.
While scalping is an ever-present scourge for collectible card game players, it has become a completely ruinous issue for the Pokémon TCG for almost a year now. Ever since the release of Prismatic Evolutions in January 2025, it has been close to impossible for even specialist stores to stock new sets of the wildly popular game, online stores are wiped clean in seconds, and larger retailers see anything put out on shelves gone in minutes.
If it ain't a story about sudden acts of intimidation and threats of violence over them, then it's probably one about scalpers and reselling. Thankfully, no one got hurt (physically) this time as the Mega Evolution Phantasmal Flames Elite Trainer Box (ETB), Booster Display Box, and Booster Bundle all sold out during their pre-order sale yesterday, with significant amounts of them going to folks who have no interest in actually using them to play the game.
