Pokemon Scalpers Are Getting Pushback from The Pokemon Company
The Pokemon Company is fighting back against scalpers who've been reselling Pokemon Cards from Happy Meals for marked-up prices.
In the midst of Pokemon’s 25th Anniversary, the Pokemon Trading Card Game has seen a massive resurgence in popularity. Between promotions in Happy Meals at McDonald’s and popular YouTubers bringing pack openings back into the limelight, scalpers have seized the opportunity to capitalize on the brand’s popularity.
Minutes ago, the Pokemon Company issued a statement on their website regarding the situation. After acknowledging the shortages, they promised to, “Address it where it is within our control,” by, ” actively working to print more of the impacted Pokémon TCG products as quickly as possible.” They also published a shortened statement on Twitter regarding the situation.
We’re aware that some fans are experiencing difficulties purchasing certain Pokémon TCG products due to very high demand. In response, we are reprinting impacted products at maximum capacity to ensure more fans can enjoy the Pokémon TCG.
More info here: https://t.co/sClZo3BXsp
— Play Pokémon (@playpokemon) February 10, 2021
The promotion with McDonald’s sees four-card packs featuring starters from throughout the game’s 25-year-history included in the fast-food chain’s kid’s meal, the Happy Meal packaged up in a Pikachu-themed box. Listings on sites like eBay are valuing sets of these packs for hundreds, or even thousands of dollars. Happy meals currently sell for less than $5 at most McDonald’s locations. Complete sets of the cards are selling for over $2,500.
While scalpers are having a field day marking up cards, the Pokemon fanbase is happy to see the Pokemon Company address the situation, even though a minority of collectors feel burned that their rare collections are being devalued. There are also reports of scalpers targeting Pokemon TCG booster packs and starter kits at retail stores. One person on Twitter mentioned how persistent the scalpers are.
Friend of mine is a manager at Walgreens and every single time a truck comes in they have the same guy coming in to buy every single Pokémon card they have before they’re even unloaded off the truck and he’s not allowed to say no to the guy 😔
— bear 🐻 (@lovejpegs) February 10, 2021