The new set of the Pokémon Trading Card Game will be released soon. However, a store has recently attracted attention for deciding not to sell it. The reason: concerns about safety.
The Pokémon Trading Card Game will soon be expanded with the “Prismatic Developments” expansion. Here in Germany, sales will start on January 17, 2025.
The set focuses on Eevee and its evolutions, including stylish Teracristal forms. Favorites like Umbreon, Sylveon, and the other Eevee evolutions will be included.
However, one store has made headlines, which also sheds light on a problem with the cards. The increasing popularity of Pokémon cards has led to occasional situations in the past where overly enthusiastic collectors, scalpers, or others caused problems when rare or new cards were offered.
Why a store in the USA will not sell the new Pokémon set
What kind of store is this? The “Retro Emporium” is a store in the USA that offers typical pop culture items, ranging from video games to merchandise to Pokémon cards.
However, the store posted a concerning announcement on Instagram:
In it, they state that Retro Emporium has decided not to sell the new set for reasons of personal safety and that of the business. They write: “We have struggled with this decision, but at the end of the day, we will NOT sacrifice our safety for… cardboard” (via Instagram).
They cite certain buyer groups as the reason: “The overly aggressive (and presumptuous) behavior of collectors/resellers has reached a whole new level, so we are out in this case. We apologize to those who are not part of the problem… we have tried to be fair and keep everything accessible, but we simply cannot do it this time.”
In the comments, there are mainly voices that regret the decision but can understand it. The post from Retro Emporium has also made waves in the subreddit for Pokémon TCG (via reddit), which currently has over 3,000 upvotes and more than 1,100 comments.
There are also voices there that condemn the exaggerated behavior of difficult customers, especially since it is actually about a nice, nostalgic hobby. However, scalpers are also condemned in other areas that are solely profit-driven.
What are these problems? It is currently unclear what exact experiences Retro Emporium had with scalpers. However, there are sporadic reports of reckless behavior by some people when it comes to Pokémon cards. A particularly illustrative example was an event at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, which displayed Pokémon paintings in collaboration. Visitors were allowed to pick up a special Van Gogh Pikachu card during their visit.
However, there were unpleasant scenes where hundreds of people stormed the museum to grab the merchandise related to the exhibition. They later ended up selling for high prices on eBay. At the same time, there were images of adults fighting over Pokémon items.
