Story so far…
Pokemon is a japanese based franchise that has lasted for the past 28 years! The titan that started as two turn based rpg games, has dominated the creature capture gameplay. It has endured the test of time and cemented itself in the collective conscience of society. Most people will be able to recognize at least one of the 1,164 pokemons available through the many iterations of the games. It also spawned a manga, anime and even a trading card game (TCG).
The franchise started a movement from 1999-2002 dubbed “pokémania” where people used to live and love the franchise. While it may have died down, the franchise managed to spark a lasting impression gathering fans from all over the world. Then 2016 came and the mobile game titled: Pokémon GO! debuted and the craze for the critter game came back. Twice did we see a rise in the franchise due to being praised by fans both old and new. It has been this appeal to nostalgic fans and newer fans that may have made the company last for so long.
Then a certain virus pandemic hit in 2020, and we saw the company rise once again. Not in the games , but in the TCG side of the game. Since lockdown was in effect the opening of packs became a trending topic in social media. Soon the rainbow cards(2017),full arts (Black and White Expansion) and Illustration rares (Scarlet and Violet Expansion) became quite popular garnering attention from everybody. It was the rise in popularity, nostalgia and arts that soon made the Pokémon TCG develop its own market.
So we got the rise of a popular franchise not once but thrice. So what’s the problem? Too many games? Not really; Lack of innovation? Allegedly; No, the problem that has started to plague a lot of collectors and people who are pokemon enthusiasts is the fact that the market has started to be manipulated. How? Scalpers, they have created a problem in the community that’s starting to be on the rise.
All kinds of eyes
How do we get from a game that’s about critters to market manipulation? As stated before the rise of popularity in the TCG was due to a variety of reasons. It did attract a lot of different crowds to the game: to kids,parents, old heads and even content creators. Through the rise of this popularity we started to see the movement of money as well. You see, people have a lot of love for pokémon and they most likely have a favorite. With that being said, why wouldn’t you want a card that has a special art of your favorite?
The main problem would be then, how do I get the rare art? You buy booster packs or boxes. The more packs you can get the better, because your chances of getting the card you want also escalates. Let’s say you didn’t get it, then you can find people who also collect or even play the game and are able to exchange the cards. That’s how TCG’s originally played, at least back in the pokémania era. Here’s the thing: maybe you don’t really want to spend any money buying packs, because you know you just want to collect your favorites. That’s when people started seeing a gap that could be filled. Collectors want certain cards and can pay for them, just don’t want to deal with the hassle of booster packs. Thus, the vendors were introduced and the collection and love for the cards grew.
Maybe too many eyes…
So we have two types of people so far: collectors and vendors. The first, are usually enthusiasts of the critters and have a great love for the cards and arts that you can obtain. Vendors are usually collectors or store owners, who enjoy the hobby or enjoyed it and decided to make a business out of it. This cycle seems fair, until a third type party showed up: Scalpers. This type of people have employed diverse techniques (bots in the online store, waiting for stores opening) to hoard the product and sell it even higher than retail. It is a way to make quick money and they do seem to flip fast their purchases.
So how are they a problem? One of the first thoughts that probably popped into your head was: “They sound exactly like vendors”. The key difference between vendors who sell booster packs, boxes or even graded cards and vendors is the keyword “hoarding”. You see vendors (typically) buy as much as possible they have contracts with first party suppliers and get an allotted amount of product. The other type of vendor buys from the first, resells or opens them up. All to make either a profit or expand their personal collection (PC). Scalpers, just outright outbuy the common folk that have it as a hobby and end up creating a false scarcity that sky rockets prices.
So what’s the problem? Everybody makes business. It’s just a little unfair that people who scalp make the most money, right? Three main problems arise, first: the market is evolving and quite frankly already formed a bubble. Bubbles burst, and the repercussions will damage the two types of vendors. The next issue would be scarcity or at least an artificial one that leads to the rise of older packs and cards considered vintage rice in prices. Lastly, kids are being outpriced, which might not seem like a problem. It really is, kids can’t enjoy a hobby meant for them due to the packs, boxes and cards reaching prices that a kid with just their normal allowance won’t be able to pay.
What to do?
There’s not really a solution to the problem of scalpers. Some people have suggested that a pre-order might be a good idea. Yet, scalpers can and have used bots in the store to purchase everything. The main way to put an end to this might just be not buying from scalpers and purchasing locally, but some stores might not get that big of an inventory provided to them. Some vendors like: Coop’s Collections and Oyama’s Trading, have done something about it by giving kids free cards and even graded ones. The Pokémon Company could limit the amount of purchases from IP addresses, but that would just be a different hurdle that might be easily overcome. All in all, scalpers damage the environment of the game skyrocketing prices and creating a scarcity that really isn’t there.
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