Target will no longer sell Pokemon cards in store thanks to violent scalpers

In an age of readily available stonks, Doge Coin, and this Jpeg of an anime catgirl that I stole off of DeviantARt and turned into an NFT, one of the most valuable commodities on the planet happens to be…Pokemon cards. The pocket monster cards have become a sought-after collectible item in recent years, and in the US especially, people will do anything to get their hands on them.

And by people, I usually mean adaults who ruin the hobby for everyone. Here’s a prime case in point. US retail store chain Target, which locally would be the equivalent fusion of Clicks, Pick ‘n Pay and Cotton On, used to stock plenty of Pokemon cards. Every time a new booster set came out, Target would have some packs in store for those fans of the trading card game.

Citing an “abundance of caution” for the safety of employees and customers though, the retail chain will no longer carry Pokemon products. This comes thanks to scalpers rocking up to purchase all the stock, because if there’s a fast buck to be made lately then the scalping scum of the earth will be there to ruin a hobbit for fans and passionate collectors.

So how does this differ to something like the rush to grab a PS5 and hawk the prices up on eBay? The current thought is that there will be an element of danger when cards go on sale, as Nintendo is currently struggling to keep up with demand and can’t print these cards out quick enough, thus creating an element of danger.

For example, man pulled a gun during a fight over trading cards in a Target parking lot in Brookfield, Wisconsin earlier this month after he was assaulted by four men aged 23-35 while leaving the store. You have to wonder how mad people are when they form a mob to attack other people because of trading cards. Madness.

Target’s not taking any chances, and thus the cards are flying off of their shelves. For good this time, but the retail chain did say that they will be stocked digitally on its website. In other Pokemon card incidents, the recent McDonalds promotion in the US also went pear-shaped when Happy Meal boxes were McRaided, and cereal boxes containing the sought-after cards have either been bought by the palette by scummy scalpers or opened up inside of a store and thus ruined.

Last Updated: May 14, 2021