Pokemon card trading seems like it should be a fairly safe, fun hobby, but this weekend saw the father of a young Pokemon fan sparking a huge debate on social media after revealing that his son was “scammed” when making a trade a the Pokemon XP event in San Francisco. Eric Bahn did not hold back in a post revealing that his son gave away his most valuable card, a PSA 9 Rayquaza VMAX alternative art card from the Evolving Skies set, to an adult vendor who, according to Bahn, skewed the whole thing in his own favor. In a series of heated posts, Bahn said that the trader, who later posted on X under the handle of @PaulDHar_, had taken advantage of the child, knowingly trading cards he claimed to be American but included Indonesian text on them.
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As Bahn posted on Sunday, his viral post led to him meeting up with the vendor and after what he called an “unpleasant confrontation,” he was able to confirm that his son’s original card had been returned and the trade had been reversed. However, the vendor who made the trade also shared his own posts on X, disputing the claims that he set out to scam anyone. In his post, he wrote that the cards he had traded were genuine and not fake as had been originally claimed by Bahn, but were simply in Indonesian language rather than English. He added that he had gone to the meeting with Bahn to reverse the trade that had been done, while saying that he had asked for an apology (presumably for the scamming claims from Bahn) but none was given. This post resulted in many people from the Pokemon community sharing their own differing opinions on who exactly was in the wrong.
The Pokemon Community Has a Divided View on the Trade
Like any situation that brings drama to social media, there have been a vast range of interpretations and reactions to the two sides of the story offered by Bahn and the vendor. Some comments sided fully with Bahn, agreeing that the trade in San Francisco was completely one-sided and was solely done with the intention of taking a high-value card from an unwitting child in exchange for cards of much lower value, regardless of whether the cards were real or fake. One opinion shared by content creator ShadyPenguinn delivered a balanced view of the trade, observing that even though the trade had been “wildly skewed,” it had been wrong to suggest that the vendor was trading with fake cards. He added that the vendor’s willingness to reverse the trade and also comment on it himself on social media suggested that he had shown this was all just blown out of proportion. However, other users were not quite as quick to let either party off lightly. Some felt that Bahn’s initial claims of fake cards was a step too far, while others believed that there was no way a child with such a valuable card would have not been aware of what he was trading it for.
Despite the friction online, the story did have a happy ending for those involved, with all cards being returned to their original owners. Additionally, it brought out the best of the Pokemon trading community, as the support for Bahn’s son saw many people offering replacement cards, packs, or help to rectify the matter. Pat Flynn, better known as Deep Pocket Monster, offered to help out after meeting Bahn and his son at the event, and others offered to send some valuable cards for Bahn’s son. Bahn later said that the family had been overwhelmed with the response from the community and would be compiling an inventory of all items that had been gifted to his son, with a promise that he would be donating the equivalent amount to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The incident may have ended well for all concerned, but also is a reminder that while the hobby is meant to be fun it is also one that requires a certain amount of vigilance when completing trades that may not be quite as good as they seem.
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