Some Walmart and Target locations are pulling their Pokemon Trading Card Game stock due to customer behavior over the highly sought cards. Right now, Pokemon cards are in high demand around the world due to a combination of increased interest and low supply due to COVID-19 related supply line issues. Because of this, many fans (and scalpers) are doing whatever they can to get Pokemon cards where they can get them, with some people waiting in stores for hours until new Pokemon card stock is put on shelves. Some stores even resorted to physically handing out trading card booster packs at set times, limiting customers to one pack of cards.
However, some store managers believe that customers are behaving inappropriately and violating safety standards put in place due to the pandemic, and are now pulling their Pokemon cards off the shelves. Several signs such as the ones below are being posted on social media, informing customers that Pokemon cards and sports trading cards will no longer be sold due to “inappropriate customer behavior” and “increased demand.” At least some of this seems to be in response to a fight that broke out outside of a Target store in Brookfield, Wisconsin that was started over sports trading cards. A total of four people were arrested over that incident, and it seems to have caused at least some kind of corporate response.
Videos by ComicBook.com
So, I guess Pokémon, MLB, NFL, and NBA trading cards are no longer going to be sold at Target stores starting this Friday. pic.twitter.com/pUzbQ9Esey
— Alan Johnson (@TheAlanJohnson) May 12, 2021
Some Walfarts are banning #PokemonTCG sales. I don’t think the scalping problem will go away until Pokemon is able to resume normal (or increased) printing production.
We covered the production problem last year: https://t.co/LZ8mqNnNRJ pic.twitter.com/T4nEcbedCo
— PokeBeach.com💧 (@pokebeach) May 6, 2021
As of this time, it’s unclear whether this is a corporate decision or whether individual stores have the option to choose whether they will continue to sell trading cards. If permanent, this would be a major blow to the Pokemon Trading Card Game, which has enjoyed widespread exposure because the cards are sold at large retailers such as Target and Walmart. We will update this article with more information as it becomes available.
Update: Target has confirmed to ComicBook.com that it is temporarily suspending in-store sales of MLB, NFL, NBA, and Pokemon trading cards beginning on May 14th. Guests will be able to continue purchasing the cards from Target.comto .
