Scalpers have been, and always will be, a big problem in any sort of niche market - and thePokemonTrading Card Game(TCG) is no different. Newly released and rarePokemoncards often get snatched by people who are not actually going to play the game, so that they can sell them for a profit to the people who have been denied the chance to buy them in the first place. To combat this, one shop in Tokyo’s otaku neighborhood of Akihabara is fighting back in a unique way.The shop is called Hareruya 2, and is a shop that sells many kinds of trading cards, includingPokemoncards. The shop tweeted on May 1st that the pictured packages of newPokemoncards would only be available for purchase by junior high and younger children. The tweet also stated that they reserve the right to ID customers trying to buy the cards to check their age, and that adults cannot buy them on behalf of children - the actual children must also be present.RELATED:Japanese Baseball Team Adds Pikachu to Their HelmetsThePokemon TGCfirst released in Japan in 1996, and has been available in the US since 1999. Most recently released was thePokemon TCG: Scarlet & Violetexpansion packs, which are the 95th expansion pack set to be released in English and the 88th in Japanese. ThePokemon TCGwas based on the originalPokemonvideo games, but has developed a fandom all its own. Fans both collect the cards and play competitively, with tournaments that take place around the globe by fans of all ages.
This is not the first time that Hareruya 2 has limited the sale ofPokemoncards to children, having limited them to elementary school aged kids, and students in the past. The owner of the shop, Sho Watanabe, believes that children should always have the opportunity to buy the cards when they are released because they are the original demographic of thePokemon TCG. He also limits how many packs of cards can be purchased by one customer to 10, to try to ensure as many children as possible have achance to buy the cards.
Of course, there are adults who play the game as well - but they can also come to the shop when the cards are released, while children are still at school. The cards almost always release on Friday mornings, which proves problematic for children who have to wait until school is over to try to buy them. By then, often adult scalpers havealready bought up all of the supplies, and children are not able - and should not have to - pay the raised prices that they will charge for the cards.
In regards to his policies about restricting the purchase ofPokemoncards, Watanabe himself said, “It makes the kids happy, and it makes a lot of parents happy too, I think it’s a system by which the limited amount of cards can be enjoyed by a large number of people.” Truly, Sho Watanabe is a hero to realPokemonfans who genuinely love the trading card game and not just want to use it toput money in their own pockets- which was never the point.
