Image: @PokemonTCG
The Pokémon TCG is celebrating 30 years today with a special global drop of new products, but as you can imagine, demand for these items has far outstripped supply.
Some of that will be due to the insane popularity of the game, but scalpers looking to make a quick buck have also played their part.
Here in the UK, thousands of people queued overnight to be in with a chance of securing some of the 30th Celebration packs.
Worked late to slept late, woke up to these queues for the Pokemon 30th Celebration drop…
Yeah im not getting UK supply for months 😅 pic.twitter.com/NCFhuonnSi
— white-house.eth (@white_house_eth) September 16, 2026
Yep, woke up early for a 30th Celebration drop.
Out of stock while checking out a minute after dropping while I was checking out.
This is fine. I guess this will be how it is.
It’s 5am, this clearly isn’t by normal people
— Joe Merrick (@JoeMerrick) September 16, 2026
Sadly, some of the items appeared to have been hoovered up by solo buyers, robbing other fans of the chance to obtain them.
I saw this on a Pokémon card group at 3am.
This right here is why people can’t get cards. I’m only in the group to trade First Partner series cards, but these posts just make me furious. pic.twitter.com/6DNnsIFqrV
— WeeAddy (@WeeAddy31) September 16, 2026
The incredible popularity of Pokémon and its TCG offshoot has ensured that cards remain in demand; while the COVID pandemic certainly helped increase its appeal, it hasn’t waned in the subsequent years, with cards fetching astonishing prices on the collector’s market and new sets selling out almost instantly.
As Nintendo Life contributor Alan Lopez said earlier this year:
“Of course you can still enjoy and even love Pokémon in a similar way as anything that’s been consumed by money; hunting for singles and packs, or watching people rip packs on YouTube for free is fun. I still do it. The chase is exciting. But it’s the constant handwringing about scalpers and the bemoaning of supply and demand on Reddit that suggests fans are still stuck in 2015. All those things suck, but unfortunately, it’s not going back to the way it was; Pokémon is the most popular IP in the world.”
Did you manage to get your hands on any of these new packs? Let us know with a comment below.
See Also
Guide: Pokémon Sword And Shield: Pokédex Galar RegionGuide: Pokémon GO Eevee Evolutions Ranked – How To Get Sylveon, Leafeon, Glaceon, Umbreon, Espeon, Vaporeon, Jolteon And FlareonGuide: Pokémon GO Mega Evolutions List – How Get Mega EnergyGuide: Pokémon GO – The Rarest Pokémon Including Wild, Shiny, Mythical And Regional CatchesGuide: Pokémon GO Special Evolutions – How To Get Pangoro, Sylveon, Glaceon, Aromatisse, Slurpuff, Sirfetch’d, Galarian Cofagrigus And More
Damien has been writing professionally about tech and video games since 2007 and oversees all of Hookshot’s sites as Editorial Director. He’s also the editor-in-chief of both Time Extension and Hookshot’s latest site, Steam Hype.