{"id":849899,"date":"2026-09-16T15:22:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T15:22:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/849899\/"},"modified":"2026-09-16T15:22:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T15:22:12","slug":"scalpers-are-killing-the-hobby-for-everyone-pokemon-tcgs-30th-celebration-isnt-going-as-planned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/849899\/","title":{"rendered":"“Scalpers Are Killing The Hobby For Everyone” – Pok\u00e9mon TCG’s 30th Celebration Isn’t Going As Planned"},"content":{"rendered":"

\""Scalpers<\/a> Image: @PokemonTCG<\/a><\/p>\n

The Pok\u00e9mon TCG is celebrating 30 years<\/a> today with a special global drop of new products, but as you can imagine, demand for these items has far outstripped supply.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Here in the UK, thousands of people queued overnight to be in with a chance of securing some of the 30th Celebration packs.<\/a><\/p>\n

Worked late to slept late, woke up to these queues for the Pokemon 30th Celebration drop\u2026<\/p>\n

Yeah im not getting UK supply for months \ud83d\ude05 pic.twitter.com\/NCFhuonnSi<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 white-house.eth (@white_house_eth) September 16, 2026<\/a>
\nYep, woke up early for a 30th Celebration drop.<\/p>\n

Out of stock while checking out a minute after dropping while I was checking out.<\/p>\n

This is fine. I guess this will be how it is.
It’s 5am, this clearly isn’t by normal people<\/p>\n

\u2014 Joe Merrick (@JoeMerrick) September 16, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Sadly, some of the items appeared to have been hoovered up by solo buyers, robbing other fans of the chance to obtain them.<\/p>\n

I saw this on a Pok\u00e9mon card group at 3am.<\/p>\n

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<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 WeeAddy (@WeeAddy31) September 16, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

The incredible popularity of Pok\u00e9mon 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.<\/p>\n

As Nintendo Life contributor Alan Lopez said earlier this year:<\/a><\/p>\n

“Of course you can still enjoy and even love Pok\u00e9mon in a similar way as anything that\u2019s 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\u2019s 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\u2019s not going back to the way it was; Pok\u00e9mon is the most popular IP in the world.”<\/p>\n

Did you manage to get your hands on any of these new packs? Let us know with a comment below.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\tSee Also
\n\tGuide: Pok\u00e9mon Sword And Shield: Pok\u00e9dex Galar Region<\/a>Guide: Pok\u00e9mon GO Eevee Evolutions Ranked – How To Get Sylveon, Leafeon, Glaceon, Umbreon, Espeon, Vaporeon, Jolteon And Flareon<\/a>Guide: Pok\u00e9mon GO Mega Evolutions List – How Get Mega Energy<\/a>Guide: Pok\u00e9mon GO \u2013 The Rarest Pok\u00e9mon Including Wild, Shiny, Mythical And Regional Catches<\/a>Guide: Pok\u00e9mon GO Special Evolutions \u2013 How To Get Pangoro, Sylveon, Glaceon, Aromatisse, Slurpuff, Sirfetch\u2019d, Galarian Cofagrigus And More<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Damien<\/p>\n

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<\/a> and Hookshot’s latest site, Steam Hype<\/a>.<\/p>\n