ST. CLAIRSVILLE — With people unable to travel across the land over the last year, left searching far and wide for a means to keep themselves and their loved ones entertained, multiple generations of hobbyists returned to familiar territory.
The Pokemon trading card game pulled ahead as the surprise success of the COVID-19 pandemic over its closest competitors, Magic: the Gathering and Yu-Gi-Oh!, according to Rick Roberts, operator of Steve’s Sports Cards at the Ohio Valley Mall. With tournament and other competitive play heavily restricted, if not outright limited to online competition, Pokemon found a surprisingly wholesome niche to fill.
As millennials evolve into parents and have kids of their own, they’ve held onto fond memories of their childhood, and in many cases, their games, too.
With nothing but time over the last year, Roberts said, many parents rediscovered their childhood hobbies with their own kids, which rekindled a love of Pokemon — games, cards, and TV series alike –for them to share and bond over.
The accessibility to the younger market and comparatively simple gameplay mechanics, Roberts said, allowed the Pokemon TCG to pull ahead of the other major players, as collectors continue to fill their binders, players keep constructing optimal decks, traders hope to hit the jackpot with rare cards, and kids — like the rest of us — love Charizard because it’s awesome.
“There’s a lot of kids getting into it; their dads and moms used to collect, so it’s bringing that part of the hobby,” Roberts said. “I had three girls and raised them while I’ve been in business. My grandson’s big into Pokemon.
“It used to be Magic, then Yu-Gi-Oh!, and then Pokemon was also there. When COVID hit, because you’re not allowed to group play, Magic just (evaporated), Yu-Gi-Oh! was non-existent, and suddenly, bam! Everyone’s here wanting Pokemon,” Roberts added.
“Magic is not geared for the little kids, and because there’s a cartoon for Pokemon, they can get into it. Pokemon games on the Game Boy Advance, their mom and dad played, and now they’re playing it and they want the cards too.”
Throughout the spring, it’s been difficult for some hobbyists to get a hold of new cards. In October, YouTuber Logan Paul posted a video in which he opened a box of cards from Pokemon’s base set, the first release of the trading card game, triggering a new wave of interest among collectors and viewers. Since then, demand for booster packs — which contain a variety of cards unknown to the buyer, some potentially far more valuable than the cost of the pack — has skyrocketed.
Following an altercation earlier this month at a Wisconsin Target, where several men allegedly started a fight over the cards, the retailer has limited the sale of the cards to customers, causing increased demand at other retailers, where it’s occasionally difficult to find new packs.
New Dimension Comics Assistant Manager Kyile Wilson said the recent surge has been beneficial to them, from a business perspective — they can’t keep the booster packs on the shelves. However, the enthusiasm was not extended to other card games, or even to other parts of the Pokemon TCG.
“It’s good for us,” Wilson said. “We just sell it, and people love it. It’s in high demand. It’s not really affecting the other trading card games, just Pokemon. But everyone knows Pokemon. … Especially around Easter, we had a ton of people asking about Pokemon and nothing for the shelf.
“I can’t remember the last time I had a day where no one asked me about Pokemon packs. We get phone calls, people come up every day, asking for Pokemon,” he added. “We don’t have packs, we just have the pre-built decks, which don’t have packs. We have singles in the case, which nobody really wants to go for.”
Roberts reported a similar situation at his shop, as Pokemaniacs of all ages hop aboard the hype train. The enthusiasm between older and younger collectors is one and the same, in many cases.
“Last week, a kid pulled a Charizard, a 7-year-old boy, and for him, it was a big thing,” Roberts said. “I had a 30-year-old guy pull one, and he had the same attitude. He’s not in it for the money, he’s in it for his kid.”
Roberts said he’s needed to enforce some purchasing policies on adult collectors who apparently learned nothing from Team Rocket, looking to collect and exploit the cards at the expense of others, either dropping hundreds of dollars to buy all the available packs at once or cheat the store out of unlucky purchases that fail to return on their investment.
“I don’t let guys buy it all. A guy says, ‘I want to buy all these.’ No. Buy one. A lot of stores don’t limit, but I’d rather limit so everyone can buy one,” Roberts said. “A guy had $385 of his fiance’s money, bought some, and didn’t get what he wanted. He came back and tried to claim they were opened, so he could get her money back.”
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May 24, 2021 at 11:20AM
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Pokemon card renaissance popular from veterans to youngsters - Martins Ferry Times Leader
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