We all knew that the Pokemon TCG 30th Anniversary drop was going to be a mess. Some retailers put some measures in place to stop scalpers from ruining it, like limiting the number of sets one person can buy, but that simply wasn't enough, with cards and sets already being sold at inflated prices on eBay.
Now, we have a video of what it was like in one location as soon as the sets went on sale, and it shows how dire the situation has become. At the launch of the Pokemon TCG 30th Anniversary collection, we can see grown adults scramble to buy as many sets and card packs as possible, stuffing their baskets with as many as they can get, and practically fighting other customers for stock.
In the video, we can see customers swarm the Pokemon TCG stand. They grab as many boxes as they can shove into their baskets, and many knock some stock over in the process. Of course, none of them seem too eager to pick them up. At many points in the video, we see customers try to take boxes off each other, too.
Reactions to the video have been strong. Many call the scene "embarrassing" and "pathetic", ruining the hobby for everyone.
"Not a single kid, not a single youngster, just f**ing a**holes hoarding cards like goddamn vultures to put them up for sale on the internet," says Twitter user @_Dxppelganger.
"This is what the TCG has turned into, it's truly embarrassing..." says @Alecco17.
This was hardly an isolated incident. There was outright hostility in the UK, as a store was accused of giving preferential treatment to a celebrity who was at a 30th Anniversary Event. The incident took place in Chelmsford, England, and a video being shared online shows customers verbally abusing staff, accusing them of allowing the celebrity to skip the queue and buy more stock than the rest of them. Both the store and the celebrity in question, Stacey Solomon, have denied this.
The only silver lining is that, apparently, there is a good amount of stock to go around. So much so that it seems scalpers are frustrated that they're struggling to make as much money as they wanted. We can only hope that is indeed the case - no one responsible for the scenes we're seeing in these stores should be rewarded for their efforts.
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://www.thegamer.com/pokemon-tcg-30th-anniversary-scalpers-video-buying-all-stock/
