Amid some recent controversy, and for safety reasons, Pokemon & Sports Cards have been pulled from major retailers.
There have been some very odd events in the TCG universe as of late. In a strange turn of events, Target and Walmart have pulled the cards out of stores according to multiple media outlets. It’s not for a lack of sales either, it’s for the safety of employees and customers!
Things escalated quite quickly and the demand for the cards has become so high, physical altercations have started taking place.
Target employees were also recently given the autonomy to call the police on people if they are getting too crazed over the cards in the store.
Pokemon TCG & Sports Cards Pulled from Major Retailers
Fridays at 8am only for NFL, NBA, MLB, and Pokemon cards at Target pic.twitter.com/sP2k6sFI5g
— Weston Blasi (@westonblasi) May 13, 2021
This was a sign posted in the collectibles department at Target, and many more have been spotted on doors and shelves of the retailer across the nation (but we haven’t seen any Walmart signs) And apparently, the cards have just disappeared back to warehouses.
With many influencers raising the demand for such cards, people have just gone over the top for them. If you remember back when Pokemon was first popular, there was more than one incident of people getting attacked for the cards. The stores went so far as to post signs explicitly saying not to restock the cards, due to inappropriate customer behavior and increased demand.
There are two main reasons leading to the pulling of the cards. First, people put GPS trackers on vendor trucks, so they could be first to the store and grab the cards as they were literally being restocked. Then, allegedly at a Target in Wisconsin, a man, 35, was attacked in the parking lot by three individuals, 23-35. He pulled out a gun, which he did have a concealed carry permit for, and the three people ran away. They were later apprehended by police in the local area.
So things are definitely getting wild out there for cards!
The good news? If you like Magic: The Gathering or Yu-Gi-Oh, apparently they are still available at big-box retailers. Going forward though, for Pokemon cards, it looks like collectors will have to just fight the bots online to get cards instead of real people!
Did the news surprise you? Did you see the craze in real life?
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About the Author: Travis Pasch
Travis Pasch
Job Title: Head Writer & Editor
Socials: @paschbass
About Travis Pasch: Travis has been a Warhammer 40k hobbyist since the 1990s, playing the game since Third Edition. Through extensive traveling, he’s seen a lot of the miniatures hobby from across the world, giving him a unique perspective on the latest gaming topics and trends.
Travis’s brother even owns a commission painting studio, where he’s picked up a lot of good advice and techniques for painting Warhammer and tabletop miniatures over the years, as well. Travis joined the Spikey Bits team in 2019 and has been the lead writer since 2020.
Currently, he’s working on converting all his 40k Adeptus Mechanicus models and becoming a true tech enjoyer, complete with both sad and happy robot noises!
