With the new year comes new trends, and one that has miraculously resurfaced after years of irrelevance is Pokemon, especially the cards; with 2024 coming to an end and the introduction of 2025, many people of all ages are suddenly interested in Pokemon cards once again, with the release of new Scarlet and Violet expansion sets such as 151, Surging Sparks, and Prismatic Evolutions containing many cards with very detailed and visually appealing artworks.
But, with this sudden resurgence of popularity comes many issues for both the collecting community and the trading card game community alike. Accessibility has been a massive issue this year for Pokemon fans as the Pokemon company was not prepared for the extreme demand increase of cards, leaving many empty-handed and unable to get any cards.
Unfortunately for many, the high demand and lack of supply bring scalpers. These people buy up all available stock through any means necessary for the sole purpose of reselling for profit, usually at extreme margins making it nearly impossible for the average person to get product at a reasonable price. Scalpers have plagued the Pokemon card community ever since its introduction in 1995, but currently, the issue is greater than it’s ever been before with bots capable of buying up online stock in a matter of seconds more readily available than ever.
With online retailers sold out and store shelves empty, many people have no option but to buy from these scalpers, luckily the Pokemon company realizes these issues and attempts to combat them by introducing new Pokemon vending machines within thousands of grocery stores across the country, which in my opinion is the best way that has been implemented to help the average person get their hands on cards, on multiple occasions I have been able to use these machines to get highly sought after sets without worry of scalpers buying them all. The way this works is through the suppliers restocking the machines every couple of days while keeping these restock days secret/random to prevent people from waiting and taking everything as soon as it’s restocked, and honestly, this system works well! But with these machines only in big cities at the moment, it’s still hard for many people to get their hands on cards, this is where another solution comes into play.
A solution to this has found the Pokemon company themselves to create a much more accessible and inclusive way for the community to open packs endlessly and battle each other without the high prices and excess materials used, digitalizing the card game into a downloadable app on your phone (Pokemon TCG Pocket).
Gaining over 30 million downloads in the first few weeks of release in October 2024. Now Downloads have peaked at 60 million, making around 3 million per day. The success of this app has brought many together, new and old members of the community finding their way into the trading card game. The app has a very immersive way of simulating real pack opening by making the players peel it open themselves for free! Using those cards you can increase your collection and the power of your decks.
Pokemon continues to thrive among its community through not only the card game but also the video games, anime, merchandise, and much much more media, it has grown to become more than just a card game over the years.
