Hobbies act as a means of relaxation and offer a great way for people to connect with others who share similar interests. Some individuals even use hobbies as a form of expression and even a way to find some meaning in their life. However, the fun aspect of card-based hobbies has become a nightmare to those who used to enjoy them, and it’s all due to those who are in the hobby for financial reasons, rather than those seeking it for enjoyment, scalpers.
The problem that casual collectors and players have been dealing with is the rise of trading card game scalpers, which are people who purchase these products in bulk to sell high value cards and in some cases, dispose of anything that’s not valuable. The high concern with some companies placing more of an emphasis on having their players chase value cards for both artistic showcases and competitive viability. This gives people who see only value in these products a target to claim for themselves.
These are often placed in a volume of small chances encountering these cards but some people have no regard for collecting or using them in a competitive environment. They are buying booster packs and bundles to seek them out just to resell them online from the latest releases and some cards that are also promotional.
One of the most well-known card games that has been plagued with scalpers is the Pokémon trading card game. As their sought-out cards end up with high value just from the artistic showcase variants alone. When compared to Magic the Gathering where some cards that would be sought out would be for competitive reasons, or to claim a serialized card like Wizards of the Coast did with the One Ring for the Lord of the Rings from 2023. This is because they created one unique variant of The One Ring card globally which caused many to seek it out. Ever since, the card has been found and in the hands of pop star, Post Malone.
Though from a retailer’s perspective, department stores either have no policy on limiting the amount of product purchase or a hard limit per person. Otto Cargill who owns the store Otto’s Videogames and More, mentioned that the bigger issue that relates to the scalper issue is the supply of the products and tariffs associated with them.
“Choked supply lines, unpredictable import taxes and fees and a growing speculative market is affecting both the supply and demand sides of the equation. Unfortunately, this means a much more difficult market for regular players and gamers to get their cards to use in their games first,” said Cargrill.
This is the unfortunate truth within the current market. There have been supply issues especially with some of the overseas card games with the Gundam Tcg and recently introduced Riftbound Tcg which is associated with the League of Legends franchise. These card games have an extended fanbase outside of the games, which leads to extended collectors value.
Leo Parker, an associate from Paladins Game Castle brought more light on the situation with Pokémon’s Tcg.
” Pokémon is just that craze, and it’s actually that it is coming up on the 30th anniversary. People are going to eat up anything they can find in regard to Pokémon. It mostly affects Pokémon but it does Magic and on a new game release as well,” said Parker.
This situation alone does not have a resolved solution at the moment as there will be rampant demand as long there is collectables. The best option is to purchase responsibly and leave some products for new customers. I understand that not many have the funds or means to introduce others to this community-based hobby, but some adults shouldn’t ruin this opportunity for others just to make a quick buck.
