You might like collecting Pokémon cards, but do you like them enough to trigger a stampede in Walmart as soon as the store opens to the shock of the staff who have to contain the chaos?
I'm going to guess that your answer is 'no.' It's the silver anniversary of the series of monster-hunting games, when the original ones were called Pocket Monsters: Red and Green, and The Pokémon Company has a lot in store for fans all over the world. The entire year is filled to the brim with cool collaborations like a Pokémon inspired fashion collection from Levi's, announcements like New Pokémon Snap and exciting events like the virtual concert with Post Malone. Yeah. Post Malone and Pokémon. Who'd have thunk. One of these celebrations involves the return of Pokémon toys and Trading Cards to McDonald's Happy Meals, however, given the immense value of these rectangles of coloured paper, it's led to total mayhem across the U.S. This is the same thing that's happened in a Walmart over the weekend, where customers rushed to buy the restocks of the cards before they were snapped up.
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In the video taken by Instagram user tcg_grassi and shared by Twitter user bigcards30, you see that people start jogging to the shelves as soon as the doors open at seven o'clock in the morning at that store. Speaking to Kotaku, tcg_grassi said restocks are usually much more peaceful than this. They think that the ruckus was caused by a couple of people who picked up the pace, which then made others speed up, and once everyone reached the shelves, they scooped armfuls of the cards into bags and trolleys. "I've been in lines at other stores with them and they've all been respectful in the past. Kinda crazy," said tcg_grassi. Walmart's staff were also said to be "annoyed" and "shocked" at the scenes.
Expectedly, the clip has created a stir on social media. "When people can make several hundred dollars flipping just that morning's haul, it's going to continue," said @CardsPs. The Pokémon Company has expressed that it is aware of the shortages, attributing this to "high demand and global shipping constraints impacting availability." Fortunately, Target and McDonald's have put in place policies to control the demand when it comes to selling Pokémon cards, and Walmart might be considering adopting the same approach.
Featured Image Credit: tcg_grassi via Instagram, The Pokémon Company