A Japanese hobby shop has banned adults from purchasing Pokémon Trading Cards after numerous sellouts left its target audience empty-handed. It’s an extreme measure, albeit, a warranted one, as adults have been hoarding these cards and selling them online to make a quick buck.
Hareruya 2, a hobby shop in Akihabara, has decided to limit the purchase of trading cards to high schoolers and young adults. This is going to be a rule that the store takes seriously, as IDs must be shown before purchases of these collectibles can be made.
Livedoor conducted an interview with the store (translated by Kotaku) where they asked why Pokémon Trading Cards need age verification. Store manager Sho Watanabe explains that this is due to numerous sellouts from adults and wanting to serve the core demographic, which is teens and kids.
“Many shops exhaust their entire stock [of Pokémon cards] as soon as they go on sale, and people active late at night or early in the morning always seem to buy [the cards],” Watanabe told Livedoor. “By allocating half our stock for general customers, shops can continue to sell [the cards] to students and young children. Selling [goods] to children not only pleases them, but their parents as well. [We] feel this method of sales enables us to satisfy the greatest number of customers when the items are in such limited supply.”
While banning adults from buying these cards might sound extreme, this is far from the most controversial thing to involve the hobby. Fans will remember how numerous robberies took place that involved these pieces of cardboard getting stolen. There was also an unfortunate incident where a transphobic judge wouldn’t leave a team of competitors alone.
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Japanese adults might have a harder time purchasing these Pokémon Trading Cards, though we’re sure there are other stores that will cater to them. It will be interesting to see if hobby shops from other countries follow suit.