LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — As millions of Americans splurge on their Black Friday shopping, hundreds of people would line up outside Shanghai Plaza businesses searching for Japanese collectibles — including Pokémon trading cards.
Owner Peter Chen operates two businesses specializing in Japanese collectibles, each with lines hours long this morning. Many patrons waited over two hours to shop at trading card and Japanese collectible store 888 Collectibles and Japanese toy and plush store Kuma Co.
A collector at heart, Chen started collecting with the original Pokémon trading card game set released in 1999.
“I collected Pokémon cards when I was in high school. I just really enjoyed the game first, and then once I got into the cards, it was pretty fun just to collect,” said Chen. “I had four pages of Charizards when I was little. Unfortunately, I sold most of them during college because I was broke trying to get more money for ramen.”
In 2022, a shadowless, first-edition would go on to make headlines for being auctioned for $420,000.
Chen, however, said he does not like looking at cards solely for the monetary value.
“Pokémon, it spans a lot of generations,” said Chen. “Like, I’m 40 now and I still enjoy it. And little kids that come into my store also enjoy it. So it’s nice to connect with all different age groups with just one thing: which is Pokémon. “
Collector Abraham Davie was hoping to purchase packs from the Evolving Skies set, most known for the rare “Moonbreon” card which can be worth up to $1,800. But to his dismay, the final box was sold minutes after he was able to enter the store.
“The scarcity of all the packs, at least for me, has been a bit of an issue,” said Davie, hoping to purchase five card packs on Black Friday.
With demand high, it can be difficult for card enthusiasts to acquire the sets they want, said Chen. Stores will often place limits on how many items can be purchased, but vendors can still find their inventory emptied quickly, he continued. Some people will buy out card sellers’ inventories to resell collections or individual cards, Chen said.
“They’ll have a restock at Walmart and Target And, it’ll just be gone. The second it’s there,” said Davie. “So, you know, some people that work normal jobs and all that can’t really get that kind of stuff. So it makes it difficult for more casual people to still enjoy the hobby.”
Collector Zoey McIntosh hoped to purchase some Scarlet & Violet Pokémon 151 Booster set or Inteleon Pokémon cards but experienced some difficulty acquiring them.
To prepare for Black Friday, Chen saved some inventory throughout the year, he said, with a goal to provide a card shop experience with some of the most Pokémon card variety in the world for at least a few hours.
“Pokémon, like, right now It’s really popular right now. It’s sold out everywhere. Sometimes [you] can catch it at Target or Walmart, but overall it’s it’s in really high demand,” said Chen.
Javen Miguel, a regular at 888 Collectibles, said he was excited when he learned of the store’s Black Friday sales.
“A lot of the time, when I come here, just normally, they’re usually out of stock,” said Miguel, who was an early shopper. “It was kind of weird coming in and seeing everything filled up. Pretty much just anything that you wanted they had.”
Chen said they did their best to maintain what inventory they could, especially for popular sets.
