Diana Farah

The staff at Tokyo’s Pokémon Center megastore prepared themselves for the release of the latest series’ trading cards, ‘Pokémon Sword and Shield Silver Lance and Black Geist.’

The release of the collection, also known as ‘Chilling Reign’ outside of Japan, is expected to drive scalpers, or people who resell original products for a higher profit.

In order to combat scalping, the store announced that customers would only be admitted through a staggered schedule.

Lining up outside the Pokémon Center would only give buyers a designated ticket that tells them which time they can be admitted into the store. The store’s website also warned fans of forming queues without said ticket.

However, scalpers still formed a line ahead of the specified time having heard that the Pokémon Center would allow people to line up to go inside. Staff at the store attempted to put countermeasures in place by handing out time tickets starting from the back of the line.

Staff also limited how many packs a single customer could purchase. The tactic was unique, some Pokémon TCG fans agreed that it was a necessary evil to get ahead of the game.