Card game show bans greedy Pokémon scalpers once and for all

A Baltimore-based TCG show has taken a stand against vultures who are only in it to profit from real Pokémon fans

It's a miserable time to be a Pokémon trading card fan. Unless you're getting in line a day before a retail drop, or are willing to pay for an army of bots, it's incredibly difficult to buy Pokémon cards without resorting to resellers. In some cases, the retailers themselves are cranking up TCG prices by nearly 50%. Videos of fights over cards at stores go viral nearly every day. The whole thing is awful enough that one card game show has decided to take a stand.

Feel Good Gaming is a Baltimore-based trading card game community that emphasizes Yu-Gi-Oh and holds events welcoming other major trading card games, like Pokémon. The collective just held a free weekend event entirely focused on Pokémon, where participants could go to play, trade, and sell cards and related merchandise. On Monday, a day after the event concluded, founder Evan Lipshultz announced that future events will work differently going forward.

"The scalping situation has gotten out of hand," Lipshultz wrote in an Instagram post where he addressed fan feedback and complaints about the event.

The post goes on to say that Feel Good Gaming has effectively banned vendors from selling sealed and current Pokémon products that can be purchased in stores. Attendees are still allowed to sell sealed products to vendors, but the idea is to curb the presence of large-scale businesses built around the premise of flipping Pokémon cards at a premium.

Lipshultz also promised to expand his efforts to find good vendors for the show, ideally ones that could bring the needed expertise and sensibility to ensure a good experience for everyone.

"I care a lot about the vibe of my shows and the community we’re building together," Lipshultz wrote. "Appreciate all of you who show up and speak up — it genuinely helps shape what this becomes."

Lipshultz did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but the move has made a splash within the wider Pokémon trading card game community.

"This is a great way to weed out some of the scalpers that do these random shows to sell their products," one Instagram comment reads.

"More shows should do this," another declared.

Not everyone is happy about the move. Some Instagram comments called the ban an "L" or predicted that show attendance would suffer because of it. Many people attend card game shows specifically to find products they can't find on the shelves.

But on the whole, Pokémon fans are thrilled at the news and begging more events to implement a similar rule. On Reddit, a post about the show ban has exploded with thousands of upvotes.

"My God please let this catch on, it's so sickening going to shows and seeing rows of vendors with sealed stuff they bought from Target," the post reads.

"I wish pokemon would mandate that," another opined. "Give way more inventory to local stores but then require things be sold cut AND at MSRP."