Pokémon fans prepare for 'biggest day in a decade'

Pokémon fans brace for 'biggest day in a decade'

Pokémon collector Grace Orton is hoping to get hold of some anniversary cards

For most people, Wednesday will be just another midweek day at school or work. But for Pokémon fans, it is anything but.

The Japanese brand has grown into one of the most recognisable names in the world, with its bright creatures featured in video games and on store shelves everywhere.

Yet perhaps the thing most closely associated with the Pokémon craze is its trading card game, which collectors have played, bought and sold for the past three decades.

Wednesday sees the launch of Pokémon’s 30th anniversary range - a release one collector called the brand’s biggest day “in the last decade, if not more”.

Gus Hall, who owns Evolution Games in Halifax, said he expected fans to line up before shops open to get the first cards.

Hall, who has collected Pokémon for years, said he was “massively excited” about the anniversary range.

“If you want my personal opinion, I would say this is the biggest release for a good while for Pokémon. Some of the products and the cards they've leaked... are crazy,” he said.

Pokémon’s popularity has surged over the years, with some cards that once cost only a few pounds now fetching astonishing sums.

Hall said a box that might have been worth £200 in the late 1990s would now sell for around £35,000.

As a child, Hall used to spend about £1.99 of his pocket money on a new Pokémon card. His parents would “go ballistic” at him because they thought it was a waste of money.

He said: “They'd say to me: 'Why are you wasting your money on these types of things?'… Now I get the exact same from parents who come into my store and say to their children: 'Why are you wasting your money on these [cards]?'… But, you know, look who's laughing now!”

So what has made these cards so popular - and so valuable?

“Pokémon is different to other things in society these days - there's nothing electronic in trading cards,” Hall said.

“Parents quite like it because it's healthy; it creates friendships and trading and gaming, and incorporates all these wonderful things that aren't detrimental to a child or young person's mind.”

Hall said the pleasure of completing a set and “chasing certain cards” within it was a major part of the appeal, and he described pulling the card you want as “euphoric”.

Phoebe Watson, who works at Evolution Games, has been collecting Pokémon cards for 20 years.

She said she was “super excited” for the first anniversary release and hoped to secure some cards featuring some of her favourite Pokémon.

But Watson is realistic - she expects the first drop to sell out fast.

“It is going to be big. We get collectors in every single day, multiple times a day, and I've had hundreds of people ask me: 'When is the set dropping? Do you know how much you're getting?'.”

Lee Glen, who owns the trading card shops Rocket's Hideout in York and Selby, said Pokémon cards had “exploded” over the past five years, something he largely linked to the hobby being “multi-generational”.

“I got back into collecting five years ago with my son. It was something nostalgic that I used to do, and then got back into it with my son… You have sons, daughters, mums, everyone - and they can do it together,” Glen said.

He said Pokémon was “constantly reinventing” products and was “really good at bringing people back in”.

Glen’s York shop is normally closed on Wednesdays, but it will open specially for the first release, when he also expects customers to flock to York for the stock.

Among those hoping to get some anniversary cards is 21-year-old Grace Orton, who said she was prepared to queue to get them.

“I'll definitely be trying at some point to get some. I know it'll be really difficult if I'm not [at a shop] immediately”, Orton said.

Although she only began collecting Pokémon cards three years ago, Orton said she was “looking to spend quite a bit of money, unfortunately” on the anniversary range.

She said: “It's such a big, sought-after set. A lot of the artwork is really nice; I really want some of it for my personal collection.”

Another Pokémon fan, Ash Mehr, said he started collecting the cards 20 to 30 years ago.

After a short break, Mehr resumed collecting when his son became interested in Pokémon.

He said: “I feel like I'm sort of dragging my son to these events to try and get the cards, but really it's a little bit of a guilty pleasure of mine! But hopefully, we'll get a good haul and get some good pulls [from the anniversary range]”.

Mehr said there is a strong sense of nostalgia around Pokémon’s 30th anniversary cards, adding: “It takes me back to being a kid, really, something I don't get to enjoy now as much in my early 40s.”

But high-value products also bring risk - and Glen has warned Pokémon fans about being scammed around the anniversary release.

He urged people to buy the cards from national and independent retailers, and to stay away from “secondary markets”, which may be used to resell the cards at “two or three times” the price.

He said: “Just research and know what to spend.

“If it looks too cheap, chances are it is… because of the desirability of a product, people will always try and copy [them]. Do your homework.”