There has been a lot of drama surrounding Pokemon Cards lately, and while this has had some negative effects on things, it seems as though The Pokemon Company is ultimately benefiting from it. In a recent financial report, The Pokemon Company revealed that it sold 34.1 billion cards over the course of the last year, that's 3.7 billion more than last year's report. There are a lot of potential reasons for this unprecedented growth, but it's important to keep in mind that anything shared here is speculative in nature, and shouldn't be taken as fact by readers.
Pokemon Cards have spiked in popularity in recent months, so it isn't all that surprising to seethe sales go up in this manner. Even so, the average Pokemon fan may not be too familiar with the card game, instead engaging with any of the many television series in the franchise. For these fans, it can be difficult to understand why people in 2020-2021 would buy a staggering 34.1 billion cards.
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Before addressing any of the controversy, players should first recognize that a majority of these sales are likely the result of an increased interest in the game. With the COVID-19 pandemic keeping people at home, players had much more time to spend looking over their collection of Pokemon cards, building decks, and naturally buying more cards. This started at around March of last year, the same time when this financial report did. Throughout the year, the Pokemon TCG saw something of a revival among fans.
Beyond this, there are likely two major reasons that the sales have skyrocketed so much: collectors and scalpers. Collecting Pokemon cards is nothing new, but with the rise in interest from a wider audience, things did change a bit. This paired with the fact that there were many new card sets being released ahead of the Pokemon TCG 25 year anniversary means that collectors were very busy this year. On the more sinister side, scalpers also have plagued the market. It's no secret that Pokemon cards can sell for a lot of money, and eager would-be entrepreneurs saw this as an opportunity to make some quick cash.
Stories of scalpers getting violent in stores or buying out McDonalds Happy Meals in order to get promotional cards culminated in Target removing Pokemon cards from its shelves. Despite this setback, The Pokemon Company still had a great year with its card sales, and these numbers could still go up in the next year.