Pokémon mania returned to high streets on Friday morning as crowds gathered outside shops for the franchise's latest 30th-anniversary release. Over the past month, collectors have flooded toy stores and hobby shops across the country, some arriving hours before dawn and others camping out overnight, all hoping to secure the highly sought-after items.
Queues stretch across Cardiff
In the Welsh capital, HMV had a queue stretching towards Nationwide, with camping chairs out and bags for life in hand, as people waited for the branch to open. Some had been waiting hours, others minutes, to get their hands on the latest Pokémon set, which is said to include rare and limited edition cards.
Michelle Mcaree waited in the queue at HMV for an hour, under strict instructions from her son, who warned she would not be welcome back home if she didn't bag the collectibles. "We literally got here about eight o'clock, and managed to grab some booster bundles," she said. "My 12-year-old son is in school, he said to me last night: 'Get in the Pokémon queue and buy whatever you can - don't bother coming home if you don't.' I thought.... god! That's a lot of pressure!"
She added: "But now I can message him when he's on his lunch break. My husband was the one who got him into it - he has been collecting since he was little and now my son is joining in with it. It their little thing that they so do together, they like to sit down and open packs. They're going to be buzzing when they see this!"
Long-term fans face tougher competition
Patrick Brogan, a Pokémon fan for 20 years, was also in the queue. "I still got the base set, Jungle and Fossil set from like 1999," he shared. Over the years, Patrick said Pokémon has become increasingly popular, making collecting more difficult. "Five years ago, I could go to a shop after finishing work and buy it. Now you can't... you got to queue up at least like 24 hours before, or maybe like 15 hours before."
Patrick had already been to Smyth's Toy Superstore on Newport Street that morning, having queued since three in the morning, but was only able to purchase £60 worth of stock, prompting him to take the trip to HMV. "We were 62nd in the queue [in Smyth's] - there were about 150 people down there." He gestured to his back, which contained a few card packs. "There's not much really, so this is why we have to go to town then and queue up and get more Pokémon... Just to try and complete the sets, because otherwise you ain't going to complete the sets."
As a long-term fan, Patrick believes the reason more people have been drawn to the franchise and collecting is largely due to the monetary aspect. "I've been collecting for years, but I grade; so I send my cards off for grading in America. I currently got a Gengar from Ascending Heroes over in America right now.... But I think a lot of people are just in there for the money, really, which is annoying for the people who've been collecting for years - they just can't get stuff, and when you see people want to buy it, they want double, triple the price. You got to queue up at the shops to get it at face value."
Nostalgia and rarity drive demand
One lucky fan who managed to find a coveted card was Boran Erdogan. "I started queueing around like 6.30-ish. I was meant to come at 7 but I woke up earlier and I couldn't sleep. So I figured might as well come out for a quick walk." Boran has been enjoying Pokémon for the last 11 years and was keen to get involved in the 30th anniversary celebrations. "I refuse to pay market price, so I figured I'll give it a go here," he added.
Much like Patrick, Boran believes the queues are largely down to how much the cards are now worth. "There has been a thing where a lot of hobbies have been taken over - people looking to get into money instead of the hobby itself. Pokémon is a very big victim of this, in my opinion." But for Boran, the love for Pokémon stems from nostalgia. "The character design is cool, and it's a part of a lot of people's childhood. So that's probably the big reason. That and money." Regardless of people's reasoning, Boran was just happy to get one of the rarest cards in the set, which he had been on the hunt for.
Not far from HMV, along Duke Street, another queue had formed outside Forbidden Planet. Many of those standing outside had already been on somewhat of a "Pokémon-crawl", having already hit Smyth's, Ryman's and the Entertainer. One of those people is Tian Salway, a long-term fan of the Pokémon franchise. "I have been doing Pokémon since it came out - from the very beginning, I have been playing games and collecting the original cards. I stopped for a while but been back for the last two years."
Tian had been in the queue at Forbidden Planet for ten minutes, barely a scratch in comparison to his wait outside Smyth's. "We queued up at Smyth's on Newport Road from two o'clock this morning. We got everything we wanted but we thought we'd chance it in town." As to why people would dedicate so much of their time to the franchise, Tian's answer is simple: "Nostalgia."
"A lot of people here are old enough to remember it coming out," Tian shared. "It's such a big franchise. With it being their 30th anniversary., I think we're all feeling a bit nostalgic about it. Obviously some people are in it for the money and to resell, but personally I am here for the nostalgic aspect."
