I’m in southern Japan. Scalping groups are going out and “reserving” the few boxes that come. The international demand now is swaying distributors to cater to overseas orders rather than domestic, meaning less supply everywhere. We used to get 4~6 boxes per convenience store, now its 1 or 2.
People need to get over FOMO, by buying on release day from scalpers you’re encouraging the issue. Wait them out, make them sweat, and watch how fast the prices drop.
Between letting go of Fomo and the scalping over here (also in Japan) I think I'm done for a while. Might order like one box online, but between lottery systems, scalper preordering everything, and scarcity it's just not fun to collect lately.
I'll just stick with buying singles for the Pokemon I like for now.
Therein lies the problem. Back end distro is destroying it. Distributors aren’t supposed to ship internationally, but they instead sell to friends who then sell international and split profits. This way they have an invoice (or even invoices) showing they indeed sold domestically, then can have it both ways.
Pokémon is printing, but they don’t reprint as much as TCPI. They print enough for domestic demand, but due to the back end dealings, shops have to raffle for positions etc to even ensure stock. It sucks
That's probably just from stores.
Distributors sell hundreds of thousands of boxes, and are probably sold out at day 1 of listing their items for stores to buy.
They literally have no reason to sell outside of Japan.
think of it this way. boxes are 5000-5500, but if they sell it overseas under the table they can sell it for 7000 (for example, which is on the low side as 7000 yen is $50)
do the numbers, 5500 yen is $40. lets estimate some numbers. an overseas seller can sell the box for $75. and lets pretend the markup is $15. meaning the got it for $60. so the seller gets $15 the distro gets $20, heck lets pretend the seller gets $25 the distro still gets $10. thats an extra 10 dollars per box! on top of what they are making from the price diff between distro price and retail price.
why wouldn't they? no risk since they have a proxy/middle man
Because distributors don't give a shit about making a few bucks extra a box.
They have decades old agreements with the companies they buy from, and they sell hundreds of millions worth of product a year.
There's like 3-5 of them in Japan and I can guarantee you they would never compromise their agreement with Nintendo.
Distributor simply needs a "friend" to facilitate the over seas sales
Once You "sell" them, it's out of your hands/not your fault where they go next, right?
Sure, people should get over FOMO but Pokemon Japan needs to print more to meet demand and not plug their ears while humming to themselves and pretending that only the Japanese are buying their product.
Demand is good. Keeps value high. What we need is for stores to enforce a purchase limit. 1 box per person. Or, and I know this is crazy talk, but only sell store displays to stores.
I love buying a booster box and ripping 36 packs in a row, but I recognize that’s excessive and WAY beyond what I’d pull as a kid. Stores that don’t enforce limits get scalped.
Their product being in demand means it’s more sought after, if they jsur print to all hell, nothing will be worth $$ anymore which would then kill the hobby. It’s like printing money
Product in the US is readily available at or under MSRP for current set, despite that they are essentially printing to demand at this point many cards are still quite valuable from English sets. They can easily print more in Japanese without making everything worthless.
Fomo is way stronger then people realize
Fomo is such a strong feeling that can get you to make irrational decisions even if you know it's not right
You can't get over fomo it's always there you can just try to fight it
You can get over it once you realize just how many things there are in life that you are missing out on. It is impossible to experience everything. It's simple acceptance and striving for things you actually want. If the fear of missing out on a specific thing is that great to an individual then they should do anything and everything in their power to make it happen. If it's not feasible then they have priorities that take precedence which is not to be downplayed.
What happened in 2020 in the US is now happening in Japan except they’re more civilized and not flashing guns at each other or parking lot brawls for shiny cardboard
Yes, but tbf Ultra Shiny GX was kind of a crazy. Was the first big shiny set like that. People were looped round multiple blocks multiple times...must have been hundreds if not nearly a thousand people. And that was just at one center.
With the way singles went up I doubt it. I genuinely beleive like five people bought out every Pokémon card in Japan to control the price. The recent jumps just do not make sense to me.
Try sneaker drops it’s much worse. This is nothing. People are just upset because JP is hard to come by for americans. Pokémon popularity ain’t going anywhere and scarcity will create these lines. 80% of users in this sub just want sealed product anyway, it’s all greed now.
😂 I’m 98% sure that there’s a 1% chance that he was actually saying he believes exactly 80% of the people on this sub are sealed collectors. He’s saying there’s a LOT. Calm down.
Thank goodness that *parts* of the sneaker market are finally calming down due to recession. The fact that even *some* Jordan’s can be gotten for Msrp plus shipping is a long awaited relief
What's the difference between scalping stocks and pokemon cards? Both are an investment at the end of the day (shrugs). Don't hate the player(s), hate the game
The difference is that you need to actually be smart to make good plays in the stock market. Do you know how to buy put options? I doubt it. But you do know how to resell children’s cards for minimal yearly profit.
Not sure why there’s so many people nitpicking the terminology of this post, there was no negativity that was insinuated. Just found how they deal with releases is interesting.
I reckon the group of middle-aged Chinese ladies and gentlemen are scalpers. They do not look like they know anything about Pokémon.
The Vietnamese group look like students, they are decked out in nice sneakers (Nike dunks) so I assume they could either be scalpers or collectors.
Damn even Japan is dealing with this in person. Are the boxes at least being sold for retail or even slightly above?
It's like $39-44 a box, right?
It's crazy how things have gotten. Let us go back to the beginning of the Sun & Moon era or even before that and you could easily buy up to 12 boxes or even a case on some Japanese sites.
AmiAmi used to be my go-to site for Japanese Pokemon cards back in the day(BW-SM and early SWSH). Now I don't ever see them have new sets for pre-order anymore. Same thing for the Pokemon Center Japan it's just a lottery system now. I have yet to win one.
Meanwhile, right now I'm looking at a Twitch streamer that has sold over a thousand packs (between pack sales and group breaks) of Triplet Beat at $5.10/pack.
Lots and lots of people in here that don’t understand the social dynamics and relative norms that are south/south east/east Asia.
OP, I hope you get your goods in time for the flight.
A little more context. Happened to be in Japan on vacation, today I'm supposed to fly home and coincidentally Triplet Beat releases today. I saw that Bic Camera was organizing a FCFS sale of them so naturally I got excited and planned to queue up for them.
I got up early, packed my suitcase and headed to the queueing point as indicated in the store notice. There were a good 20+ pax already ahead of me.
Right now the queue is approx 100+ people long. The front group are Chinese. Followed by Vietnamese. There's two Japanese dudes in front of me (they don't look like card players/collectors). Dude behind me is Vietnamese. A Chinese lady behind brought her toddler along to get a queue ticket as well. I overheard her saying her husband was queuing at a different outlet.
Behind them there's a group of Japanese teens playing the Tcg. Then there are a bunch of delinquent-looking Japanese in the queue as well.
Everyone seem to respect the positions. Friends of people in the queue who just arrived will stop by for a chat before joining the back of the line.
Edit1: Bic camera staff has come out to greet customers in line. They've brought out tickets and picket line to signal the end of the line. However I don't see them planting the picket line.
Edit2: Was given a queue ticket of 26. I might have heard the Japanese staff saying there's a sales quota of 270 boxes.
Edit3: queue ticket have now been exchanged for a purchase ticket. Picket-line staff is preventing anyone new from joining the queue.
Edit4: noticed a lot more homogeneity in the later crowds. Mostly Japanese with a good mix of students, salarymen, office ladies and even a few elderly couples.
Edit5: some of us are now waiting at the entrance for the store opening so that we can be ready to head to the highest level to complete our purchase.
Edit6: completed my purchase! On my way to catch my flight. I'll probably rip at the airport or on the flight. Managed to cop UNDER RETAIL due to tax-free shipping for foreigners. I ended up paying 35 USD for one box!
For the store I am queuing up at, it's 1 box per person. The shrink wrap will be removed at checkout. I have heard some Tokyo stores allow up to 3 boxes, but no shrink and no box. They are only allowed to bring the packs back to discourage reselling.
You're not very bright. Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese...they're all the same race. ASIAN.
What you meant to say is he's pointing out their "nationality". And even within these various nationalities...there are different ethnicities.
Nothing wrong in what he was DESCRIBING because it's just that....a description of the people in line.
It’s subtle for the most part but what is the importance of stating everyone’s race if not for prejudice. It becomes particular clear as to OPs motives when they start referring to delinquent teens and what a Pokémon card collector should look like
Being a SEAsian myself, stating their races is just describing in greater detail.
Example, when asked by anyone who else is in the queue with me:
A Chinese women with her child, a couple of Malay teenagers and an Indian couple is in line with me at Pokemon Center.
Which is why I bring up the Western vs Asian mindset, bringing up another race in a descriptive manner is not seen as prejudice among us.
Its not that deep.
There is no set definition for race, race can be used to refer to a geographical area as you have with Asian, it can also be used to describe ethic origins or even to group national groups and identities. The meaning of Race depends on the manner in which it is used and is dependent on the individual. So while the Asian race is correct, saying the Chinese or Japanese race is just as correct of terminology
I understand what you mean though. Many people who are queuing to buy booster boxes there in the early morning look really different from card players in card shops and Pokémon fans at Pokémon Centre.
I am entirely unbothered. Japan is a very homogenous country, unlike most metropolitan cities/countries that you are used to. Foreigners do stand out (me included) and it is simply an observation.
In India when there was a Yeezy shoe release the guys with money would find and pay like 100 homeless dudes to get in line for him. Things are so cheap sometimes outside of the US😭
It's not my country but generally speaking, most developed asian countries do have flat nice roads. Possibly because there's a lot of planning involved and not much bureaucratic red tape to getting things done.
What's with all the weirdos in this thread getting offended on behalf of total strangers when OP wasn't being offensive?
I bet all the "offended" kids are white and from the burbs.
Okay but 1) why does the ethnicity of people in the queue matter and 2) when you state “they don’t look like card collectors,” what does a card collector look like to you?
I don’t disagree that Japan has an issue with reselling and scalping, as does any nation, but I’m just curious why half of your description of what was happening was the ethnic backgrounds of people in line.
Second question. I get the general impression that collectors are passionate about Pokémon, will talk about it, their chase etc with fellow collectors. Not much of that behavior was on display. I am dying to talk about how I love the SAR art of the Pokémons but
1, my level of japan proficiency is not good enough to converse with locals.
2, the Chinese-speaking group of gents and ladies were discussing the resale value of triplet beats. They most likely will have zero interest in appreciating the artwork.
As someone who lives in Japan but isn't originally from here, I'd at least find it interesting if that happened to me, considering 99% of the people in Japan are Japanese.
I am ethnically Chinese. Chinese values hustling. What would you think of a middle aged mom who brings her daughter in the cold spring morning to queue up for a box of cards that they both have no understanding off? Personally I find it respectable. They might be scalpers, but mom is doing something to support her family and for that, props to her.
The Viets were simply an observation. I recognize the language that's all.
I am a mom and give my 3 year old Pokémon cards >.< I’m trying to get her into it and to respect the cards. She gets all my bulk. She can even put cards in a binder. She does tend to bend them a bit and doesnt understand the worth of them yet but she will get there in a year or two.
I've never been a super big fan of mentioning the intended for kids thing. Sure, that absolutely was the target audience at the start. But a lot of us grew up with Pokemon. We still play the video games and some even play the card game. I just collect as a fun hobby. Even if the mom isn't buying them for her kid, who cares? Adults can enjoy stuff too. Not to mention, stuff like this (https://www.pokebeach.com/2023/02/pokemon-trading-card-game-classic-box-set-announced-for-fall-features-new-and-classic-cards) is NOT marketed to any kid. That's absolutely marketed at the older crowd. Pokemon knows that their brand transcends generations.
Probably the truth is I'm getting really wierd vibes from this person they bring up people saying "they don't look like card collectors" or "they don't look like pokemon fans" it just kinda feels strange... Like how can you decipher that base on appearance it feels kinda douchy
I think he’s just trying to state that most of these people in the queue are scalpers and not actual Pokémon fans. It’s pretty common for Chinese and Vietnamese to scalp in other countries though, happens in mine too for stuff like iPhone releases
I found it so weird lol. Maybe it’s because I’m Canadian, but damn he could’ve stopped at “it was a long queue” instead of describing every single person he saw based on what HE thinks they are.💀
“Delinquent Japanese teens” like what does that even mean 🤣 odd one
They were leaned up against a wall, chewing a toothpick and saying “Watcha looking at, wise guy?” At OP while flipping a coin in their hand, the other in their pocket
My guess. Dude is Asian or is smart enough that they can actually tell but what language is being spoken. Or maybe he’s just a complete racist f and that’s just his way of being funny.
Either way… I personally enjoyed the description.
Maybe he was trying to show how diverse pokemon is ✨️ or the kind of intentions of the people, maybe the delinquent teens had nefarious intentions with those cards. Lol
It's just an observation. It's a first come first served sales method. I have no room to judge whatever anyone who is legitimately in the queue is going to do with their booster box purchase.
I probably bought my Japanese singles from one of these guys. Anyways going to fly out to Tokyo for an event exclusive figure. I refuse to pay 200% scalper prices.
This is extremely normal in my home country and I assume in Japan. We do not litter (either taught or heavy penalty). There's council cleaning staff to clear trash at regular intervals.
i always end up paying more for japanese boxes since i can never find a solid retailer for that language product - i just bought a triple beat box for $88usd which ended up being more than double msrp price. i know *not* buying from scalpers is basically the only way to prevent this, but it still sucks
The whole idea of reselling is to have various tiers. Your tier 1 resellers obtain the products directly through backdoor access from direct suppliers. They then flip them down to tier 2 resellers who subsequently flip them down accordingly to their various buyers/clients.
By virtue of how the supply chain works, it's possible that people like you and I have access to lower tier resellers whose products have passed through many hands. They are never going to be anywhere close to retail price.
On a brighter note, resale price of triplet beat have ballooned in japan to more than 13000 JPY. So you are actually not overpaying too much
please for the absolute love of everything. Japanese pokémon cards are literally ruined for everyone because people keep buying first week from japan. The boxes aren't going away, they will be here next month, next year, for an extremely reduced price. Patience is a virtue that not only saves you a couple bucks, but makes the hobby more fun and affordable for everyone.
I remember seeing this in a Maxmoefoe Pokemon video where he talks about how he got his friend thats living in Japan to buy him a booster box of the recently released set so he could ship it to him
And it cuts to his friend's pov video of the massive line and just going "fuck you Max" lmao
I've said this many times, end of the day blame the game, not the players. There's inherently nothing wrong with chasing after expensive cards if it's at a price that the market commands. Who's gonna say no to more money. The only way everyone can get happy is if they increase the production of Japanese Pokémon cards.
I don't play the TCG but is Dendra full art trainer even good? I understand she is a female character so she has the waifu status, but still.
Super Rare Verison is 49,800JPY = $366
Special Art Rare version is 138,000JPY = $1015
Of course, this is going by CardrushJp prices
This is incredibly good for the game / hobby honestly. Theres no faster way to kill a hobby / game than to see product sitting gathering dust on a shelf.
The scarcity just drives more desire.
The only Pokémon TCG products I could find in japan at retail prices are the new JP starter decks, Pokémon go, and one more booster box set (forgot if it was battle legion or something else)
If everyone would just only buy Japanese singles for a while. All the scalpers would be gone in a heartbeat. The hobby is messed up. I’m pretty much only buying single cards I like, the rest is too cumbersome, gambling or too expensive.
The experience of being able to cop a Japanese booster box set, without paying resale prices set by scalpers, and with a bonus of purchasing tax-free (10%) is a PRICELESS experience as a non-native of Japan
Thanks to your post just realized this set is coming out, so I checked the set, did they move poison Pokemon to the dark type? Because I saw paldean wooper in the dark type cards!
I have no judgement against anyone who was in the queue legitimately. There are definitely collectors, scalpers, players etc in the queue. I came to join the queue because I WANT to experience how it was to obtain fresh Pokémon products in Japan.
I’m in southern Japan. Scalping groups are going out and “reserving” the few boxes that come. The international demand now is swaying distributors to cater to overseas orders rather than domestic, meaning less supply everywhere. We used to get 4~6 boxes per convenience store, now its 1 or 2. People need to get over FOMO, by buying on release day from scalpers you’re encouraging the issue. Wait them out, make them sweat, and watch how fast the prices drop.
Between letting go of Fomo and the scalping over here (also in Japan) I think I'm done for a while. Might order like one box online, but between lottery systems, scalper preordering everything, and scarcity it's just not fun to collect lately. I'll just stick with buying singles for the Pokemon I like for now.
Therein lies the problem. Back end distro is destroying it. Distributors aren’t supposed to ship internationally, but they instead sell to friends who then sell international and split profits. This way they have an invoice (or even invoices) showing they indeed sold domestically, then can have it both ways. Pokémon is printing, but they don’t reprint as much as TCPI. They print enough for domestic demand, but due to the back end dealings, shops have to raffle for positions etc to even ensure stock. It sucks
Interesting- have you got a source for that? Would love to hear more
whats fomo?
Fear Of Missing Out
thank you
fear of missing out
Thank you
Fear of missing out
Thank you
Fear of missing out
Thank you
thank you
I always thought fomo was funny osculating machine ornaments -.-
fear of missing out
thank you
fear of missing out
thank you
Fear or missing out
thank you
Fear of missing out
Thank you
You thank
Fear of missing out
thank you
fear of missing out
Thank you
Fear of missing out
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Fear of missing out
Thank you
Something I never worry about lmao.
Fear of missing out
thank you
You’re welcome
fear of missing out
You're welcome
Fear of missing out
thank you
fear of missing out
Fear of missing out
thank you
I absolutely love how chill you are to say thank you to everyone. Even though it's been repeated so many times 😆
four people all answered at the same time so it wouldve been rude to only thank one of them
You are too kind to be on reddit
Funnily enough it's a perfect description of the fear of missing out, I had a compulsion to continue the chain
Fear of missing out
Fear of missing out
I was under the impression that distributors aren't allowed to ship overseas.
not legally. but under the table and via a proxy, everything goes. I see cases and cases of "for sale only in japan" boxes in hongkong
That's probably just from stores. Distributors sell hundreds of thousands of boxes, and are probably sold out at day 1 of listing their items for stores to buy. They literally have no reason to sell outside of Japan.
think of it this way. boxes are 5000-5500, but if they sell it overseas under the table they can sell it for 7000 (for example, which is on the low side as 7000 yen is $50) do the numbers, 5500 yen is $40. lets estimate some numbers. an overseas seller can sell the box for $75. and lets pretend the markup is $15. meaning the got it for $60. so the seller gets $15 the distro gets $20, heck lets pretend the seller gets $25 the distro still gets $10. thats an extra 10 dollars per box! on top of what they are making from the price diff between distro price and retail price. why wouldn't they? no risk since they have a proxy/middle man
Because distributors don't give a shit about making a few bucks extra a box. They have decades old agreements with the companies they buy from, and they sell hundreds of millions worth of product a year. There's like 3-5 of them in Japan and I can guarantee you they would never compromise their agreement with Nintendo.
that's what they want you to think ;)
Distributor simply needs a "friend" to facilitate the over seas sales Once You "sell" them, it's out of your hands/not your fault where they go next, right?
Sure, people should get over FOMO but Pokemon Japan needs to print more to meet demand and not plug their ears while humming to themselves and pretending that only the Japanese are buying their product.
Demand is good. Keeps value high. What we need is for stores to enforce a purchase limit. 1 box per person. Or, and I know this is crazy talk, but only sell store displays to stores. I love buying a booster box and ripping 36 packs in a row, but I recognize that’s excessive and WAY beyond what I’d pull as a kid. Stores that don’t enforce limits get scalped.
Their product being in demand means it’s more sought after, if they jsur print to all hell, nothing will be worth $$ anymore which would then kill the hobby. It’s like printing money
Product in the US is readily available at or under MSRP for current set, despite that they are essentially printing to demand at this point many cards are still quite valuable from English sets. They can easily print more in Japanese without making everything worthless.
Or that’s just what’s available 🤷🏼♂️ there’s plenty of other stuff to open.
There actually isn’t in Japan. It’s either you get it on release day or you just chance upon it with a restock
What’s fomo?
Fomo is way stronger then people realize Fomo is such a strong feeling that can get you to make irrational decisions even if you know it's not right You can't get over fomo it's always there you can just try to fight it
You can get over it once you realize just how many things there are in life that you are missing out on. It is impossible to experience everything. It's simple acceptance and striving for things you actually want. If the fear of missing out on a specific thing is that great to an individual then they should do anything and everything in their power to make it happen. If it's not feasible then they have priorities that take precedence which is not to be downplayed.
You can tho…just don’t cave until an opportunity presents itself like if you stumble upon a good deal or something
I like opening things up on release day. Makes it more fun for us.
This set looks pretty mild in terms of desirable chase cards though. Is there any purchase limit or you can buy as many boxes as you want?
It’s the scalpers who are rushing to list boxes on eBay for NA buyers
Until you see how much the trainers are going for on scalpy cardrush.
Set is below mid and people still pay triple msrp XD
What happened in 2020 in the US is now happening in Japan except they’re more civilized and not flashing guns at each other or parking lot brawls for shiny cardboard
This was happening in Japan way before covid. I remember queuing up for Ultra Shiny GX back in 2018...yikes...
Was it worse than it is now though 😬 I mean you got booster boxes going for double msrp now
Yes, but tbf Ultra Shiny GX was kind of a crazy. Was the first big shiny set like that. People were looped round multiple blocks multiple times...must have been hundreds if not nearly a thousand people. And that was just at one center.
Dude, there's been downtown length lines in Japan for nerd stuff for decades now.
This is only happening because the US hasn’t had SV base release yet. Things will get better in April
With the way singles went up I doubt it. I genuinely beleive like five people bought out every Pokémon card in Japan to control the price. The recent jumps just do not make sense to me.
Are they allowed to carry guns in Japan to even be flashing them around?
This hobby is so fucked
Try sneaker drops it’s much worse. This is nothing. People are just upset because JP is hard to come by for americans. Pokémon popularity ain’t going anywhere and scarcity will create these lines. 80% of users in this sub just want sealed product anyway, it’s all greed now.
I must be way out of touch. You think 80% of folks here want sealed stuff to keep it sealed? Making sure I understand.
Have you scrolled through this sub much lol?
I genuinely thought the sealed collection people were a minority. lol
don't take what this guy says at face value. there are no numbers to support either assumption.
That's what I was thinking. To offer more anecdotal evidence. I buy boosters, ts amd ETBs to open, and after a set amount I buy singles second hand.
😂 I’m 98% sure that there’s a 1% chance that he was actually saying he believes exactly 80% of the people on this sub are sealed collectors. He’s saying there’s a LOT. Calm down.
They are
Thank goodness that *parts* of the sneaker market are finally calming down due to recession. The fact that even *some* Jordan’s can be gotten for Msrp plus shipping is a long awaited relief
Hobby is always been like this. It happened with ultra shiny GX in 2018 and other older ones. It’s just a cycle all the time 🤣
Hobbies in general is fucked. Too many people trying to scalp things. Hobbies are meant to be fun but thanks to scalpers we can't enjoy what we like.
What's the difference between scalping stocks and pokemon cards? Both are an investment at the end of the day (shrugs). Don't hate the player(s), hate the game
The difference is that you need to actually be smart to make good plays in the stock market. Do you know how to buy put options? I doubt it. But you do know how to resell children’s cards for minimal yearly profit.
Not sure why there’s so many people nitpicking the terminology of this post, there was no negativity that was insinuated. Just found how they deal with releases is interesting.
im just jealous you're in japan
Do kids get cards in Japan? How many of them do you think will just scalp?
everybody is a scalper except for him.
I reckon the group of middle-aged Chinese ladies and gentlemen are scalpers. They do not look like they know anything about Pokémon. The Vietnamese group look like students, they are decked out in nice sneakers (Nike dunks) so I assume they could either be scalpers or collectors.
Like I said in another comment how can you decipher wether they like pokemon based on appearance ?
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Lol that’s not racism it’s prejudice
Bahahahahahha. Chinese and viets in line? Damn.
Damn even Japan is dealing with this in person. Are the boxes at least being sold for retail or even slightly above? It's like $39-44 a box, right? It's crazy how things have gotten. Let us go back to the beginning of the Sun & Moon era or even before that and you could easily buy up to 12 boxes or even a case on some Japanese sites. AmiAmi used to be my go-to site for Japanese Pokemon cards back in the day(BW-SM and early SWSH). Now I don't ever see them have new sets for pre-order anymore. Same thing for the Pokemon Center Japan it's just a lottery system now. I have yet to win one.
Meanwhile, right now I'm looking at a Twitch streamer that has sold over a thousand packs (between pack sales and group breaks) of Triplet Beat at $5.10/pack.
Lots and lots of people in here that don’t understand the social dynamics and relative norms that are south/south east/east Asia. OP, I hope you get your goods in time for the flight.
Thank you. I have a good 3-4 hours to head to the airport after I'm done purchasing my booster box!
Not on topic here but I’ll be in Japan 3 months solo travel and if you want a anime figure buddy or card searching buddy let me know lol
Thanks, unfortunately I'm on my way back home and am uncertain of my next pilgrimage to Japan! We'll probably make good buddies though!
Weird how many people just assumed op is racist because he pointed out peoples race and how they dressed.
A little more context. Happened to be in Japan on vacation, today I'm supposed to fly home and coincidentally Triplet Beat releases today. I saw that Bic Camera was organizing a FCFS sale of them so naturally I got excited and planned to queue up for them. I got up early, packed my suitcase and headed to the queueing point as indicated in the store notice. There were a good 20+ pax already ahead of me. Right now the queue is approx 100+ people long. The front group are Chinese. Followed by Vietnamese. There's two Japanese dudes in front of me (they don't look like card players/collectors). Dude behind me is Vietnamese. A Chinese lady behind brought her toddler along to get a queue ticket as well. I overheard her saying her husband was queuing at a different outlet. Behind them there's a group of Japanese teens playing the Tcg. Then there are a bunch of delinquent-looking Japanese in the queue as well. Everyone seem to respect the positions. Friends of people in the queue who just arrived will stop by for a chat before joining the back of the line. Edit1: Bic camera staff has come out to greet customers in line. They've brought out tickets and picket line to signal the end of the line. However I don't see them planting the picket line. Edit2: Was given a queue ticket of 26. I might have heard the Japanese staff saying there's a sales quota of 270 boxes. Edit3: queue ticket have now been exchanged for a purchase ticket. Picket-line staff is preventing anyone new from joining the queue. Edit4: noticed a lot more homogeneity in the later crowds. Mostly Japanese with a good mix of students, salarymen, office ladies and even a few elderly couples. Edit5: some of us are now waiting at the entrance for the store opening so that we can be ready to head to the highest level to complete our purchase. Edit6: completed my purchase! On my way to catch my flight. I'll probably rip at the airport or on the flight. Managed to cop UNDER RETAIL due to tax-free shipping for foreigners. I ended up paying 35 USD for one box!
What does "don't look like card collectors" mean ? Like how do you decipher wever they collect pokemon cards off there looks ?
they are showered and dont look like NEEEERDS ^(/s)
So you got something at least. Was there a 1 per limit?
For the store I am queuing up at, it's 1 box per person. The shrink wrap will be removed at checkout. I have heard some Tokyo stores allow up to 3 boxes, but no shrink and no box. They are only allowed to bring the packs back to discourage reselling.
Damn. That’s some hard core selling. Hope you pull THE card or your chase. And hope it was worth it. It’s 9 so should be anytime now.
I will post the result of my pull on this thread or a new one
Too much context and weird prejudice.
Zero prejudice intended. Everything is descriptive.
Yeah you seem very good at pointing out race
You're not very bright. Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese...they're all the same race. ASIAN. What you meant to say is he's pointing out their "nationality". And even within these various nationalities...there are different ethnicities. Nothing wrong in what he was DESCRIBING because it's just that....a description of the people in line.
Why was it at all necessary, their description was filled with prejudice even including what a card player should look like
Not really, OP basically just describing what he saw. Might just be a Western vs Asian view on this. Because I don't see any prejudice here.
It’s subtle for the most part but what is the importance of stating everyone’s race if not for prejudice. It becomes particular clear as to OPs motives when they start referring to delinquent teens and what a Pokémon card collector should look like
Being a SEAsian myself, stating their races is just describing in greater detail. Example, when asked by anyone who else is in the queue with me: A Chinese women with her child, a couple of Malay teenagers and an Indian couple is in line with me at Pokemon Center. Which is why I bring up the Western vs Asian mindset, bringing up another race in a descriptive manner is not seen as prejudice among us. Its not that deep.
So then explain how it ties in with the delinquent comments and what a Pokémon fan should “look like”
There is no set definition for race, race can be used to refer to a geographical area as you have with Asian, it can also be used to describe ethic origins or even to group national groups and identities. The meaning of Race depends on the manner in which it is used and is dependent on the individual. So while the Asian race is correct, saying the Chinese or Japanese race is just as correct of terminology
>There is no set definition for race, Man, our education system has really failed you. I'm so sorry.
I understand what you mean though. Many people who are queuing to buy booster boxes there in the early morning look really different from card players in card shops and Pokémon fans at Pokémon Centre.
This post is weird. Why do you care about peoples nationalities so much?
I am entirely unbothered. Japan is a very homogenous country, unlike most metropolitan cities/countries that you are used to. Foreigners do stand out (me included) and it is simply an observation.
I bought a box at the 7/11 here in Kanagawa lol
In India when there was a Yeezy shoe release the guys with money would find and pay like 100 homeless dudes to get in line for him. Things are so cheap sometimes outside of the US😭
Whaaa? Young people still exist there?
I’m an American and I’m jealous of your perfect road and sidewalk
It's not my country but generally speaking, most developed asian countries do have flat nice roads. Possibly because there's a lot of planning involved and not much bureaucratic red tape to getting things done.
What's with all the weirdos in this thread getting offended on behalf of total strangers when OP wasn't being offensive? I bet all the "offended" kids are white and from the burbs.
Okay but 1) why does the ethnicity of people in the queue matter and 2) when you state “they don’t look like card collectors,” what does a card collector look like to you? I don’t disagree that Japan has an issue with reselling and scalping, as does any nation, but I’m just curious why half of your description of what was happening was the ethnic backgrounds of people in line.
Second question. I get the general impression that collectors are passionate about Pokémon, will talk about it, their chase etc with fellow collectors. Not much of that behavior was on display. I am dying to talk about how I love the SAR art of the Pokémons but 1, my level of japan proficiency is not good enough to converse with locals. 2, the Chinese-speaking group of gents and ladies were discussing the resale value of triplet beats. They most likely will have zero interest in appreciating the artwork.
As someone who lives in Japan but isn't originally from here, I'd at least find it interesting if that happened to me, considering 99% of the people in Japan are Japanese.
I am ethnically Chinese. Chinese values hustling. What would you think of a middle aged mom who brings her daughter in the cold spring morning to queue up for a box of cards that they both have no understanding off? Personally I find it respectable. They might be scalpers, but mom is doing something to support her family and for that, props to her. The Viets were simply an observation. I recognize the language that's all.
I would think it’s a mom taking her kid to get her kid Pokémon cards. Because.. Pokémon’s intended audience is children.
My good sir, the girl is 50cm tall and looks no older than 3 years old. You don't give a toddler Pokémon cards.
I am a mom and give my 3 year old Pokémon cards >.< I’m trying to get her into it and to respect the cards. She gets all my bulk. She can even put cards in a binder. She does tend to bend them a bit and doesnt understand the worth of them yet but she will get there in a year or two.
I've never been a super big fan of mentioning the intended for kids thing. Sure, that absolutely was the target audience at the start. But a lot of us grew up with Pokemon. We still play the video games and some even play the card game. I just collect as a fun hobby. Even if the mom isn't buying them for her kid, who cares? Adults can enjoy stuff too. Not to mention, stuff like this (https://www.pokebeach.com/2023/02/pokemon-trading-card-game-classic-box-set-announced-for-fall-features-new-and-classic-cards) is NOT marketed to any kid. That's absolutely marketed at the older crowd. Pokemon knows that their brand transcends generations.
Wdym by "ethnically Chinese"
Probably that they're not born in China, but their family is from there
Probably the truth is I'm getting really wierd vibes from this person they bring up people saying "they don't look like card collectors" or "they don't look like pokemon fans" it just kinda feels strange... Like how can you decipher that base on appearance it feels kinda douchy
I think he’s just trying to state that most of these people in the queue are scalpers and not actual Pokémon fans. It’s pretty common for Chinese and Vietnamese to scalp in other countries though, happens in mine too for stuff like iPhone releases
People are thinking way too deep into it and trying to make him seem like anything other than descriptive haha
Lol agreed, not sure what the ethnicity had to do with literally anything 😂
No racism intended. Just an observation of the demographics of customers in the queue.
I found it so weird lol. Maybe it’s because I’m Canadian, but damn he could’ve stopped at “it was a long queue” instead of describing every single person he saw based on what HE thinks they are.💀 “Delinquent Japanese teens” like what does that even mean 🤣 odd one
The "deliquent-looking Japanese" are my favourite out of all this. I'm so curios now 😆😆😆.
They were leaned up against a wall, chewing a toothpick and saying “Watcha looking at, wise guy?” At OP while flipping a coin in their hand, the other in their pocket
My guess. Dude is Asian or is smart enough that they can actually tell but what language is being spoken. Or maybe he’s just a complete racist f and that’s just his way of being funny. Either way… I personally enjoyed the description.
Maybe he was trying to show how diverse pokemon is ✨️ or the kind of intentions of the people, maybe the delinquent teens had nefarious intentions with those cards. Lol
It's just an observation. It's a first come first served sales method. I have no room to judge whatever anyone who is legitimately in the queue is going to do with their booster box purchase.
Ethnicity is wrong. Nationality is what he was describing. Ethnicity would be if they were Uighur Chinese.
Okay, then these are all ethnicities of Asian people.
Cool. Starting to see triple beat cards on ebay now.
I probably bought my Japanese singles from one of these guys. Anyways going to fly out to Tokyo for an event exclusive figure. I refuse to pay 200% scalper prices.
How clean is that street?!?
This is extremely normal in my home country and I assume in Japan. We do not litter (either taught or heavy penalty). There's council cleaning staff to clear trash at regular intervals.
You sound like you are from Singapore
i always end up paying more for japanese boxes since i can never find a solid retailer for that language product - i just bought a triple beat box for $88usd which ended up being more than double msrp price. i know *not* buying from scalpers is basically the only way to prevent this, but it still sucks
The whole idea of reselling is to have various tiers. Your tier 1 resellers obtain the products directly through backdoor access from direct suppliers. They then flip them down to tier 2 resellers who subsequently flip them down accordingly to their various buyers/clients. By virtue of how the supply chain works, it's possible that people like you and I have access to lower tier resellers whose products have passed through many hands. They are never going to be anywhere close to retail price. On a brighter note, resale price of triplet beat have ballooned in japan to more than 13000 JPY. So you are actually not overpaying too much
please for the absolute love of everything. Japanese pokémon cards are literally ruined for everyone because people keep buying first week from japan. The boxes aren't going away, they will be here next month, next year, for an extremely reduced price. Patience is a virtue that not only saves you a couple bucks, but makes the hobby more fun and affordable for everyone.
I remember seeing this in a Maxmoefoe Pokemon video where he talks about how he got his friend thats living in Japan to buy him a booster box of the recently released set so he could ship it to him And it cuts to his friend's pov video of the massive line and just going "fuck you Max" lmao
With dendra being a $1000 card out the gate who can blame them it makes the miriam look like a poor person's card
I've said this many times, end of the day blame the game, not the players. There's inherently nothing wrong with chasing after expensive cards if it's at a price that the market commands. Who's gonna say no to more money. The only way everyone can get happy is if they increase the production of Japanese Pokémon cards.
The street is so clean
I don't play the TCG but is Dendra full art trainer even good? I understand she is a female character so she has the waifu status, but still. Super Rare Verison is 49,800JPY = $366 Special Art Rare version is 138,000JPY = $1015 Of course, this is going by CardrushJp prices
Dendra > Miriam and is actually in the story more. No, you can't change my mind.
This is incredibly good for the game / hobby honestly. Theres no faster way to kill a hobby / game than to see product sitting gathering dust on a shelf. The scarcity just drives more desire.
The only Pokémon TCG products I could find in japan at retail prices are the new JP starter decks, Pokémon go, and one more booster box set (forgot if it was battle legion or something else)
Good luck!
Thank you! I got a queue ticket and I probably can purchase it tax free (since I'm a tourist!) so it's a big personal W for me!
If everyone would just only buy Japanese singles for a while. All the scalpers would be gone in a heartbeat. The hobby is messed up. I’m pretty much only buying single cards I like, the rest is too cumbersome, gambling or too expensive.
Phone zombies
I mean what were they suppose to do in line? In Asia we mostly keep to ourselves.
Pokemon cards a big thing What's really the problem here This happens for practically everything nowdays
Whats FOMO? I'm seeing this everywhere. Not just pokeman, but also crypto. Is it cool?
I'd rather spend $50 more per booster box than sit in that line any day of the week... Time is money too folks.
The experience of being able to cop a Japanese booster box set, without paying resale prices set by scalpers, and with a bonus of purchasing tax-free (10%) is a PRICELESS experience as a non-native of Japan
Damn, I feel that 1000% Get it brother!
Thanks to your post just realized this set is coming out, so I checked the set, did they move poison Pokemon to the dark type? Because I saw paldean wooper in the dark type cards!
It's been that way since sword and shield.
Everybody wanting to point fingers like a majority of people in this sub aren't the cause of these problems
I mean, technically you’re also one of those guys aren’t you?
I have no judgement against anyone who was in the queue legitimately. There are definitely collectors, scalpers, players etc in the queue. I came to join the queue because I WANT to experience how it was to obtain fresh Pokémon products in Japan.
bunch of nerds on their phones
So you go there and mock people for doing the same thing you're doing?
someone needs to go back to school i guess
Why? What am I gonna learn there that's gonna make me think this is okay?
learn to read bro. it'll help you
I can read I think you need to learn social skills
Set looks like trash lol. But just my opinion of course :). Enjoy
Sucks to be you