Reporter: William Henderson
On Tuesday, September 23, a long line formed in downtown Alhambra on S. Garfield Ave., wrapping all the way around Project CCG into the alley and behind the store as avid Pokémon fans lined up for a release of the new Pokémon Mega Evolutions box — a set of over 180 random new cards. Pokémon cards, first released in 1996, have recently experienced a massive spike in popularity. New boxes of card packs are selling out as soon as they hit the shelves.
A recent article in Economic Times reported, “at Walmart Marketplace, trading card sales surged by a staggering 200% from February 2024 to June 2025. Specifically, Pokémon card sales grew more than tenfold year over year, as confirmed by Walmart.”
Although sales of the in-store boxes themselves have taken off, a large resale market also exists. Adam, a local trading card fan, said the following: “One thing that really took off was an Eevee themed Pokémon box a while back, when people realized they could open them and start reselling.” After opening card packs, some Pokémon fans will send their rarest cards to be officially rated for quality as a collector’s item, potentially making them worth more when traded or sold. “It’s become the hot ticket trading card game — it’s one of the easiest to go after and has the most hype. There are content creators out there that have done pack pulls showing off that they get hits (or expensive cards to resell) as they open the packs in bulk. It’s become largely people wanting to turn a profit, or excited about it as a small form of gambling.”
Andrew, a Pokémon fan in the line for Project CCG, shared that he had been waiting in line since 6:45 a.m., and the store was opening at 11:00 a.m. with new stock. He said that he was not initially from Alhambra, but after moving to the city one of his highlights was living near the shop. He mentioned that he would come in to trade his personal collection of cards as well, and appreciated talking to all the friendly staff.
