Target store displays for the recent Pokemon collaborations have been appearing on resale sites, and they’re selling for ridiculous prices. As these displays aren’t for sale, the vast majority of the Pokemon standees have likely been stolen from the stores.
The Target Pokemon collaborations have been extremely successful for both companies, with lines forming outside the doors on the first day they became available. Unfortunately for fans, this may not necessarily be a good thing, as many bought the products simply to resell for inflated prices, and finding the Target Pokemon collab items in-store has been difficult. This practice is referred to as scalping, and it seems that even the store standees aren’t immune to the trend.
Pokemon TCG Fan ‘Strikes Gold’ After Looking Under Shelf
A Pokemon TCG fan can’t believe their luck when they check under the shelves at a retail store and discover a hidden cache of cards.
Pokemon Target Store Displays Are Selling Online
It seems that, in addition to the Target Pokemon collaboration products themselves selling like hot cakes both in-store and on resale sites, even the display standees aren’t immune. Searching on eBay reveals that numerous displays are on sale, with prices rising as high as several hundred dollars, depending on which Pokemon the seller is offering, and whether they have the whole standee. For example, a Pokemon Target standee featuring Charizard and Gengar was listed for $495, while a smaller one with just Eevee on it was listed for $160. These high price tags for displays are even crazier when one takes into consideration that the aforementioned standees and many others that were similarly priced actually found buyers and sold for those prices.
Drag weapons to fill the grid
Drag weapons to fill the grid
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Generally, store standees like these aren’t for sale, and are typically thrown out when the store is done with them. At that point, it’s not unheard of for fans to either offer to buy them for a low price from the store, or to scavenge and retrieve them from the trash before they’re lost forever. However, one person shared footage online of one of the standees, which was still in-store, with an anti-theft tag now applied to it. It appears to be the same kind of tag that Target puts on high-value items and clothing, which sets off the alarm if someone tries to leave without having it removed. This presumably means that a number of the standees have been stolen from stores, and Target is taking this step in order to prevent further dismantling of its store displays.
These standees are likely fairly inexpensive for Target to replace, but it’s also probably a nuisance for the retail chain if it’s happening across the country at multiple stores. Unfortunately, this is just one example of how the popularity of Pokemon has led to scalpers and even thieves swarming the products every time there’s a new major release. There have been numerous reports over the years of stampeding customers, stores having to close their doors due to concerns for safety, and even brazen robberies stealing high-value Pokemon TCG cards from stores and warehouses.
Who’s That Character?
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Easy (7.5s)Medium (5.0s)Hard (2.5s)Permadeath (2.5s)
Sadly, as long as Pokemon remains popular and customers are willing to pay inflated prices for scalped items, it’s likely that this trend will continue. Given that numerous buyers have shown they’re willing to spend hundreds of dollars on corrugated cardboard Pokemon displays, it doesn’t seem likely that the situation will get better anytime soon.
