Pokémon shop bans Adults from buying cards in Japan

Earlier this week, a Pokémon store in Akihabara, Japan, announced via their official Twitter they would restrict adults from buying their Pokémon products. The store, called Hareruya 2, aims at stopping adults from buying Pokémon products in bulk and then reselling them later. As adults have more freedom to camp outside stores late at night or early in the morning, they are the ones most likely to buy all the stock before kids get a chance to enjoy the new products.

Pokémon has been dealing with a shortage recently, particularly in Japan, as The Pokémon Company stated in a report that cards were sold out by April 19th.

The release of the Snow Hazard and Clay Burst sets included a system inspired by the original Pokémon Red/Green game, which meant certain cards were limited to each separate version of the packs. The card Iono in its Special Illustration Rare variant, particularly, has been reported as "one of the rarest cards ever" in what has been reported as "one of the most hyped up sets ever" by content creators and fans alike.

Now, to combat resellers and stock shortages, this Japanese store took extreme measures to ensure kids, particularly, would still be able to enjoy Pokémon cards.

According to him, the store, which is one of the biggest Pokémon TCG stores in Akihabara, on its own a very iconic and popular spot in Japan for all geek/alternative/manga culture fans, would allocate a portion of its stock every day to young adults and kids. After that stock runs out, then the store would open for all customers. Even then, the kids are only allowed to purchase 10 packs a day and the store will check IDs to confirm age.

Of course, this doesn't stop anyone from getting a kid to buy packs for them, but it will probably hinder resellers a lot more.