It’s Better Than Before, But It’s Still Hard to Find Pokémon

Is the Market Actually Healing… or Did Scalpers Just Move On?

This question keeps coming up lately, and honestly, I go back and forth on the answer.

On paper, things look better. Product does show up. Stock days are a real thing again. You can walk into a store and sometimes see Pokémon on the shelf without it feeling like a miracle.

But in practice? It’s still rough.

Did Scalpers Leave Pokémon?

Kind of. But not in the way people hoped.

A lot of scalpers didn’t disappear. They rotated. Right now, most of the heat has moved to One Piece, and I keep hearing rumblings that the Naruto TCG could be next. That shift absolutely helps Pokémon a little, but it didn’t magically fix the core problem.

Product still doesn’t sit.

Vending machines are still getting wiped out. Secondary market prices are still inflated. And as a collector, I still can’t reliably find something to open with my daughter unless I plan my entire day around a restock window.

“But There’s Product Now”

Yes. And no.

Let’s actually think about the math for a second.

Say Walmart gets a delivery of 400 booster packs. Sounds like a lot, right?

Now factor in the limit. Five packs per transaction.

That means only 80 people get cards before it’s gone.

That’s not a flood of product. That’s barely a classroom worth of collectors.

Costco is similar. Let’s say a pallet comes in with 200 boxes. With a limit of two per account, that’s 100 people total who can buy anything before it sells out. Same story at Sam’s Club and everywhere else.

Stock exists, but it disappears long before most people get off work, pick up their kids, or even hear that the drop happened.

So yes, it’s “better.” But better doesn’t mean healthy.

Why It Still Feels Broken

The problem isn’t just scalpers anymore. It’s distribution.

Cards are being spread thin across many locations, with hard limits, short windows, and no consistency. That might look fair on paper, but in reality it favors people who can camp drops, refresh pages all day, or already know the system.

Collectors with normal schedules still lose.

Kids still miss out.

Parents still can’t just casually grab packs after dinner.

How I’ve Adjusted as a Collector

At some point, I had to stop fighting the current and change how I collect.

I’ve shifted hard into bulk and into finishing sets I actually care about.

Right now, that’s Journey Together. There’s something incredibly satisfying about progress you can control instead of chasing sealed product that disappears in minutes.

I might tackle Perfect Order next. It’s a quieter set, less hype, less scalp pressure. Ironically, that makes it way more enjoyable.

So… Is the Market Healing?

A little.

Enough that stock days exist again. Enough that Pokémon isn’t the hottest target in every group chat.

But not enough that the average collector can relax.

Until product can sit on shelves for more than a few hours, until kids can find packs without strategy and luck, and until parents don’t feel priced out of a hobby they want to share, we’re not there yet.

We’re improving.

If You’re Just Tired of Chasing Restocks

If you’re tired of chasing restocks and just want sealed product without the headache, you can check out my site at https://poke6s.com.

I focus primarily on Japanese booster boxes, along with whatever English product I’m able to source that I don’t rip myself. No bots, no camping drops, and no artificial hype. Just sealed product for collectors who actually want to open, collect, or finish sets.

I’m building it slowly, with transparency and fair pricing as the goal, because I’m a collector first.