September 16, 2026 | 09:53 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Pokemon fans across Australia lined up overnight as the franchise's 30th anniversary collection went on sale, with several products selling out within minutes and leaving some shoppers disappointed.
Kmart and Target stores that opened at midnight drew hundreds of fans hoping to secure limited items from the anniversary range, including the 30th Celebration Elite Trainer Box (ETB), Poster Collection, Pokémon X-Box, Tech Sticker Collection and Knock Out Collection.
Some shoppers visited multiple stores in an effort to find the products they wanted, including major retailers and smaller outlets such as Good Games in Castle Hill, Sydney.
“We were at Kmart but we just came here because we saw the line,” one shopper told nine.com.au.
Another shopper said they had arrived at a Kmart at 5:20 a.m., where about 100 people were already waiting, before moving to another store after seeing the queue.
Pokémon Anniversary Products Sell Out Within Minutes
Several products were also available for pre-order but sold out quickly. They included Binder Collections, Mini Tins, Booster Bundles, figure collections, clothing and accessories.
One fan told nine.com.au they were already “tapped out” after buying everything they could find, while another said they hoped to purchase “as much as we can.”
The rush was driven partly by collectors looking to complete their Pokémon collections. Some shoppers also planned to resell the products online, although one collector cautioned that many of the items were reprints and might not command high resale prices.
A staff member at Good Games said the Poster Collection and booster boxes sold out within minutes. The store subsequently limited purchases of remaining products to one per customer.
Prices for the anniversary collection range from about A$30 for the Poster Collection Box to A$160 for the Elite Trainer Box.
Pokémon Products Quickly Appear on Resale Platforms
The demand was also reflected online, with multiple listings appearing on eBay just hours after the collection went on sale in stores.
The resale activity highlights the growing market surrounding Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG) products, which have developed beyond gameplay into a major collecting culture.
The Pokémon franchise, including its trading cards and related merchandise, is part of a global entertainment business worth billions of dollars. The trading card game, launched in the late 1990s, has grown from a tabletop game in which players battle using Pokémon decks into a major collectibles market.
More than 64 billion Pokemon cards have been printed worldwide, making the cards among the world's most widely collected collectibles.
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