Target Halts In-Store Sales of Pokémon and Sports Trading Cards

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binder of pokemon cards

If Target has been your go-to stop for Pokémon cards, it may be time to look elsewhere. 😕

One thing’s for sure, Pokémon cards haven’t lost any popularity since they first popped up in the 90s. A steady stream of merchandise, media, and games for various platforms has ensured the cards stay even more relevant now than they were almost 30 years ago.

Unfortunately, a downside of the Poké-mania is that people will go to great lengths to get their hands on these potentially valuable cards, especially since reselling became even more popular during the Coronavirus pandemic.

More people than ever are trying to find the rarest of the rare, and that’s led to an increase in extreme behavior when it comes to trading card sourcing.

pokemon trading card game

Because of this, Target has decided to officially halt the sale of Pokémon cards in stores starting this Friday, May 14th, citing “‘an abundance of caution’ for both guests and store employees” as the reason for the discontinuation.

While we couldn’t find any official press release on Target’s website addressing the issue, it looks like several folks turned to social media to report signs that popped up in Target stores across the country with the bad news.

2019 MLB Updates Baseball Trading Card Blaster Box

And sadly, it’s not just Pokémon cards that will be disappearing from Target shelves.

They’re also extending the rule to MLB, NFL, and NBA trading cards, as the general craze surrounding trading card resale value has driven some shoppers to violent lengths to obtain them.

While the decision is definitely a bummer for trading card collectors, it’s understandable and keeps in mind the best interest of both Target guests and employees.

nfl trading cards

Luckily, you can continue to buy your Pokemon and sports trading cards from Target online!

And if online shopping isn’t your thing, you can still buy trading cards in-store at retailers like Walmart, Gamestop, and CVS.


Keep up with all the latest news here!

Join The Discussion

Comments 19

  1. Animity

    They are pieces of cardboard and people are paying ridiculous amounts of money to have them sit in a closet…..

    • donnbrenda

      How crazy!

    • Natasha-ai

      Value is quite subjective. If enough people stopped believing that dollars had value, they’d just be pieces of paper too. Lots of things in this world are like that too. What’s the difference between Nike sneakers and off-brand? The value enough people give them.

  2. Sue

    Thank you for posting this. I kept seeing all the social media posts about limits on card purchases, stores only selling them during certain hours, then stopping the sale of them altogether (in store). I couldn’t figure out what the problem was! Silly. In 10-20 years, these will be worthless.

    • CinPal

      Actually, its crazy but my son has cards worth a few hundred and a collection worth a few thousand. They are very collectable.

    • eiramlos

      That is what people said 20 years ago… lol

  3. Kelly

    My son wanted basketball trading cards and they are impossible to find at Wal-Mart. A WM associate told us today that grown men wait in store all day for the vendor to stock them and then fight over them! Re-selling them online. They have to vary the vendor schedule to try to reduce the fighting. Crazy!

  4. Liz Curtis

    My grandsons like to collect them & trade them. Yes they’re expensive but it’s their money.

  5. Rebecca

    Near me this happened recently. Maybe there were other situations in other locations too? I can’t imaging they would take such action nationally by only one instance. A man was injured in a fight that stemmed from a disagreement over sports trading cards at Target, Brookfield police say EVAN CASEY | MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL | 1:40 am CDT May 10, 2021 A disagreement over sports trading cards on Friday led to a fight in the Target parking lot in Brookfield, WI and only ended after the victim accessed his gun, police said. After the victim, who has a concealed carry weapons license, obtained his gun the four suspects fled on foot. No shots were fired and the suspects were soon located by police and taken into custody. According to police: Four men, who were between the ages of 23-35, physically assaulted a 35-year-old man Friday morning after he left Target at 12725 W. Bluemound Road. The victim suffered minor injuries that did not require medical attention. A fifth suspect was identified on the scene but was not arrested. Battery, strangulation and disorderly conduct charges will be presented to the Waukesha County District Attorney’s Office.

  6. Girl

    Kind of racist toward Asians since Pokémon originated in Japan in the 1980’s. Target likes to virtue signal a lot, but it’s all smoke in mirrors.

    • Natasha-ai

      How is this racist if the sports cards won’t be sold as well? People are fighting over different types of cards. Target says it won’t sell a variety of those cards.

    • Amy

      You can’t be serious.

    • Thia

      @Girl, How disappointing, most ridiculous thing I have ever read! Drink much?!

    • Heather Setzer

      How can something be both racist AND virtue signaling?? I’m a pretty outspoken anti-racism advocate, but I can’t imagine how anyone would jump to that conclusion in this situation. It’s a safety issue, plain and simple.

      • Heather

        I misunderstood your implication before. I agree Target could be accused of virtue signaling, but this is not a racist move. Its origins have nothing to do with their decision.

  7. N.

    I’m wondering why target didn’t stop selling toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and disinfecting wipes when the virus hit. People were fighting over that stuff too. Just my 2 cents.

    • S

      Probably because no one pulled a gun over them🙄And they’re not a necessity. And they’re not even a Target product, they’re a vendor product.

  8. Flgrl017

    My son buys baseball and basketball cards. Most stores have the sports cards locked up here. I’m not sure about Pokémon. He hasn’t been interested in those in several years. He did take some of his old Pokémon cards to a card store and received several hundred dollars. It is crazy.

  9. Rose

    I happend to go into the same Target last Friday and then again on Sunday (doing some pickup deals). Suffice to say, I had no idea why there were these men who were talking about driving up from the South to the Midwest, hanging around Customer Service to get to the limited sale cards behind the desk! I was like…what is going on? I just want my oline order of Kleenex and groceries… then go back Sunday and there is all kinds of singage about limits on card purchases…. Insane.

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