On September 29, 2026, Sina Finance, a financial and economic information account on China's SNS Weibo (Weibo), reported that trouble occurred at China's Pokémon 30th Anniversary event.

【その他の写真】

According to the article, unexpected trouble has arisen at Pokémon's 30th anniversary event. Recently, sales of Pokémon's "390 yuan Collection Display Gift Box" began, but an unusual situation occurred at Pokémon Card Gyms across China: "I won, but there's no product." On social media, players from Beijing, Harbin, Shenzhen, and other areas have successively reported that the lottery system set winning slots exceeding the actual stock count.

In mid-September, Aaron (pseudonym) recalled that he "couldn't help but cheer with joy" when he learned he had won the lottery to purchase Pokémon 30th-anniversary event merchandise. He also said, "This gift box has the potential for high-value cards, and it contains many cards with a collectible appearance. Moreover, since the first wave had limited stock, everyone was scrambling to pre-order."

On September 25, in-store sales of Pokémon 30th-anniversary merchandise were conducted again, but the problematic gift box was not included in this sale. The official statement was reportedly only that "the product will be sold again at a later date." Originally, lottery sales were intended to curb scalpers, but the combination of excess winning slots and insufficient stock paradoxically created room for scalping to flourish. In some stores, this issue led to on-site chaos and even escalated to the point where the police were called.

Regarding this situation, when a reporter, disguised as a consumer, called a Pokémon Card Gym in Beijing and inquired about the excess winning slots, a staff member reportedly replied, "Winning the lottery grants the qualification to purchase a limited-quantity product; it does not guarantee that the product is secured. It simply means you are qualified to purchase 30th-anniversary related products, so you can think of it as first-come, first-served." Furthermore, there have reportedly been no concrete announcements regarding future re-sales at this time.

Industry analyst Zhang Shule pointed out the possibility of a discrepancy between the rule settings and the actual sales process regarding this incident. He stated, "The occurrence of such a problem with a global brand like Pokémon suggests some deficiency in the management of the operating team in China, potentially bringing to light the issue of excessively set winning slots, which should ordinarily be rare. However, this is likely a simple operational oversight, not a hunger marketing or customer acquisition strategy."

Additionally, player Meng also stated, "In the post-payment lottery for 30th-anniversary merchandise recently conducted on the official online shop, the results were not announced even after the scheduled time, and customer service explained that 'the number of participants significantly exceeded expectations.'" She also pointed out, "If a lottery event is held, it is crucial to disclose the entire process and ensure transparency."

Furthermore, products that were not delivered to winners are being resold at high prices, which is also being viewed as a problem. On social media, there were suggestions that scalpers might have acquired a large number of products, but this has not been confirmed by the official source.

Aaron pointed out that if winning slots exceed actual stock while products are scarce, the system creates room for gray market transactions. He said, "Currently, there are no restrictions on account registration; only real-name authentication is required. If you prepare 1,000 accounts, some of them will win. This also exploits a loophole in the system." In the Japanese market, Pokémon has introduced identity verification, facial recognition, and entry restrictions of once per person per day, and since 2023, it has been working with Mercari to implement anti-scalping measures.

Currently, Pokémon cards are gaining popularity worldwide. According to an index from the U.S. card grading company Collectors, Pokémon card prices have risen 1350% since 2020, and by 2025, sales on cross-border e-commerce platform eBay reached $2.62 billion (approximately 410 billion yen). In China, Pokémon's business expansion is also growing, with official card gyms currently numbering 30, an increase of 26 stores in the past year, and operating in 18 cities.

Zhang explained that Pokémon is one of the most profitable super IPs in the world, branching out into an infinite number of product categories across games, anime, trading toys, and more. He stated that since many Chinese two-dimensional IPs specialize in specific fields, they should learn from Pokémon's "infinite diversification." (Translation/Editing by Iwata)