Pokémon collecting proves difficult, expensive: Closure of PokemonCenter. ...

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Pokémon collecting proves difficult, expensive: Closure of PokemonCenter. ...

When Pokémon USA announced that it would be closing its online store, PokemonCenter.com, on Jan. 31, it assured customers that Pokémon merchandise would be available through nonspecific “retail partners.” Instead, collectors outside of Japan have been forced to seek Pokémon merchandise through a sort of expensive black market that includes communities such as eBay and LiveJournal.

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I really think "black market" is the wrong term to use here. "Second-hand" would be much better, since "black market" implies that they're gotten illegally. But everything done (at least not involving bootlegs, which are a whole different ball of wax) is perfectly legal.

Pokémon Kids are inexpensive in physical stores; collectors with access to Asian import stores such as Seattle's Uwajimaya can find them for as little as less than $2 each, but in limited availability.
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There's more Uwajimayas than just Seattle. I frequent the one in Beaverton, Oregon, and I know there's another one just in Washington state.
 
I like the black market bit, actually. It's like Pokemon's illegal now.

WE'RE ALL HARDCORE THIEVES!!!111ELEVENTYELEVEN111!

And of course it's difficult and expensive. Ever collected TFG in Australia?
 
Very good article, I approve of this. Some of the things you describe also apply for not only the USA, but for anyone not from Asia who collects Pokémon goods and I'd say fans from other countries have even more trouble getting Pokémon stuff than those in USA. But whatever is available in the States is becomes also easier available to fans from other countries.
 
I always figured when Pokémon USA said they were going to "sell Pokémon merchandise exclusively through retail partners", it was just sugar-coated corporate PR babble meaning "we just decided to give up on the site and make you settle with whatever you find at Wal-Mart/Target/Toys R Us/etc. from now on."
 
Quagbert said:
I always figured when Pokémon USA said they were going to "sell Pokémon merchandise exclusively through retail partners", it was just sugar-coated corporate PR babble meaning "we just decided to give up on the site and make you settle with whatever you find at Wal-Mart/Target/Toys R Us/etc. from now on."
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Great article. I don't know if Pokemon merchandise is easier to find at Wal-Mart/Target/Toys R Us/etc in the United States, but its EXTREMELY hard to find them at any of my local Wal-mart or Toy R Us. They get a limited stock and once they are gone, they rarely get it restocked. I bought the second season box set of Indigo at Walmart, I haven't seen the third season anywhere. I ended up having to buy it from Amazon. As for Pokemon plushies, I was always mad that Pokemoncenter.com didn't send them to Canada. I haven't even seen any plushies here at any stores. A side note, the TCG is readily available here, even at corner stores, but I haven't even seen the TFG.

Perhaps its time to make a fan-based web store that ships merchandise worldwide. I know bgmf has the Auction House, but a front end interface setup like a store might help its popularity.
 
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I'm currently working on an online store for anime merchandise with a friend here in Australia. Once that's up and running to our liking, I can transfer some of the knowledge I got setting that up into setting up and operating a Pokémon specific one for a worldwide audience.
 
Great article, Argy. It's all very true; it kind of feels like there's a void ever since Pokemoncenter.com shut down, even with Jakks Pacific producing stuff.

Archaic said:
I'm currently working on an online store for anime merchandise with a friend here in Australia. Once that's up and running to our liking, I can transfer some of the knowledge I got setting that up into setting up and operating a Pokémon specific one for a worldwide audience.
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That sounds awesome!
 
And how long can we expect this Archaic and will you allow New Zealanders to buy from it?
 
hehehe, this sounds so much like Argy. To be honest, most things had to be imported anyways (as most things in the US store come a lot later and with less verity than the Japanese counterpart). I was slightly upset to see that Pokemon Center Online was misleading in their closure announcement, claiming they would be selling their exclusive products to more common stores doesn't seem like it's happening.

And from a collector's standpoint, Jakks Pacific's stuff sucks. I guess I just have "Oh well" to say as normal. I thought Pokemon Center Online sucked anyways, as I've had nothing but bad experiences with each order I've made. I still think they were better represented if they spread out. Not to offend anyone, but it just seems very foreigner of Nintendo to believe the whole US's demographic can be represented by one city.
 
BulbaStore sounds like it'd be a good idea. Though, to run it, we'd need Nintendo/PUSA/Game Freak permission...

And of course with that, couldn't we get permission to sell Bulbagarden and Bulbapedia shirts?
 
Bulbagarden would only have to ask permission if they were selling original content, and even then, even if 110% of the profits go to the pokemon company, I can predict the answer, lol.
 
One thing Argy missed in her "brilliant" rant: apparently, Pokémon Center is being discarded from the physical Nintendo World as well. This is what I was told when I was there about six weeks ago. They plan to sell out what stock they have left, then cease the section altogether.

And honestly, I'm a little offended by this. I wasn't aware private collectors making private transactions with other private collectors was a "black market" or any kind of threat to the establishment >_> Geez, people have been doing this since little kids traded bubblegum and baseball cards on the streetcorner in the 1930s.
 
I used the term "black market" loosely. Obviously, most of this is not illegal. But it's certainly frustrating for those of us on average budgets who want to pay fair prices for merchandise. We have to go through methods not sanctioned by PUSA, and even then it's hard to find what we want. If PUSA would just offer some of these things they would make money while pleasing more fans.

And how would I know about Nintendo removing the Pokémon section if there has been no announcement or even fan reports? I can't be knocked for living in Idaho instead of New York. That just makes it all the harder for me to find what I want, and it proves my point.
 
Blackjack Palazzo said:
But "black market" *does* mean an illegal run of the items.

And they may not be sanctioned, but they're not condemned either.
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That's why I was deliberately careful to only say "sort of black market" and "Pokémon black market" (in quotes to note that I wasn't speaking literally). I'm sorry I was not clear enough.

And editorials don't always happen because of slow news days. That's not their purpose.
 
What I find funny is that the same argument was made regarding the anime and people were flamed for making it.

PUSA is interested in only one thing: churning out the cheapest product to turn the biggest possible profit. They did it with the anime and they're doing it with the merchandise.

The private market for this merchandise is no different than private markets in any other fandom.
 
I think they'd make more profit if they sold the Japanese toys instead of Jakks shit.
 
Whoa. I definitely consider myself a hardcore collector, and I'm a huge geek for Japanese toys... and I freaking ADORE Jakks Pacific's Pokemon figures!

http://img.swellpage.com/toys/jroselia1.jpg - Absolutely gorgeous; doesn't have the generic Roselia facial expression.
http://img.swellpage.com/toys/jakks4.jpg - Cuuute!
http://img.swellpage.com/toys/swellpika1.jpg - Best Pikachu pose EVER.

Sure, some of the figures come with annoying stains, but I'm more than willing to overlook that. Jakks figures are fairly big and sometimes posable, and I adore the sculpts used. Also, I love Jakks for making merchandise of supposedly uncool Pokemon like Geodude and every single Wormadam form. How about making an Electrode, Jakks? That'd be AWESOME.

I'll be fair though, this doesn't even look like it was put together properly. Still, Jakks's amount of awesome figures outruns their crappy ones by MILES.
 
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