Thousands of shoppers line up outside Kmart stores for ‘nostalgic’ collectibles – with huge queues of up to six hours
Thousands of Pokémon fans woke up at the crack of dawn to line up outside Kmart stores across Australia, eager to get their hands on the latest collectible card drop.
On Friday morning, shoppers raced to major retailers to set up camping chairs before the doors even opened, as $64 booster bundles and $20 mini tins hit shelves – just two weeks after Pokémon released its global 30th Celebration expansion.
What makes the packs so sought-after is the chance of finding an extremely rare Mew card, valued at $5,000.
Pictures have emerged showing huge queues snaking through shopping malls, with many fans revealing they began lining up as early as 5am outside retailers including Kmart, Big W and EB Games.
With the school holidays underway, parents were among those joining the queue with their kids, joining WFH employees in the already lengthy lines.
‘I work from home on Fridays so I was able to go to Kmart and Big W from 6.50am before starting work,’ a Pokémon card collector told the Daily Mail.
‘It was very busy. Parents and kids everywhere. There was a limit of one of each item per customer so my fiancé and I were able to get two sets of everything.
‘Glad we got what we wanted. We waited over an hour but it was worth it.’
Thousands of Pokémon fans woke up at the crack of dawn to line up outside Kmart stores across Australia, eager to get their hands on the latest collectible card drop
Pictures have emerged showing huge queues snaking through shopping malls, with many fans revealing they began lining up as early as 5am outside retailers including Kmart and Big W
On Friday morning, shoppers raced to major retailers before the doors even opened
And he wasn’t the only one to brave the crowd.
‘So many families brought their whole tribe,’ one observed.
‘I would imagine lots of parents are on leave due to school holidays. Friday is also a popular WFH day,’ another pointed out.
Long-time fans confessed they never imagined their childhood hobby would have them waking up extremely early just to get their hands on Pokémon cards.
‘I arrived at my local Big W at 5am and I was the second in line. When I haven’t gotten anything at all and missed all drops, it makes you do stupid cr*p. Honestly annoyed it came to this,’ one said.
‘I’ve given up fighting the bots online and I refuse to support scalpers so this is all that’s left. This morning has really reminded me how un-fun things have become, every release is just a bigger disappointment. Lining up for over an hour for one tin is actually humiliating,’ another admitted.
‘As someone who enjoys shiny cardboard featuring Pokémon: the desperation required to buy packs is honestly too cringe for me to participate,’ one said.
The $64 booster bundles and $20 mini tins hit shelves – just two weeks after Pokémon released its global 30th Celebration expansion
One fan told the Daily Mail he started lining up from 6.50am. He was able to get his cards from Kmart and Big W
However, many fans were not deterred by the lines, with one dad sharing: ‘I waited an hour on my day off work. I still enjoy opening packs with my kids and missus so I’m happy to wait.’
‘I lined up for the first time today with my partner and we met another couple in line that had very similar hobbies to us. We actually ended up chatting and made friends. Even if we hadn’t managed to get a box I still think meeting them was worth it,’ another revealed.
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‘My first time lining up. I stood up for five hours, and made friends with a few cool collectors as well! Managed to get one of each item. From the booster box I ripped the Charizard #4,’ one shared.
‘I got lucky, my sister lined up at 6am. I woke up at 9am, went down half an hour later to take a look and still managed to get some. First I’ve been able to get for this set,’ another added.
