Every time you think the Pokemon scalping couldn't possibly get any worse, something comes along to prove you wrong. Today it's a Magikarp fishing rod. A popular toy for cats that scalpers have bought to the point of selling out so they can try to sell them for a huge profit.
Pokemon's Magikarp cat toy targeted by scalpers
If you know Pokemon, even just a tiny bit, you know by now that anything officially licensed by The Pokemon Company will fly off the shelves immediately. This also applies to pet toys. Pokemon recently released a new product line specifically for your Poke pets, and the Magikarp Pokemon Playful Partners Fishing Rod Cat Toy is so popular that it's already sold out.
Turns out we have scalpers to blame, at least in part. The low life that continues to ruin the TCG for everyone has taken a break from the battles outside of Costco to raid the Pokemon Center website and buy up all of Magikarp's cat toys. We know scalpers are to blame because a number of these cat toys are now available for purchase on eBay.
The Magikarp fishing rod retails for $29.99, but of course those trying to untie theirs want a lot more than what the Pokémon asked for. An ambitious dealer seems to think their fishing rod is worth $1,249. Throw in the $98.93 they want in postage, and that makes this used cat toy nearly 45 times as expensive as it would be to buy a brand new one from the Pokemon Center.
The step down after that is steep, as their other cat toy scalpers are only asking for something north of $200 each for the Magikarp-themed pet accessories. Still an outrageous amount to try to get for a $30 toy. Again, a toy for cats, if you need reminding. This is the level of scalping we've reached in the Pokemon fandom, and unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any end in sight for this sort of thing.
No one will pay those prices, but that's not the point
The silver lining, as is usually the case when scalpers slap a ridiculous asking price on an otherwise relatively cheap product, is that none of these rods have bids for them. There are some who are “watched”, but I hope that, like me, these viewers are just tuning in out of morbid curiosity to see if anyone is stupid enough to give in to these ridiculous demands.
My take home message, as always when it comes to scalpers, is don't cave to these people. Whether it's trading cards, consoles, concert tickets, or yes, even cat toys, don't buy anything from someone for a high price. As much as Pokemon and other companies try to counter it, customers and fans refusing to buy scalped, used products for high prices will be the only way these practices are ever stamped out.
- Release date
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1997 – 2023
- Network
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TV Tokyo, TV Osaka, TV Aichi, TVh, TVQ, TSC
- Directors
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Shigeru Omachi, Koji Ogawa, Fumihiro Ueno, Hideki Hiroshima, Maki Kodaira, Makoto Ooga, Ayumi Moriyama, Keitaro Motonaga, Shigeru Ueda, Fumihiro Yoshimura, Minoru Ohara, Yoshitaka Makino, Kiyoshi Egami, Makoto Sokuzaa,, Ken Nishida, Tomoe Makino, Masahiko Watanabe, Hiroaki Takagi, Tazumi Mukaiyama, Ryohei Horiuchi, Yoshihiro Oda, Hiromichi Matano
- Author
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Junki Takegami, Atsuhiro Tomioka, Hideki Sonoda, Yukiyoshi Ôhashi, Yuka Miyata, Takeshi Shudo, Shouji Yonemura, Shinzo Fujita, Michihiro Tsuchiya, Deko Akao, Reiko Yoshida, Aya Matsui, Junichi Fujisaku
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Rica Matsumoto
Satoshi (voice)
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Ikue Otani
Pikachu (voice)
