By Josh Gorroño ChapmanThe Pokémon franchise's trading card game is having a resurgence in the city of Hull, according to players. With new vending machines installed to sell the cards on demand and a long-running tournament league growing in popularity, the BBC's Josh Gorroño Chapman has been speaking to fans.
"Hull's a great spot, we have some really popular Comic-Cons here, people love Pokémon at them [so] I knew Hull would be a good spot."Alex Harrison says he became "hooked" on the game again when he was isolating with Covid-19 The Japanese Pokémon franchise that sparked videogames, cartoons and the trading card game has been around since 1996.Some trading card sets are so in demand that they are fetching six figure sums at auction.A single card featuring one of the game's most popular characters Charizard sold for $300,000 in 2021.Here in Hull, Alex tells me the franchise experienced "a bit of a boom" in popularity following the pandemic.
Pat and Paul, a regular customer, agree that nostalgia during the pandemic played a big part in the game's resurgence. During the pandemic, the game's creators even made changes to make it easier for people to play while they were self-isolating with Covid-19.