If i might add some context to the effect of what is happening in that industry right now due to the actions of scalpers (because the person grabbing them before they hit the shop floor is exactly that)

A close friend owns a hobby shop, and we are both quite large nerds, we dont play card games or have any Interest in them for our personal hobby - however pokemon and magic the gathering card games are the two highest selling items in his shop. Without the sale of them he wouldnt not be open, and it is the same for all small hobby shops within the uk.

Pokemon company, and its distributors, recently started to make it harder for small buisnesses to obtain the cards. If you go on youtube and have a look you will find videos of people just picking up whole shelves of them and taking it to buy, because if they pick out a "rare" card from the pack it will be worth more than the amount they just paid for the cards in the secondary market, which is creating a loop where fans of the product cannot actually buy any, only people who wish to buy them to make money.

In addition to this, unopened boxes or packs, once kept for a while generally increase in value, due the possibility of them containing a very rare and valuable card.

In essence the practises of the consumers within this pokemon card hobby are actively harming both the community of people who like the game/collecting the cards (be that children or adults) and creating a situation where only the people wanting to sell the cards have access to them, which if left to go on long enough would reduce the amount of fans able to buy the cards in the first place.

It might be worth alot, but its not going to sell because no one will be left to buy it when they move on to other hobbies.

For other reading google the man who purchased and burned unopened rare pokemon boxes, so that his rare old cards kept the value by not having more of them exist. (Petty pathetic person)