On September 16, Pokémon fans and card collectors queued outside shops from as early as 4am in the hopes of getting their hands on the Pokémon 30th Celebration Anniversary TCG set.

In Brecon, it looked a little different.

Decked Out Collectibles, a family run business found on 33 High Street, decided not to get any English language 30th anniversary product, a choice that looked a little different than many retailers across the UK. It’s run by James and Nat.

“We always focus on having collectors not paying over the odds for products,” James said. “We didn’t have much queuing or didn’t see much around Brecon.”

On February 27 this year, Pokémon celebrated 30 years as a franchise, which started with the release of their first games, Pokémon Red and Green. Pokémon is now worth an estimated £110 billion, making it the most profitable franchise in the world.

One of the most prominent spin-offs of the Poké-universe is its trading card company arm, where collectors and competitors alike can play with 60-card decks, sometimes making money in tournaments. It’s this trading card game that has seen much hype, and people have seen opportunity to turn it into a profitable business for themselves.

Prices for some Pokémon cards are rising, which people refer to as ‘chase cards’. A vintage Charizard card, for example, graded at PSA10 - meaning it is in immaculate condition - can sell for as much as £500,000. Internet personality Logan Paul recently sold a Pikachu Illustrator Card for $16.5 million. It’s created a scarcity market, where true Pokémon fans and collectors are losing out to scalpers - those buying up all the stock they can with hopes of reselling at double or even triple the price - and to a limited supply. Pokémon theft and robberies are also on the rise.

But with the rise comes people finding their love of the hobby again.

“There’s definitely been a surge in people getting back into the hobby who were 90s kids seeing the nostalgic cards,” Nat says. “We’ve definitely noticed a change in people visiting the store since the 30th anniversary products were announced. We have plans to have the Japanese boosters available soon to hopefully give people a cheaper option for collecting.”