Bic Camera uses quiz to stop scalpers
- Bic Camera’s Ikebukuro West store in Tokyo is making Pokémon card buyers pass a written quiz before purchasing packs from the “Ninja Spinner” release. - Reports from shoppers say the test runs about 15 questions, bans phone use, and is paired with one-box limits and opened shrink wrap. - The move extends anti-resale tactics Japanese retailers have used on Pokémon cards since 2023. (pokemon-card.com)
A Bic Camera store in Tokyo is making customers pass a Pokémon quiz before it will sell them Pokémon cards. (thegamer.com) The policy was posted at Bic Camera’s Ikebukuro West branch and applies to products from “Ninja Spinner,” a Japanese Pokémon Trading Card Game expansion released on March 13, 2026. (thegamer.com) (pokemon-card.com) Shoppers and social posts describing the sale said the written test had about 15 questions, used basic Pokémon knowledge, and did not allow phones during the quiz. (dexerto.com) (thegamer.com) The store also paired the quiz with other resale checks: one box per customer, a loyalty-program requirement, and removal of shrink wrap before the cards leave the counter. (thegamer.com) Those steps target a familiar Pokémon card problem. High-demand Japanese releases are often bought in bulk and resold unopened at higher prices, which is why stores and Pokémon-operated outlets have moved toward lotteries, purchase caps, and no-box or no-seal sales. (pokemon-card.com) (voice.pokemon.co.jp) Pokémon’s own card stores used lottery sales for “Ninja Spinner” in March, with one LINE account allowed to apply to only one store and in-person verification at entry and checkout. (voice.pokemon.co.jp) The quiz itself is not entirely new at Bic Camera. A 2023 Pokémon card resale-tracking site documented similar in-store quizzes at Bic Camera branches in Tokyo and other cities, including image-identification questions at the register. (gamenv.net) That history makes the Ikebukuro test look less like a stunt and more like a store-level tool: simple enough for regular fans, slower and riskier for buyers who only know the resale price. (gamenv.net) (thegamer.com) The catch is that any knowledge test can also trip up parents, gift buyers, or new players who want cards but do not know the franchise well. (thegamer.com) (dexerto.com) For now, Bic Camera’s answer to scalpers is not software or ID matching. It is a pencil-and-paper question sheet about Pikachu and friends. (thegamer.com)
