Houston, Texas Hobby Store Facing Criticism After Big Purchase Of One Item

When there's a rare item in Texas, many people are going to want it.

Whatever the item is, there's bound to be someone who craves it highly. It could be a rare food item, or a rare piece of Texas history. Whatever it is, somebody is going to need it in their life.

But while most simply desire the item for their own personal happiness, some see dollar signs instead. We've all seen people purchase multiples of one product to turn a profit for themselves by selling it at a higher price. Simply put, many have a dislike for resellers.

Recently, a store in Houston is facing backlash for alleged purchasing of a very select item to resell.

MadRat Toys In Houston, Texas And Purchasing Multiple Rare Pokémon Card Packs

According to Chron, the issues began on March 17th, 2024. In a now deleted post to their social media, a photo from MadRat Toys was posted of the store buying 100 packs of Pokémon Zapdos EX and Alakazam EX cards. The packs in question are difficult to obtain due to demand.

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Following the post, many expressed their disdain for both post and purchase. MadRat spoke to LoneStarLive, to explain their reasoning for the big purchase. According to the owner, David Doehring, they bought the packs to help those looking for a certain card to obtain it easier:

“We assume the risk of opening the packs, allowing customers to buy specific cards without the gamble."

Some online however were not ok with the answer given by the owner. Chron spoke to a Reddit User Plenty_Deep, who explained why is a big issue to collectors as a whole:

"...They have bought all of this rare product. They're opening a significant portion of it, if not all of it, and then selling it at an even higher price. It's like, you didn't save us a Costco membership because you're just including it in the cost of what you've opened."

They also stated that "Parents that have these kids that don't know about Pokémon are going to go into a shop like that, and they're going to get ripped off, and they're not going to know it."

MadRat, on March 21st, 2024, releasing an apology on their social media for their actions:

As this is a developing story, we will have more information if it becomes available.