Costco shoppers have been caught up in violence after an early morning release of Pokémon cards resulted in police intervention.
Video footage posted on Instagram by PokéStreetz shows a messy scene at the Costco in Mississauga, Ontario with Pokémon cards spilled across the store’s parking lot.
“A crowd of 30–40 people had lined up for a Prismatic Evolutions drop around 6:45 a.m. when someone threw coffee on a cart full of boxes, a car struck the cart sending packs flying, then drove over them before speeding off,” reported local news source 905Hub.
Footage shows the crowd’s subsequent reaction, as a car can be seen zooming out of the parking lot chased by multiple police vehicles. Tensions appear to have been flared by the high demand for Pokémon cards, which are often resold for hundreds of dollars in profit on eBay and Facebook Marketplace.
A Pokémon card release at the Costco on Laird Drive in Mississauga turned into a scene Friday morning.
A crowd of 30–40 people had lined up for a Prismatic Evolutions drop around 6:45 a.m. when someone threw coffee on a cart full of boxes, a car struck the cart sending packs… pic.twitter.com/XVz7zbb72I
— 905HUB (@905hub_) April 13, 2026
Last month, Canadian news outlet blogTO reported that the same location was the site of “chaotic” scenes and huge, jostling queues for a previous release of Pokémon cards.
Other Costco sites have also attracted trouble. In November, a fight broke out at the chain’s St. Albert site, according to the St. Albert Gazette, with one man arrested by police for assault.
Earlier this week, local Canadian news source Fraser Valley Today reported that three pallets of Pokémon cards (more than 500 boxes) were delivered to some Costco locations, with customers standing outside from early in the morning to be first in line. At one location, the boxes then sold out within an hour.
In February, a New York Pokémon card store was the focus of media attention following a frightening armed burglary that involved its staff and customers being held at gunpoint. Nintendo subsequently acknowledged the incident by contacting the store with a complaint over its name, prompting it to rebrand.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
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