Rocket’s Hideout – a trading card shop named after the villain’s liar from popular Japanese series Pokémon – officially opened its doors at 11 Micklegate today, with close to a hundred people waiting in line.
Speaking to The Press earlier this month, Lee said that the shop, which is his second location after three years in Selby, would be focused on Pokémon trading cards.
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He added that the move to York felt like a ‘natural next step’ and that they were happy to move to a city that valued its independent retailers – offering a hub for collectors, but also planning to host trading card community events, leagues and trading days.
Inside, the shop contains display cases, which contain cards that are carefully protected in sleeves – offering cards ranging in value from less than one pound up to £2500 for rare cards that have been officially graded and deemed to be in perfect condition.
Some of the top graded cards at Rocket’s Hideout (Image: Alice Kavanagh)
There is also a book of cards for people to look through, in addition to booster parks, special edition boxes, and other related goods, including accessories for card gamers.
They also stock other popular trading card games (TCGs) including Magic: The Gathering, Lorcana, Star Wars, Yu-Gi-Oh, Dungeons and Dragons, and Warhammer.
The shop was packed just after opening (Image: Alice Kavanagh)
On the day, queues stretched down to the lights on Micklegate and gamers were met with a large Pikachu (a yellow Pokémon who serves as the franchise mascot) giving away goodie bags to the first 60 people in line, as well as themed masks and flags for children.
After cutting the ribbon and welcoming the first customers, Lee said: “We’re really excited to have this reaction as our first welcome to York.
Pikachu welcoming customers (Image: Alice Kavanagh)
“We’ve been trading for three years in Selby, so it’s been a long time coming and it’s taken probably six months to get to this point, even just since we’ve known we’re getting the building, so it’s a bit of a relief to be here and we’re excited.
“We’ve got a lot of our existing customers in already and we’ve got lots of people who have told us they’re coming to support us. We know the next guy outside and there’s a lot of people in the queues, so yeah, it’s great to have this support.”
The front window of Rocket’s Hideout (Image: Alice Kavanagh)
Rocket’s Hideout will be giving away another 60 gift bags tomorrow (July 19).