Pokémon card craze draws even seniors to store 'open runs'

“I waited five hours from 8 a.m. just to get inside. They said the wait had gotten shorter, so I didn’t have to stay up all night…” At a Pokémon card shop in Seoul’s Yongsan District on the afternoon of Oct. 23, college student Park, 19, smiled awkwardly as he showed off a newly purchased box of cards. On the screen of a waiting-list registration machine beside him, a notice read, “151 groups waiting, estimated wait time: 181 minutes.” Some customers appeared startled by the long wait and turned away. The popularity of Pokémon cards, featuring characters from the Japanese manga and animation franchise “Pokémon,” shows little sign of waning. At the Yongsan store in I’Park Mall, the outdoor garden on the seventh floor, where customers wait to enter, is packed every morning with people hoping to buy cards. Although there are no exact figures, more than 100 buyers routinely lay out mats and cover themselves with blankets as they wait for the store to open. A security guard said some people even arrive at 9 p.m. the previous night to secure a spot. Most endure the cold