What this is
A negative finding: no document was found stating that Target, Walmart, Costco, Amazon, Best Buy, Barnes & Noble or Hot Topic buys Pokémon cards directly from TPCi.
How it’s built
- Searched filings, company pages and press coverage up to 30 October 2026 for any statement that a large US chain buys direct.
- Coverage of the Excell deal names these chains as Excell's customers, not as direct TPCi accounts.
What we assumed
- Absence from public sources means no direct account is documented, not that none exists.Supply contracts between TPCi and retailers are private; a direct account could exist without being reported.
Sanity check
GameStop, which says it buys direct from manufacturers, is the only large chain with such a statement on record.
Where it comes from
The line in the source
Target, Walmart, and Kroger, alongside specialty shops like Barnes & Noble, Hobby Lobby, and Hot Topic and major e-commerce platform Amazon.