Pokémon fans have raised questions about the handling of a highly anticipated card release at TGJones in Farnham after customers queued for hours to buy the limited-stock products.

The Pokémon 30th Anniversary collection was released in stages, with TGJones’s Farnham branch receiving its stock on Friday, September 18.

Kash Thakur, who runs The Conjurer’s Deck in Aldershot, said he arrived at the store at around 5.30am and waited until the shop opened at 9am.

He said the main product customers were seeking was an Elite Trainer Box (ETB), and that after the first customer bought one, staff initially told the queue that no further ETBs would be sold.

Mr Thakur said: “We had been waiting for it since five o'clock in the morning, so we kicked up a fuss. We protested to the manager and she authorised for them to sell more.”

He said three further ETBs were subsequently sold, before customers were told the store had sold out.

Mr Thakur later made a formal complaint to TGJones, raising questions about the availability of the stock, the purchase limit and how the situation was communicated to customers.

TGJones initially told him that the matter would be reviewed internally and that it could not disclose individual store stock, sales or CCTV information.

In a subsequent response, TGJones Customer Relations said the store had received four pallets which were still being processed when it opened. It said some Pokémon stock had been temporarily placed underneath the till while staff worked through the delivery.

The company said the Store Leader located the ETBs approximately 10 minutes after opening and began selling them to customers. TGJones confirmed that five ETBs had been received and that all five were sold that day.

The company also said none of the ETBs had been reserved for staff or purchased by employees for resale.

TGJones apologised that customers found the experience frustrating and said improvements had been identified for future high-demand launches, including ensuring stock is located and sorted before opening.

Kash said he welcomed the proposed improvements but has asked TGJones for further clarification about the timing of the ETB sales and what he believed was remaining stock after customers had been told the product had sold out.