A TikTok creator shared a story about an unexpected shopping trip that turned into a tense competition for a collectible item. The video, posted by Lex, who uses the handle @where_to_lex, recounts her experience waiting in line at a Best Buy store. She said she initially joined the queue thinking it was for a general electronics sale.
Lex explained in the video that she was at a Hobby Lobby store to buy ribbon for a baby shower when she noticed a long line outside a nearby Best Buy. She said she looked up the store and saw they were having a flash sale on electronics like TVs and laptops. Stating she was in the market for a new laptop, she decided to check it out.
Upon arriving, she observed that the line was extensive. “There are like tents and people have chairs and umbrellas,” she said, noting they had clearly been there “for a while.” She estimated there were “40, 50 people in front of me” as she joined the back of the queue.
The line was not for laptops, but for Pokémon tins
While waiting, Lex said she asked others in line what they were there to get. She described their reaction: “Everyone just turns and they’re like, ‘The Pokémon Tins, duh!'” She said she realized she had stumbled into a specific collector’s event. “I now know what I have gotten myself into,” she said.
Lex said her son is a Pokémon fan and that she used to collect the cards, so she decided to try and get one of the tins. She recounted a conversation with the woman behind her in line, who shared her collection goals. “I’ve got the blue one, I’ve got the green one, like, I really need the red one,” the woman said, according to Lex’s retelling.
As the store doors opened, Lex described the scene: “Sprinting. These people are sprinting inside.” She also witnessed a confrontation with a person who attempted to cut the line. “These people are like, ‘The line’s back there, we’ve been sleeping out here all night, get in the back of the line,'” she said.
Lex said the experience created a sense of urgency. “I start getting hyped. I’m like, man, now I got FOMO now,” she stated. As they neared the front, she began counting the remaining tins and the people ahead, telling the woman behind her, “man, it’s not looking good.”
Securing the last tins and a hasty exit
When Lex reached the counter, she said there were only two tins left. “I get a red one, she gets a red one,” she reported. Immediately after, she said staff announced, “That’s all the Tins! No more Tins are available!”
Lex described freezing as the “50 people behind us” reacted with anger. She quoted their shouts: “Are you kidding me? There’s no more Tins! We gotta go to another Best Buy!” She said she felt the intense reaction from the crowd. “People are glaring at me. They’re pissed. I have now become the enemy.”
She abandoned her search for a laptop, stating, “Y’all, f–k the laptop. I was like, I will come back another day.” Lex described hurrying to her car with the tin, feeling pursued. “There are people f–king pitter-pattering behind me,” she said. She concluded by saying she locked her car door and drove away quickly.
The video’s caption asks viewers, “LMK if you want an unboxing 😂” and includes hashtags like #pokemon and #collector. In the comments, viewers reacted to the story. One wrote, “Don’t confuse us Pokemon nerds with the psycho scalpers.” Another commented, “You not even getting the laptop is hilarious 😂.” A third viewer noted, “It’s a little bit addictive too, you will be back 😁.”
