Stacey Solomon Denies Accusations of Queue-Jumping for Pokemon Cards

Stacey Solomon has publicly refuted allegations of queue-jumping and bulk purchasing of special Pokemon cards during a recent product launch. The accusations surfaced on social media, claiming that Solomon and her husband, Joe Swash, bypassed a queue at a Geek Retreat store in Chelmsford and purchased a significant portion of the available stock.

Wednesday marked the release of new 'celebration packs' for the Pokemon Trading Card Game, intended to commemorate the game's 30th anniversary. This release saw substantial queues form at retailers nationwide, with many stores implementing purchase limits per customer to prevent scalping—the practice of buying items in bulk for resale at inflated prices.

A post from a Pokemon fan page, 'We Love Pokemon,' detailed the incident at the Chelmsford store. The page alleged that Solomon and Swash arrived after the store had announced queueing restrictions and a purchase limit. The post further claimed they parked directly outside, skipped the line, and bought most of the stock, leaving only about 10 items for hundreds of waiting customers.

Responding on X, Solomon characterized the claims as "the biggest lie" and "outright disgraceful." She stated that she and her family joined the queue as soon as it began to form and were subject to the same purchase limits as everyone else. Solomon added that her eldest son, Zachary, and she have been collecting Pokemon cards for years and frequently queue for releases. She also mentioned her son's unsuccessful attempts to obtain the cards at other stores that morning due to sell-outs.

Another social media user claimed to have witnessed Solomon and Swash leaving with multiple boxes, contradicting Solomon's statement about adhering to purchase limits. Solomon countered this by explaining that the limit allowed customers to buy one of each product set, a common practice for such releases, and that other customers were also purchasing multiple items, not just one.

Geek Retreat in Chelmsford also addressed the controversy, posting on Facebook to counter the claims. The store stated that they implemented measures to ensure fairness and reduce scalping. They explicitly denied that Solomon and Swash received special treatment, asserting that the couple was not allowed in early, did not receive extra stock, and were subject to the same one-item-per-product-set limit as all other customers. The store confirmed that Solomon and Swash were second in the queue when it opened and were not permitted to skip the line.

Solomon has a documented history of attending Pokemon fan events with her sons, including trips to a Pokemon Go festival in Paris and the Pokemon World Championships in San Francisco.