If you have tried buying Pokémon cards at retail lately, you know the struggle: empty shelves, overpriced leftover packs, and a whole lot of frustration.
Enter Cole, the founder of Cole’s Cards. Based in Wisconsin, Cole is on a mission to bring trading cards back to their roots—making them affordable, accessible, and fun for everyone. By building a growing network of over 20 trading card vending machines, he is ensuring that kids (and nostalgic adults!) can experience the pure thrill of discovery without having to compete with scalpers or pay inflated prices.
Beyond just running his own route, he is even teaching others how to start their own low-overhead vending businesses to spread the love of the hobby. We sat down with Cole to talk about his vending machine revolution, his personal collection, and the state of the modern Pokémon TCG.
1. Your website mentions that Cole’s Cards was born out of the frustration of seeing empty shelves and overpriced leftover packs at local stores. What was the specific “last straw” moment that made you realize a vending machine was the perfect solution?
I was teaching middle school math at the time and some students mentioned they couldn’t find any cards on the shelves either. Thinking back to when I was a kid, I had many affordable choices. It bothered me that my students lacked the same opportunities I had. This was the point where I started to seriously consider how I could help fix this problem for them.
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Start Tracking Now — It’s Free2. Your main goal is to keep the hobby affordable and accessible, especially for kids who want to experience the thrill of discovery. How do you manage to keep prices fair and machines stocked?
This is one of the hardest parts of the business. Finding affordable packs requires significant effort so I can sell them to our customers at a reasonable price. I have built up a ‘book of business’ and now have some amazing people and businesses through whom I buy most of my product. We always offer $1 options in all of our machines for those families who may not be able to afford higher prices. When our product stock runs low, we simply remove those options and substitute them with other packs for people to try out.
3. You have grown to over 20 machine locations across Wisconsin. What is the general reaction from a kid (or a nostalgic adult!) when they stumble across a trading card vending machine in the wild for the first time?
The reactions we receive are pretty amazing to see in person. Kids (and adults) generally have the same reactions. Their eyes get big, they begin to smile, and they walk toward the machine to see what’s inside. Seeing all the lit-up colors of the packs is a sight to behold. Some people tell us, “I never knew this was here!” They are then excited to know they can grab a pack of cards each time they visit the grocery store.
4. You stock a bit of everything—Pokémon, sports, Disney, and anime. When it comes to Pokémon specifically, what sets or products do you find sell out the absolute fastest?
English by far! Everyone is trying to get English Pokémon right now, so we have a tough time keeping inventory sufficiently stocked. We used to have a whole row of ten coils with sealed Pokémon packs. Now, we must limit each machine to two or three coils to stock all 20 machines. We now sell Korean, Chinese, and Japanese Pokémon packs. Those also sell well because they all feature the same artwork as their English packs.
5. What is the biggest misconception people have about operating trading card vending machines?
The biggest misconception is that we scalp all of our inventory to fill these machines. I have never actually waited in line at a restock at Target, Walmart, GameStop, etc. I simply do not have the time to check these places only to get a handful of packs. With traveling about 25 hours a week restocking, there isn’t time to spend waiting in lines. I also have not purchased any packs via Pokemon Center. I see other people’s posts and the long online wait; it doesn’t seem like a good use of time and energy to me.
6. At Card Codex, we are all about personal collections and binder aesthetics. What does your personal Pokémon collection look like?
I actually don’t collect a ton of Pokemon to be honest! I am more of a sports card collector personally. All of my favorite cards are displayed on shelving units in my office space. The few Pokemon pieces I do have are pretty unique though. I do have the big three (Charizard, Blastoise, and Venusaur) PSA 9 base set cards. My current project is to acquire a pack from every English Pokemon pack ever made. I am currently at about 80% completion. These are located in a 5 inch wide binder inside sleeved pages.
The Rapid-Fire Round
- Most insane pull from a machine? Gold Charizard from Phantasmal Flames.
- Best vending machine snack to eat while cracking packs? Snickers. You can eat it without making the cards salty, sugary, or slimy!
- Classic vintage holofoil or modern textured Illustration Rares? Vintage. Brings me back to the good ole days!
- Which Pokémon deserves way more love in the TCG? Weedle. Our household loves Weedle. We actually collect the Weedle cards and play hide and seek with them around the house.
- How do you prefer to display your personal favorites? On shelving units attached to the office wall.
- If you could magically stock one out-of-print vintage set tomorrow? Base Set. No doubt.
- Favorite starter? Squirtle.
7. How can people keep up with your journey?
We are on Facebook (@Coles-cards), Instagram (@coles_cards_), and TikTok (@colescards7).
We also have our website www.ColesCardsLLC.com. People can check out the website to learn about our story, learn how to start up a trading card vending machine on their own, and contact us if needed!
