The 3 AM Pokemon line at the Clarke Road Walmart
A line of people queued outside the Clarke Road Walmart at 3 AM on a Thursday night, and the person who photographed it was just out for a walk with an audiobook.
That photo landed on r/londonontario and confirmed what card collectors already suspected: scalpers camping out for new Pokemon releases, which commenters say has been going on for nearly two years. The thread is blunt and a little bleak, and the part about kids is the part that sticks.
The gentler option this week is a $10 Weekend One Day Pass on the GO Train, which puts you in downtown Stratford, what the Visit Stratford Instagram account calls Ontario’s most European town. On weekends there’s a morning departure from Union and an afternoon return, and the Stratford Festival Theatre’s 2026 season runs through December 31 with 11 productions, including Guys and Dolls, The Hobbit and Something Rotten!.
Also worth a read: Treena Orchard, an associate professor in Western University’s School of Health Studies, writing in Western News on August 11, 2026, about the 43% of GLP-1 users who never tell a date they’re on the drug.
—James Whitfield, Londonly
P.S. Book the Weekend One Day Pass online before you go — there is no ticket machine at Stratford Station.
New on Londonly
train to Stratford
Stratford, Ontario Is a $10 GO Train Ride from Toronto — No Car, No Stress, Full Day
The part that catches people isn’t the train, it’s the ticket. There’s no PRESTO tap and no ticket machine at Stratford Station, so the Weekend One Day Pass has to be booked online before you leave. Don’t show up planning to sort it out on the platform.
The station sits at 101 Shakespeare St., and it’s unstaffed. The Stratford Festival Theatre and the Tom Patterson Theatre are both inside the formal park system, right on the water, and Tom Patterson Island and the Avon River are worth a couple of hours on their own.
scalpers at Walmart
Pokemon Card Scalpers Are Camping Outside London's Walmart at 3 AM — and Collectors Are Done With It
Camping outside Walmart and Costco for new release drops is standard practice, according to people who scalp Pokemon cards, and the collectors in the thread have run out of patience with it. One commenter put it plainly: “I hate scalpers almost or more than I hate billionaires.”
The original poster was out for a 3 AM walk, listening to an audiobook, and came across the line by chance. In the comments, one parent said their seven-year-old asked for Pokemon cards for their birthday and there were none to be found anywhere.
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Also this week
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Ozempic and dating
A Western University Professor Wants to Know If You'd Tell Your Date You're on Ozempic — and the Answer Is Complicated
Almost half of people on GLP-1 drugs keep it from the person they're dating, and a Western professor thinks the reason is complicated.
Worth a revisit
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NHL Alumni Face Off Against London Police Sunday at Western Fair — and Your Ticket Gets You Into the Fair Too
Former NHLers face off against local police Sunday for charity, and the $20 ticket gets you into the fair too — kids go free.