Pokemon Celebrations: Preston fans eager for Gigantamax Pikachu collection queue from early morning despite store not stocking the rare cards

Staff at Preston' s Waterstones were surprised to find a group of people queuing outside their door this morning, hoping to get their hands on a rare new Pokemon card collection.

The group of around 5 people were already at Waterstones' door by 8:30 am this morning, but were left disappointed as the store not only didn't have the stock, but had no idea what they were talking about.

Alice, a staff member at Waterstones said: "To be honest we're still a bit confused, we're not really sure what happened. We just had a group of young guys all waiting outside the door, asking for the Pokemon cards, apparently they'd gone to Game before us and they'd sold out as well, but we're not even sure why those particular cards are so special because we usually get in new packs and people never wait outside the door for them.

"Pokemon release special editions and new packs every couple of months and this particular edition, we didn't even get any in, but apparently it was a particularly sought after edition, which we didn't know.

"The queue wasn't too long but it was noteworthy for us because we never have anyone waiting outside, so even five people is quite a lot! It was a surprise."

The disappointed customers were after the Pokémon TCG: Celebrations Premium Figure Collection—Pikachu VMAX, which was only launched today, and is the final installment in a much sought after series.

Every major anniversary, The Pokémon Company releases a special set of cards that can only be purchased via special collection sets.

This year's Pokémon TCG: Celebrations has been releasing in waves, with the first wave launching on Friday, October 8, and today's collection being the final wave available for purchase.

This particular collection includes a supersized commemorative figure of Gigantamax Pikachu, two foil promo cards featuring the beloved Pokémon: Pikachu V and Pikachu VMAX, 8 Pokémon TCG: Celebrations 4-card booster packs, 3 additional Pokémon TCG booster packs, and a code card for the Pokémon Trading Card Game Online.