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Aldi is adding Pokemon cards to Specialbuy shelves this week and they’re cheaper than Argos and Asda
POKEMON fans are rushing to Aldi to catch ’em all.
The retailer is flogging Pokemon cards on the SpecialBuy shelves for far less than rival stores – just in time for half term.
Customers can choose between a three-pack booster or an ex battle deck from the German supermarket.
Decks are £9.99 each at Aldi, compared to £14 at Asda.
At Argos, they are even more expensive, costing £16 per pack.
There are several varieties available in store, including Paldea Evolved, Paradox Rift and Scarlet & Violet.
This comes after Game shoppers threatened to boycott the retailer after discovering a “greedy” shipping charge being added to Pokemon cards.
The new “Scarlet & Violet Prismatic Evolutions” cards are in hot demand, with other retailers selling out immediately.
Game still has Prismatic cards in stock, but is applying an “oversized” shipping fee of £20 to orders, even though it will ship other items of a similar size or bigger for a standard delivery fee of £4.99.
Standard delivery takes from three to seven days, while oversized delivery takes between three to 14 days.
Scarlet & Violet mini tins, which are selling for £10.99 each, are subject to the hefty levy, bringing their overall cost to £30.98.
Another new Scarlet & Violet product, containing a sheet of stickers, a foil promo card, three booster packers and a code card for Pokemon live, costs £15.99, but also has a £19.99 shipping charge, more than doubling its cost.
There are no other shipping options available on these products.
In contrast, a larger tin of Pokemon Paradox Destinies cards and a £79.99 box containing a card-display dragon figure and 10-booster packs can be delivered for the standard £4.99.
Even a Nintendo Switch console can be bought from Game.co.uk with standard shipping.
The levy on the new Prismatic range has sparked a furious backlash among fans, with many taking to social media to complain.
One fumed on X, formerly Twitter: “How come a small tin of Pokemon cards currently costs £19.99 postage without the option of store collection. Seems like a money making scheme.”
Another added: “Greedy f*ckers taking advantage of limited stock items. £20 postage charge on an £11 Pokémon tin that is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand with no other options… what a joke.
“Customer support says this is intentional pricing. Never buying from u again.”
A third said: “Why are you charging a £20 delivery charge for a small item that costs £15.99??? Pokemon TCG tech stickers. Are you jumping on the scalping bandwagon too???”
If you’ve never thought about collecting the Japanese cards, it could be worth jumping on the hype after a rare box was sold for a £19,500 at auction.
The unopened first-edition cards were bagged by a collector for the insane amount at auction in Woking, Surrey.
Neo Genesis is the first main expansion of the Neo Series of the Pokémon Trading Card game.
It is based on Pokémon Gold and Silver, featuring popular Generation II Pokémon such as Lugia and Typhlosion and were released in English on December 16, 2000.
Stephen Wilks, former Managing Director of Wizards of the Coast in the UK, retained the collection and scooped the life-changing sum.
The box sold at Ewbank auctioneers in Woking for 3,900 times the price of a regular pack of £5 Pokemon cards.
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First ever goal at new Everton stadium is scored by LIVERPOOL FAN as Toffees are forced to endure brutal celebration
A LIVERPOOL fan stole Everton’s thunder with the first ever goal at their new stadium as his celebrations went viral.
An incredible 10,000 Toffees’ fans turned up for the test event, with Everton Under-18s taking on their Wigan counterparts.
And no matter how high Harrison Rimmer climbs in the rest of his career, he might always be remembered for the way he arrived on ‘the big stage’ – of Bramley-Moore Dock stadium.
The Latics’ website describes their teenage hopeful as a “tough-tackling” midfielder.
And the Reds’ supporter certainly showed he knows how to give it out… to Everton fans.
Rimmer took just 11 minutes to notch his historic strike at the £760million venue.
The goal itself was pretty simple.
But he chose the moment to troll Toffees’ supporters.
The grinning starlet turned to the crowd and raised six fingers.
The raising of half a dozen digits is a cutting reference to the combined total of European Cups and Champions League crowns lifted by the Reds.
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And it’s a time-honoured way for brave players who support Liverpool to mark a goal scored at the club’s two fiercest rivals, Everton and Manchester United.
Even as team-mates congratulated Rimmer for his goal, he seemed more interest in teasing the home faithful.
One Wigan player hugged him, another kissed him on the head.
But Rimmer’s focus was on his moment with the crowd.
And as he ran off after the embrace from fellow Latics, he turned back to deliver one final six-finger salute.
Many observers loved Rimmer’s sheer cheek.
One joked: “Nothing will ever happen at Bramley-Moore that will top that moment!”
Another posted: “Harrison Rimmer scoring the first goal at Everton’s new stadium giving it the ‘6 Times’ gesture! Couldn’t get more Everton.”
“What a man,” said a third fan, while a fourth wrote: “Gonna have a few people rattled.”
But another viewer teased that Rimmer’s antics were just “bitter jealousy” over the impressive new stadium.
And one fan ditched the banter in favour of some sound advice for trival lovers.
He posted: “Harrison Rimmer of Wigan U18s scores the first goal at the new Everton stadium. Remember it for your pub quizzes!”
Everton expect to move into 53,000-capacity Bramley-Dock next season, having been at Goodison Park since 1892.
Govt squander £8BILLION fund on projects like TikTok dancing, ‘queer animals’ & pro-trans robots in latest waste outrage
TAXPAYERS are funding a university study of TikTok dance videos in the latest government waste outrage.
More than £8billion of public cash was set aside for research.
But millions have been splurged on woke projects looking at “queer animals” and pro-trans robots.
We told yesterday how £15billion in public cash went on foreign aid projects such as shrimp farms in Bangladesh and electric Porsches for Albanian jails.
The revelations follow pressure to raise defence spending and cut NHS waits, and has led to calls for a US-style efficiency department like Elon Musk’s.
Another £8billion a year is earmarked for UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) grants — but The Sun can reveal millions was frittered on woke projects.
The TaxPayers’ Alliance blasted: “Brits know government waste is rampant — but this takes the cake.”
Projects included £199,922 for the Coventry University study into “Ontology and Ownership of Internet Dance”.
It states Covid lockdowns “resulted in new forms of dance, which have raised questions about how online dances are understood, described and exchanged”.
It claims to produce expertise on dance that “occurs online more than ever before, in new and experimental formats” including TikTok.
Questions it seeks to answer include:
- WHAT kind of thing is an online dance?
- IS dance online a different thing to dance offline?
- DO the aesthetic and cultural histories of dance forms mean each produces a different kind of thing or are all online dances one kind of entity?
- HOW does dance’s ontology shape social practices around ownership online?
- HOW can ontological understanding support artists when sharing work online?
Last month dancers and students were offered a £150 bursary from the project to attend and perform at a symposium on campus.
Videos shared publicly online show the man’s hip-hop routine to cheers from students. Coventry University declined to comment.
Other grants included £1.1million for the University of Sheffield to probe “Intersectional Inclusion”.
Another £1.1million went to Royal Holloway, University of London, to study “Inclusive Histories”.
The University of Exeter was awarded £247,132 for a project on “Queer Natures: Animals, Environment and Modern Sexual Knowledge Production” including attitudes in pre-1930s Germany.
UKRI also funds private-sector research. Software firm Clusivity received £214,330 into using AI robots to help make companies more accessible to non-binary and LGBTQ+ minorities.
TaxPayers’ Alliance investigation campaign manager Joanna Marchong added: “Officials are milking expenses. That reckless attitude is spreading to other public sector spending like university grants.
“Ministers need to wake up, crack down on waste, and start treating taxpayers’ money with the care it deserves.”
A Government spokesperson said: “We are determined to ensure that taxpayer’s money is supporting our priorities.”
- Unlock even more award-winning articles as The Sun launches brand new membership programme – Sun Club.
10 oddball schemes tax funds
PROJECTS your money is paying for...
1. Moving Online: Ontology and Ownership of Internet Dance — £199,922
2. Storying Life Courses for Intersectional Inclusion: Ethnicity and Wellbeing Across Time and Place — £1.1million
3. Using AI to Connect the LGBTQ and Arts Communities — £50,000
4. Queer Natures: Animals, Environment and Modern Sexual Knowledge Production — £247,000
5. Critical Dance Pedagogy through Discourse and Practice — £78,000
6. South Asian Dance Equity: The Arts British South Asian Dance Ignores — £83,000
7. The Europe Gay Porn Built, 1945-2000 — £841,000
8. Policy Recommendations to Regain Feminist Losers as Mainstream Voters — £260,000
9. Platform that uses AI to create effective corporate DEI strategies — £214,000
10. Digital Black Dance Ecologies Network — £82,000.
Streeting shrimps stonewall
By Jack Elsom
THE Health Secretary yesterday refused to back the shocking examples of foreign aid spending, as revealed by The Sun.
Wes Streeting was challenged on initiatives such as a £133,000 taxpayer-funded study of shrimp health in Bangladesh.
He told Times Radio: “I’m not defending those individual examples, far from it. The Government has been in for several months and in that time has chosen to undertake a thorough review of government spending.”
Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesman said, while foreign aid was important for our own national interest, he was ordering a line by line review of all government spending.
He said: “It will ensure taxpayer money is spent with public priorities at the heart of it.”
Floyd Mayweather to host £4million 48th birthday party on Miami Beach lasting a WEEK – with ATV tour and roller skates
FLOYD MAYWEATHER is hosting a WEEK’S worth of birthday celebrations in Miami – costing £4million.
The boxing legend turns 48 on Monday, February 24 and it will mark the end of seven days worth of partying.
According to TMZ, Mayweather is spending $5m (£4m) on a series of bashes in Miami starting on Monday, February 17.
The American and 400 of his closest family and friends travelled to South Beach to celebrate his 48th.
He is said to have put up his pals in fancy hotels throughout Miami Beach.
Beach parties, an ATV tour, roller-skating – one of Mayweather’s favourite hobbies – and bowling fill up the itinerary.
Mayweather is an avid skater and even owns his own Las Vegas rink – Skate Rock City.
The 50-0 legend will also throw an event at a local mansion as well as on a yacht.
And he appeared to confirm the wild plans by posting online: “Come party with me for my birthday Miami!”
Mayweather officially retired in 2017 after victory over UFC superstar Conor McGregor, 36.
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But he has continued to return for exhibitions since against names from the MMA, boxing and social media world.
His last came against John Gotti III – grandson to America’s most notorious mob boss – last August.
And Mayweather – who made close to £1BILLIION in his boxing career – has teased more upcoming exhibition bouts.
Love Island fans spot sign Sammy was fuming about fifth place and predict when he will DUMP Elma
LOVE Island fans are convinced that Sammy was left unimpressed about being ditched from the villa.
The former winner came in fifth place with Elma – despite her previously being voted the most popular girl.
Those watching at home think he is set to end things with his Towie co-star asap after they failed to secure a win.
Discussing his reaction, one person wrote: “I know Sammy is fuming that he didn’t win again.”
A second said: “Sammy’s face says it all, bro definitely thought he had another 50K.”
While a third added: “Sammy looks like he’s done with Elma already and they haven’t even landed yet.”
Sammy – who won series 10 – entered the All Stars villa as a bombshell on Day 16.
He soon coupled up with Elma after her partnership with Ronnie Vint fell apart.
The best budget wines from around the world & their surprising food pairings – including the right rose for Jaffa cakes
WHETHER you enjoy a drop of Spanish red, French rose or Aussie white, affordable wine from all over the world has never been so widely available in UK supermarkets.
To celebrate Global Drink Wine Day here Alex James, Blur bassist, food and drink aficionado, founder of the annual Big Festival, cheesemaker and the curator of Britpop wines, raises a glass to common types of plonk from eight grape-growing countries.
And he suggests the best British dishes to tuck into when drinking them – including some you might not have tried before.
ITALY – Caparelli Italian Pinot Grigio, £5.50, Tesco
DRINK WITH: Cheesy crumpets
ITALIAN white is the perfect match for old-fashioned, budget-friendly mild Cheddar for cheese on toast – or crumpets.
Having said that pretty much any cheese is fair game. If you can grate it, you can grill it.
It’s almost impossible to eat badly in Italy and it’s the home of many grand, spectacular wines but this dish calls for a cheap and cheerful classic.
Pinot Grigio is great with pizza and it takes the perfect simplicity of cheesy crumpets straight up to the penthouse of indulgence.
Some pomegranate seeds give this pairing the perfect finishing touch of prettiness. Midweek heaven.
AUSTRALIA – Burfield Chardonnay, £6.50, Iceland
DRINK WITH: Pork pie
I WAS in Western Australia with a bunch of winemakers just before Christmas.
They make a staggering variety of plonk but Chardonnay is the country’s favourite white.
I brought a stash home with me and I discovered it’s a pork pie’s perfect partner.
The wines have green apple and a whole host of fruity flavours that really connect with pork – and would be great with a hot sausage roll, too.
Chardonnay grapes also do well in England.
You will probably have to pay a bit more for a home-grown bottle but they are well worth trying with a pie if you get the chance.
GERMANY – Extra Special Gewurztraminer, £8.50, Asda
DRINK WITH: Chicken Tikka Masala
WHEN it comes to curry, most of us would probably reach for an ice-cold beer.
But there is a wine for every occasion and Gewurztraminer which hails originally from the culinary gold mine of Alsace along the French-German border is a fine choice to sip alongside spicy food.
It’s quite viscous and sometimes reminiscent of tea with honey but it’s a white, big and bold enough to sit comfortably with any curry, exotic naan or aromatic rice you care to throw at it.
I like Gewurztraminer ice cold and sipped gently so I’ll stand my wine glasses in the freezer for half an hour before pouring.
SPAIN – 5 Oros Rioja Crianza, £7.99, Lidl
DRINK WITH: Fish and chips
WHITE wine with a nice, light acidic bite is the obvious choice for fare like fried fish but it’s by no means the only one.
If you like red wine and you like fish and chips, chances are you’re going to like them both at the same time.
Especially in the winter.
Batter is quite meaty so it can easily take the weight and depth of a full-bodied red and the might of malt vinegar needs something robust to meet it.
This Rioja pairing works really well and would be outstanding enjoyed at the British seaside at this time of year.
Or lying down in front of the telly.
ENGLAND – Britpop Brut by Alex James, £25, laithwaites.co.uk.
DRINK WITH: Full English breakfast
YES, this one is mine but there are lots of other great bottles of English fizz also worth paying a bit extra for.
The brightness and sharpness of our native sparkling wine makes it the perfect accompaniment to this culinary juggernaut – a full English.
It cuts through rich meaty oils, refreshing the palate and adding a dash of glamour.
If you like orange juice with your fry-up, try mixing it with Brit fizz for the full breakfast of champions.
These are golden days of English wine making and our home-grown bubbly is now right up there with the very best in the world.
CHILE – Specially Selected Chilean Pinot Noir, £6.49, Aldi
DRINK WITH: Toad in the hole
I WAS going to say how cheap and easy it is to make Yorkshire puddings for toad in the hole then I spotted some ready-made ones in the supermarket.
But the gravy is the key ingredient in this dish.
Even with a packet or ready-made sauce, I still add a good splosh of vino to give it spicy depths.
If you’ve got time, the advantage of making your own batter is you can make them as gigantic as you want.
I rather like tearing off bits of Yorkshires and dunking them in my Pinot.
But I have to do it when my mum’s not looking.
FRANCE – Chais du Moulin Rosé, £6.99, laithwaites.co.uk.
DRINK WITH: Jaffa Cakes
WHILE I’m not suggesting anyone make a habit of this at teatime, biscuits like Jammie Dodgers or Jaffa Cakes coupled with a bottle creates a surprisingly sensational combination of interconnecting fruitiness and creaminess in the mouth.
Rose would be lovelier still with scones, jam and clotted cream but biscuits have fewer calories so this is actually a relatively sensible choice.
There are so many affordable wines to explore in every supermarket.
They will tell you what they taste like and what they go well with on the back label so don’t be afraid to sip around.
ARGENTINA – Buenas Vides Argentinian Malbec, £4.59, Aldi
DRINK WITH: Sunday roast
NOTHING could have prepared me for how much the Argentinians love the UK.
They are mad about British music, football and totally mad about beef.
Aberdeen Angus beef is very highly regarded across South America.
It tastes spectacular and is traditionally cooked to perfection on adjustable barbecues called parillas.
I sometimes dream of running away to Argentina and never coming back.
A glass of fat Argentinian Malbec red wine with a traditional meaty roast is the next best thing.
They were literally made for each other.