Pokemon, a popular trading card game, has grown immensely within the past year. With over 480 million copies sold, Pokemon officially released yet another pack to their never-ending collection. The card set titled “Journey Together” came out on March 28 and sold out within minutes. The sets were a hot commodity from Best Buy to Gamestop and even Walmart.
Now what exactly makes Pokemon so popular? The first Pokemon cards were released in October 1996 and has continued to entertain many kids for decades. However, fans of the Trading Card Game (TCG) nowadays collect cards not to play the game, but rather for their rarity and value. Pokemon Youtuber okJLUV says, “You just go into any store you won’t see Pokemon cards on the shelves like you should.”
The popularity began with TCG Pocket released an app for Pokemon players, and then the set “Scarlet and Violet Surging Sparks” came out right after making it surge further.
According to TCG player, a Pokemon stocks website, the “Journey Together” set has four cards within the set that are worth anywhere between 100 to 200 dollars. Lovers of the card game have been rushing to their local retail sellers to make sure they get their hands on the latest set although not every single pack has the most valuable cards.
The seemingly outrageous price tag associated with these cards is the result of both diehard fans and “scalpers”. “Scalpers” are people who take popular things, buy them for insanely cheap, and resell them for massive amounts of money.
This has become a massive issue for those who are sincerely interested in collecting the cards but has also become a bonus for those who want to sell their card collection.
As of right now, the next set called “Destined Rivals” is set to be released in May. According to the official Pokemon Center website, it is only 50 dollars but unavailable. However, according to the TCG player, the set is selling for 1,200 dollars. That is a very drastic difference. As this might end up being the biggest set yet, Danny Phantump, another Pokemon Youtuber says that he will not be opening this new pack, “it is worth more keeping it closed than open due to it falling 83%.”
For student Diego Hernandez Pokemon is a fun pastime and exciting in a way that brings surprises. “So generally, I really love Pokémon. It’s such a great experience you get to meet people, especially on Pokémon go other than like the game in general.” said Hernandez adding, “I like the hype with the cards because of the rarity of it, like it is just so cool to open up a pack and kinda gamble where and possibly get a really cool expensive card.”
For student, Bella McVicker Pokemon has become more than just a game, it’s a social thing. “there’s a lot of people I know that are collecting and its fun to open packs with friends. The downside however is the hobby has been overrun with scalpers, and it’s hard to find packs nowadays.” Said McVicker adding, “I don’t open packs hoping to pull the most expensive card in the set, I just want to get cards with cool looking art and my favorite pokemon.
I think the hype lately has been the increasing value of the chase cards in certain sets. The sets 151 and Prismatic Evolutions contain cards that are very expensive featuring popular pokemon from the franchise.”
