Pokémon Cards: Invest, Sell, or Collect?

I found my old binder of Pokémon cards a couple months ago, which sent me down an absolute rabbit hole of research on eBay, Kijiji, and pricing chart websites. An addictive dopamine rush flooded my system every time I found out a particular card was worth over $50 or was super sought-after rare card that I had forgotten was buried within a plastic slotted page of my beloved childhood binder.

Trading cards on the playground in 1999 was my first ever sales training in the field. I can recall using my best poker face, attempting to be calm and cool while looking through my friends’ collections during trades.

However, every kid had the same tell: you would hand your card stack to your friend, he would swipe through looking unimpressed until he saw a holographic card which would elicit a quick big eyebrow raise.

I swear this binder must be worth a small fortune. Prices have skyrocketed through the duration of the pandemic, making this quite an outstanding “asset class” for its performance over the last 24 months.

And just like that, before I knew it, a whole Sunday afternoon was dedicated to looking up cards, and seeing which ones were missing.

The Closest Thing to a Time Machine

I imagined having a conversation with my 10-year-old self. Young Johnny would say:

“So let me get this straight: you have the ability to go to the store, buy individual cards that you’re missing, and complete the entire set?! And you haven’t done it yet?! What the hell, dude!! I would do anything to get those cards!!”

 
Very eloquent, Young Johnny, but you have a point.

A Trip to My Local Game Store

So, there I was. Standing in a local game store, dressed in my signature neutral-coloured Fall season business attire and freshly polished shoes, feeling the judgmental eyes of the super-nerd shopkeepers staring me down as I perused the store.

Little did they know, I was like a kid in a candy store, my wide eyes in awe as I looked through their N64 cartridges, old SNES video game controllers, and various system boxes that I can recall opening as a kid on Christmas Day.

Very loudly in my head, I thought, “Hey idiots, I’m allowed to like this stuff too!”. But after chatting with the guys behind the counters for a few minutes, cracking a few jokes, they warmed up to me very quickly and they were super helpful in guiding me along this mini adventure.

However, what started off as a trip to find some old cards, became difficult situation to resist the urge to buy a booster pack of a new set; or maybe it was two, or ten booster packs. I can’t remember now.

Uh oh, a classic case of the good ol’ cardboard addiction.

That “Fresh-Pack” Scent

This year in 2021 happened to be the 25^th anniversary of Pokémon, and they released their Celebrations set to honour some of the most special cards in the history of the Trading Card Game.

I actually had an amazing time opening these packs; more than I care to admit. You don’t have an equal chance at pulling each card in the set; some are super hard and/or rare pulls.

Luckily, Old 31-year-old Johnny managed to pull a Charizard (valued at $100 - $200) and a Blastoise (valued at $10 - $15) out of a pack!! Honestly, I know I’m sounding super nerdy, but I was pretty hyped up when this happened.

It’s amazing how a particular scent can transport you right back to that moment in your childhood, and opening a fresh pack of brand-new Pokémon cards did just that for me.

All your senses are engaged; the smell of the freshly printed cardboard, the crackling sound of the wrapper as you peel back the foil, the feel of the cards carefully slipping out of the package, and the anticipation of potentially getting that rare pull.

I even pulled a Shiny Gold Mew! And at the time of writing this, it’s currently selling for $50 - $100, as of December 2021.

Collecting is in My Genes

I must be a collector by nature. My mother collected vintage 1960s barbie dolls and my grandfather collected vintage / antique TV’s and radios. My genes must make me predisposed to be a hoarder, but I promise I’m organized and clean.

Thus, the last few weeks have been like a time machine, going through my collection of cards that I carefully placed in my coveted binder over 20 years ago.

If you’re reading this, and you bought cards for your kids back then, or maybe you were my age and had them yourself, I highly recommend digging them out of the box in the basement and taking a trip down memory lane.

Who knows, you might even be sitting on a gold mine.

Leave a comment below and let me know if you’ve discovered your old collection. I’d love to hear about it. Thanks for taking the time to read and remember to subscribe below for my future newsletter about investing, marketing, and business productivity.

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