Childhood relics are now a multi-billion dollar asset class.
Driving the news: With demand for all things Pokémon at an all-time high, two rare cards sold at auction last month for over US$100,000 apiece. They’re just the latest blockbuster deals in a fast-growing Pokémon resale market that’s valued at $15.8 billion.
Earlier this year, influencer Logan Paul sold a Pikachu Pokémon card for a record US$16.5 million. That’s more than three times what he paid for the card in 2021.
Why it’s happening: The generations that grew up collecting Pokémon cards as kids now have money to spend. Instead of buying alternative assets like art or wine, many Millennials and Gen Zers are investing in and profiting from these cards, turning auction houses into schoolyards.
Just like crypto trading and prediction markets, there’s an element of high-risk, high-reward with Pokémon cards that appeals to younger people. A $6 pack of unopened cards could be worth pennies or it could end up paying for a new car.
By the numbers: The Pokémon Co. International (TPCI) — the joint owner of the Pokémon brand — brought in US$12 billion in sales last year. Despite owning only the Pokémon IP, it is now the seventh-most valuable licensor in the world.
Why it matters: In some ways, Pokémon cards have gotten too popular for their own good — TPCI’s own execs have said as much. Collectors have priced out kids, people are camping out overnight to get new card shipments, and shops are getting robbed.
In B.C., a masked gang recently broke into a card store using a car with a giant hook attached to the bumper, stealing $30,000 worth of Pokémon cards.
Our take: This writer really wishes he hadn’t thrown out his binder of Pokémon cards from 2006. They’d probably cover a down payment on a house by now.—LA
