People are paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for Pókemon cards. Here’s why

It’s no secret that trading cards could be worth thousands of dollars, but did you know that the hobby also extends to the game popularized by a 90s anime?

Yes, Pokémon cards are surging in popularity once again.

One of the founders of Card Ladder, a company that tracks the value of sports and trading cards for collectors, said this is actually a preferred method of investment for many millennials and Gen Zers.

And it all starts with the moment buyers rip open the pack.

“You could chase your favorite cards. So I might buy a $5 pack and I could chase an $100 card,” Andres Fernandez, co-owner of the store Simply Collectibles, said. “That’s what really drove me to the hobby.”

It’s all about the basic rules of supply and demand.

“The collectability is also a huge factor. These things are assets. You know, it’s like buying gold. It’s like buying silver. It’s like buying a Rolex, but better, because they’re so scarce and there’s crazy demand,” Fernandez said.

And the value has certainly gone up in the last year, according to Card Ladder.

“Over the last year, our index shows that all the Pókemon cards have grown 170% in the last year, and this is actually a large sample size of nearly 10,000 cards,” co-founder Joshua Johnson said.

Depending on the card and the condition it’s found in, it can be worth thousands of dollars–or more.

One card that features Pókemon’s most famous character, Pikachu, in a grey felt hat, is one example.

“The market cap on that card is $131 million, and each one is valued at about $2,800 right now,” Johnson said.

Fernandez said at his business, there are cards inside sealed “booster boxes… that go for $250,000, $400,000 and more.”

But who determines the price of a single card?

“PSA is a grading company. Let’s say you have a raw card and you send it to PSA, and they grade it on a scale of one being the worst to 10 being the best,” Fernandez said. “Ten is obviously going to be the most desirable and the hardest to acquire, because these cards come out of the pack sometimes not perfect.”

And it is because of their value that it’s not uncommon to hear about scammers and thefts in the community of Pokémon fans.

“The main form of theft I’ve personally been seeing in the realm I’m in is card show theft, people being followed to their cars with the product and being robbed at gunpoint,” Fernandez said. “You’ve just got to be very diligent.”

Collectors also recommend being careful about where you open new packs and who you choose to trade with.

And if you’re new to the hobby, here are a few things to look for, according to Simply Collectibles, to avoid getting scammed:

• Real cards have some sort of texture. If the card is too glossy or smooth, it could be fake.
• Make sure they pass the light test. Real cards are not see-through when you shine a light on them.