From Binder To Balance Sheet: Serious Collectors Unpack How They're Investing In Pokémon Cards

• We're living through a new Pokémon craze.
• The collectible cards have emerged as an alternative investment.
• Scarcity, but also nostalgia, are a big driver of the high price some cards command.

Remember the binder of Pokémon cards your mother gave away after you left for college? They might be worth more money than you want to think about.

The collectible card game has seen a major comeback, driving a new collecting frenzy that's boosted the price of coveted cards to dizzying levels. Rare Pokémon cards have emerged as their own asset class for some investors, even outperforming traditional investments like stocks over the last few years.

"It's the usual combo behind most alternative asset booms. Scarcity, nostalgia, and a generation that grew up with these cards now actually having money to spend on them," stated Jenna Lofton, a professional stock trader and founder of Stockhitter.com.

While Lofton doesn't collect Pokémon cards, her 10 year old son is a fan. She told Business Insider that his love of game has made her an "unwilling expert" in areas such as pull rates and grading scales, key factors in determining the value of a card.

Brian Dwyer, President of collectibles auction house REA evoked an analogy that may resonate with the of collectors of other tradeables, like sports cards.

"While new installments added each year to the Pokémon universe become fan favorites and can command high prices, iconic characters like Pikachu, Charizard, Gengar, and Umbreon can be compared to Hall of Fame staples like Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, and Jackie Robinson," he said.

One collector who spoke with Business Insider is using his background in finance to perform due diligence on cards. Kian Golshan, who works as a valuations analyst, grew up collecting them, and has found selling Pokémon a lucrative side hustle in adulthood. He credits an analytical approach he's developed working in finance with helping him evaluate the risk-reward profile of cards he's interested in.

"It helps me kind of think through the risks and when to take profits, when to sell, what to hold, what's my like risk profile, what's tracking the market," he told Business Insider.

In February 2024, he bought a Japanese edition Charmander for $59.26, and sold the same card in April this year for $750, a gain of 1,165%. Other recent sales from Golshan's collection have seen similar gains, and some cards he owns have appreciated by thousands of dollars, according to screenshots of his eBay account viewed by Business Insider.

When it comes to assessing a card's potential value, Golshan highlighted the importance of certain eras, citing the period between 2003 and 2007, a time that saw supply of new cards dwindle due to cooler demand.

Years later, the relative rarity of cards from that era, and a preference among some collectors for the art direction and style, have made for a particular valuable vintage of Pokémon.

"When you compound that with the fact that they've physically printed less of these cards, and they're also from 20 plus years ago, that creates a potential good opportunity for value appreciation," Golshan said.

Other collectors also talk about Pokémon like they're investing in stocks. Jake Doll, a collector who writes online about collecting Pokémon cards, says he'll let the market data inform whether it's a good time to sell a particular card.

"There are some card trading sites like TCGPlayer.com that will show the market flux and the line graph of what it was six months ago, what the average price is now," he told Business Insider.

Doll added that while the industry has slowed recently and some previously valuable cards have seen their values drop, he thinks the recent release of a 30th anniversary edition will be a major bullish catalyst. Indeed, boxes of booster packs of the anniversary set are already running well into the hundreds of dollars on retailers' websites.