This article might be a stretch when it comes to reader-based columns on antiques and collectibles, but if you are a TCG collector than this one is for you. We are almost into Quarter 2 of 2021 and the trading card market could not be stronger. Magic: The Gathering, Pokémon, and Yu-Gi-Oh! Are all performing, and we are even beginning to see more obscure cards like Digimon, Dragon Ball Z, Duel Masters, and even 1990’s non-gaming cards take flight. This quick acceleration in the market has driven collectors to consume anything and everything card related. Tens of thousands of single cards are continually being graded; the grading companies cannot even keep up. With people bored at home online video entertainment involving cards has become an entire industry, pack openings, box openings. People can not get enough! Just walk into your local Walmart or Target and try to buy a pack of Pokémon or Yu-Gi-Oh! cards. It is not going to happen.
With all this craziness going on it leads dealers and collectors alike asking, “is this a bubble?”. In my opinion both yes and no. Like any other field of collectibles, the best will always stay at the top and hyper inflated trash will crash! For example, a 1999 1st edition Charizard will always be the general holy grail for Pokémon collectors out there, but ten years from now I do not see people still paying $5,000 for an anniversary Charizard card from 2016. As time goes on more and more cards get submitted for grading, continually increasing the supply. Eventually the market has a correction where supply meets demand and surpasses it, causing values to go down. However, there is one coveted portion of the hobby where supply goes down every day, but the demand increases. This magic token I am referring to is sealed product. Sealed product will always be king. Every day you see another YouTube video of someone opening a booster box, whether it is brand new or a 1999 Pokémon Shadowless Booster Box for $100,000. Trust me, Kevin and I delivered one and watched the buyer open it in front of our eyes! Absolutely crazy. Just think, a box that was already worth $100,000. What is the next one worth now that there is one less in the world?
Collecting single cards is fun, but there are endless possibilities. Regardless of which cards you love, there are tens of thousands of different cards to buy. But there is a limited number of sealed merchandises, and every day the population of it goes down, never up. So, if you are reading this at home and you are one of the new waves of crazy card collectors, shop smart not hard. Do not go chasing your tail in a circle buying endless singles, buy sealed and watch it appreciate like Bitcoin.
