During the Covid-19 pandemic, Pokemon TCG cards soared in value, becoming sought out not only by players and collectors, but also by scalpers and thieves. While premium cards are still selling for exorbitant prices, the speculative boom seems to be dying out in Japan as of recent. Japanese outlet Daily Shincho reports that a large number of Pokémon card shops have been quietly going out of business across the country due to card prices rapidly dropping.
According to a Tokyo-based card retailer interviewed by Daily Shincho, even one of the most popular collectors’ cards in Japan, the Lillie Full Art card illustrated by Naoki Saito, has dropped from a $65,000 buying price to under $15k. The drop in value of Pokémon cards was further driven by the issue of counterfeits, which are becoming increasingly well-made and difficult to tell apart from genuine cards.
As so-called “Pokémon card investors” began to exit the market, they caused a domino effect by selling off their collections and effectively reducing the scarcity of cards. All of this seems to have had a beneficial effect on people who actually play the card game, especially kids. The Japanese card retailer comments that prices have finally become realistic enough for children to buy, with rare cards that used to cost over $300 now being available for $30. Additionally, the problem of masses of people lining up at card shops on release day has improved, and Pokémon cards can be found in stock at ordinary toy shops again.
Curiously, Pokémon cards seem to have been replaced by stickers when it comes to scalping, particularly “3D” Bonbon Drop stickers. These have until recently been an item collected and enjoyed by Japanese children, but soon started being hoarded by adults looking to profit from their high demand and scarcity.
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