The Pokémon Trading Card Game has seen an explosion in popularity and value in 2022, but is the Pokémon TCG actually a good investment?
With the Pokémon Trading Card Game's explosion in value in 2022, collectors may be wondering if Pokémon cards are actually a good investment that will pay off. Despite launching decades ago, the Pokémon TCG has had a major revival in popularity after a handful of Pokémon cards sold at auction for hundreds of thousands of dollars. In March, Logan Paul's Pikachu Illustrator Pokemon card achieved a Guinness World Record after the YouTuber paid $5.2 million dollars for the rare promotional card. These record-breaking prices created a frenzy among collectors and scalpers trying to buy up any TCG product they can get their hands on.
While the TCG's most valuable collectibles are 1st Edition cards from the 1999 Base Set, the modern Pokémon card game has also been impacted by the booming market. New Sword and Shield TCG expansions such as Shining Fates sold out instantly, with Pokémon fans unable to find products for months. The demand became so overwhelming, that U.S. retailer Target had to temporarily stop selling cards in 2021 due to the rampant problem of Pokémon card scalpers fighting over TCG products in stores.
Despite the Pokémon TCG's rising prices, the question of whether Pokémon cards are a good investment is a tricky one. Collectors looking to make big money will have a difficult time, due to the sheer scarcity of retro TCG cards on the market. Since 2020, many collectors ran out to scoop up as many classic Pokémon cards from the 90s and early 00s as possible. So for most fans, their investments are going to be in modern Pokémon card sets like Evolving Skies and Brilliant Stars. Below is a breakdown of recent Pokémon card prices in 2022 and a look at whether the TCG is worth investing in.
Pokémon Brilliant Stars
Brilliant Stars was the first TCG expansion to release in 2022 and introduced the new VSTAR Pokémon card. The new Sword and Shield set has been a hit with collectors, due to it containing a handful of rare cards that are highly sought after by Pokémon fans. The expansion's most valuable collectible is the Charizard V Alternate Full Art Pokémon card, which now sells for as high as $680 in a PSA 10 grade. When Brilliant Stars launched in February, the card could be picked up ungraded online for around $230. While that is almost three times its original value, the Charizard only fetches the high value if it's determined to be in a perfect condition by a grading company. A PSA 9 version of the rare Charizard Pokémon card has only sold in the $300 range which isn't that great of an investment.
Pokémon Fusion Strike
Compared to other Sword & Shield TCG expansions, Fusion Strike isn't as popular with collectors due to lacking popular cards that Pokémon fans desperately wanted. One of the set's biggest pulls is the Espeon VMAX due to its stunning Alternate Art. In November 2021, collectors were able to snatch the card up for around $110 ungraded. Over a half-year later A PSA10 version of the Espeon now fetches around $430. Like the rare Charizard from Brilliant Stars though, the Fusion Strike VMAX cards price dramatically drops under $200 in PSA 9 grades and lower, making it another tough investment.
Pokémon Evolving Skies
The Evolving Skies TCG expansion had a lot of hype leading up to its release, due to it featuring a handful of rare Eevee evolutions cards such as Umbreon and Sylveon. One of the set's most valuable cards is the Rayquaza VMAX Alternate Art, which could be picked up online for over $200 when the set initially launched. Since then, the Pokémon card's value has fluctuated from around $400 and $500 on online auctions sites such as eBay. Because the Pokémon Company stepped up production of TCG items to combat product shortages, the Evolving Skies expansion can still be found at retail price. As a result, most of the Pokémon card's from this set have not gone up in value due to the set being widely available.
Pokémon Shining Fates
When the Shining Fates TCG expansion launched in 2021, Pokémon card fever had reached an all-time high. Because it contained a Shiny Charizard card, stores could not keep the TCG sets in stock, and Shining Fates products would sell out online in mere seconds. The Sword and Shield expansion was in such high demand, that Pokémon card scalpers turned violent trying to get their hands on it. Over a year later since its release, the Shiny Charizard VMAX Pokémon card has actually seen a drop in its ungraded prices. Originally, collectors could get the Shining Fates card for $300, whereas now it can be picked up for around $130. Interestingly, PSA 10 versions of the Charizard also lost some value going from $400 down to $380. While not a massive drop, it still isn't a financial gain either. With Charizard Pokémon cards still being the TCG's most popular items, the Shiny VMAX could be worth a lot of money years from now.
Pokémon XY Evolutions
The story of the Pokémon XY Evolutions TCG expansion is perhaps the greatest lesson collectors can take away from buying modern Pokémon card sets. In 2016, collectors could walk into any retailer and get this set with no trouble. Even up to 2019, an Evolutions booster box could be bought online for $80-100 dollars. Incredibly, the same TCG product now sells for over $800 through online retailers. Because the X and Y era expansion included a reprint of the incredibly valuable Base Set Charizard from 1999, many collectors rushed out to buy the 2016 release as the "next best thing" due to the retro card's scarcity. It's amazing to think that XY Evolutions could once be picked up for under a hundred dollars just four years ago, and is now impossible for many Pokémon fans to buy. Collectors investing in the Pokémon TCG in 2020 bought hundreds of sealed Evolutions boxes for close to $100, and are now sitting on thousands of dollars of merchandise. With the price of this set seemingly continuing to go up, this 2016 Pokémon card expansion is a good lesson about how even modern TCG sets can eventually become a great investment over time.
Are Pokémon Cards As Valuable As They Seem?
With most Pokémon TCG expansions, fans will have to spend hundreds of dollars before pulling a rare Pokémon card that is valuable. Even then, the TCG card isn't even actually worth anything until it's sent off to a grading service such as PSA, Beckett, or CGC. Because grading is strict, it's actually really hard to get a PSA 10 which is where all the value is at. So even assuming that everything goes right for the collector, the values for most modern Pokémon cards have seemed to have flattened out. That doesn't mean the TCG won't see another boom, but in order to get the insane numbers that many retro TCG sets have brought in, Pokémon Card collectors could be waiting decades.
For Pokémon TCG fans that are patient and willing to wait for a later pay-off, the best Pokémon card products to invest in should feature an extremely sought-after card or have a unique gimmick such as Evolving Skies Eevee theme. Not every retro set has exploded in value, such as several Sun and Moon era expansions that lacked big items. The final thing to look out for is rare promotional Pokémon cards given out in contests or packaged with other products. Cards with a low population, have a better chance of exploding in value later on. Ultimately though, unless a Pokémon TCG collector is able to find retro collectibles for cheap and in good condition, most modern Pokémon cards are not a great investment.
