Pokémon earns serious cash
Pandemic inspires surge in buying, selling collectibles from trading cards to fine art
Anthony Jimenez hadn’t thought much about his Pokémon cards since middle school, when girls suddenly seemed more interesting.
But with time on his hands during the pandemic, Jimenez dug out his old collection and found that the cards were in pristine condition, a fact that would change his life and financial outlook.
“When I found my old Pokémon cards, it was like, ‘Oh my God, these are skyrocketing in value. I should try to sell some of them,’ ”Jimenez said. “So we decided, just for fun, to try this out because Los Angeles was shut down, and we literally had nothing to do.”
Jimenez, 27, has kept his day job doing marketing for a West Coast tech giant. But he’s sold enough new cards and some of his old collection to fuel a lucrative side gig — Tony’s Collectibles — that he runs live on Instagram on some nights with two childhood friends. It’s been clearing an average of $6,000 per show.
The pandemic inspired a surge in the buying and selling of all manner of collectibles, from traditional fine art, rare coins and currency to newer crazes such as Pokémon cards and street art.
Professional Sports Authenticator has been hit with an “avalanche of cardboard” from collectors seeking out the authentication and grading company for a third-party evaluation of their trading cards, President Steven Sloan said.
The crush forced the Santa Ana, California, firm in April to temporarily stop accepting new submissions while employees worked through the backlog. In a July update, the company said it and parent Collectors Universe have been hiring “at a phenomenal pace” to shrink the backlog.
Some Walmart stores pulled their Pokémon cards after collectors and resellers rushed brick-and-mortar locations, creating scenes reminiscent of a Black Friday shopping frenzy. Big B Cards tweeted a video of one such brawl May 21 that has received more than 1 million views.
Also in May, Target said that it was suspending in-store sales of Major League Baseball, National Football League,
National Basketball Association and Pokémon trading cards after a fight broke out in a Wisconsin store parking lot.
Some parents are upset that they are unable to buy their children Pokémon cards because of high online prices after resellers beat them to the available supply in retail outlets.
Part of the boom can be explained by increased disposable income and idle time for some people lucky enough to keep their jobs but work remotely during the pandemic, experts said.
The collecting increase also is an emotional response to coronavirus lockdowns without precedent in living memory.
Stay-at-home orders left people feeling more isolated than ever before. At a time when it was difficult to meet with people, activities built around collectibles presented an opportunity for people to bond over items that give them pleasure.
For Jimenez, a little research into his collection’s worth prompted him to reach out to friends.
“That set off the chain reaction of them looking through their basements and trying to find their Pokémon cards,” he said. “And I think that’s how it happened for a lot of people in the last year.”