"I Should Have Told My Mom Not to Throw Them Away"... Soared 3,821% in 20 Years, 8 Times More Than the S&P 500

Card Ladder Index Soars 3,821% Since 2004
High-Value Rare Card Trades and Even Theft Cases Emerge

Pokemon cards, once exchanged among friends during childhood, are now attracting attention as an alternative investment asset comparable to stocks. Some rare cards are traded for tens of billions of won, and the Pokemon Card Price Index has recorded a much higher growth rate than the leading U.S. stock index, the S&P 500, over the past 20 years.

On September 9 (local time), foreign media outlets such as the New York Post and Hollywood Reporter reported that Peter Levin, co-founder and managing director of Griffin Gaming Partners, a venture capital firm specializing in gaming, recently spoke highly of the value and growth potential of Pokemon cards during an interview.

Pokemon cards, once exchanged among childhood friends, are now gaining attention as alternative investment assets comparable to stocks. Photo by AP Yonhap News

Levin, who is also a collector with over 500,000 trading cards, stated, "If the world were to end tomorrow, I have no doubt that the global currency the day after would be Pokemon cards." What stands out to him is the global recognition and accessibility of Pokemon cards. Not only wealthy professional collectors, but also ordinary consumers can purchase the same products and have a chance to pull rare cards at large retail stores or card shops.

Levin identified this "democratization of experience" as the driving force behind the ongoing growth of the Pokemon card market. In fact, Pokemon, which originated in Japan in the 1990s, has evolved into a global intellectual property (IP) spanning games, animation, movies, and toys. Prices have also soared. According to reporting by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) citing data from Card Ladder, a card price analytics firm, the Pokemon Card Price Index rose by approximately 3,821% cumulatively from 2004 to August 2025.

During the same period, the S&P 500 rose by about 483%. In terms of simple growth rate, the increase of the Pokemon Card Index is nearly eight times that of the S&P 500. Meta also increased by about 1,844% since its IPO in 2012, but still fell short of the Pokemon Card Index.

Symbolic high-value transactions are continuing. The rare “Pikachu Illustrator” card, once owned by YouTuber and professional wrestler Logan Paul, was sold for $16,492,000 at a Goldin auction in February. The buyer was venture investor AJ Scaramucci. This card, awarded to winners of an illustration contest in Japan in 1998, is particularly rare, and the card owned by Paul was certified by PSA, a card grading specialist, as the only example to receive the highest grade of "10."

Symbolic high-value transactions continue to follow. The rare card 'Pikachu Illustrator,' once owned by YouTuber and professional wrestler Logan Paul, was sold for $16,492,000 at the Golden Auction last February. Photo by Kyodo News

Paul acquired this card in 2021 for $5,275,000. The price more than tripled in about five years. Guinness World Records has officially certified this sale as both the most expensive Pokemon card and trading card ever sold at auction. As prices soar, incidents of Pokemon cards becoming targets of crime are also on the rise. In June, a masked group broke into the specialty store "Big Pack Hobby Shop" in Rochelle Park, New Jersey, USA, and made off with high-value Pokemon cards and merchandise. The store owner estimated the losses at about $40,000 to $50,000. It was reported that the perpetrators broke the glass door and display cabinet and completed the theft in less than two minutes.

The trading card market, including Pokémon, began to rapidly grow again around the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. Consumers, spending more time at home, started to collect cards that were a childhood hobby, and the market size quickly expanded due to the combined effects of popular influencers’ card unboxing content and the surge in alternative investment assets like "meme stocks." Photo by AP Yonhap News

However, not all Pokemon cards increase in price as investment products do. Card prices vary greatly depending on print quantity, rarity, character popularity, preservation state, and the grading by professional organizations. Unlike actively traded stocks, Pokemon cards also face liquidity issues, making it difficult to sell at the desired price and time, as well as the risk of counterfeiting. The WSJ also pointed out that a high index return does not guarantee investment profits for individual Pokemon cards.

The trading card market, including Pokemon cards, began to rapidly grow again around the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. Consumers, spending more time at home, started to collect cards that had been a childhood hobby. The rapid market expansion was also fueled by card opening content from popular influencers and the surge in alternative investment assets such as "meme stocks."

Market research firm Grand View Research projects that the global trading card market size will reach $53.98 billion by 2033. As more consumers begin to regard cards as assets rather than mere collectibles, the premium card market, especially for rare and limited editions, is expected to grow further. With what was once considered a children’s pastime now forming a market worth billions to hundreds of billions of won, the line between "collectible" and "investment asset" is becoming increasingly blurred.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.