Inside Edition investigates the recent resurgence in popularity of Pokémon cards.
What began as a popular game in the nineties evolved into an animated series and a movie. Decades later, Pokémon’s popularity is experiencing a resurgence, with some of the cards selling for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
People are waiting in long lines just to get the newest releases, and scalpers are cleaning out shelves. Target stopped selling the cards in stores altogether after a fight broke out.
Marissa Todd manages Jam Sports Cards & Collectibles in Staten Island, New York.
“I never thought in a million years I would sell as much Pokémon as I do,” Todd told Inside Edition.
It’s little guys like 7-year-old Mark McIntire driving the craze.
“Morning, noon and night, he is talking about Pokémon or Pokémon cards,” his mom, Jennifer, said.
“I find it rather interesting myself, I do,” she added.
Social media influencers are also creating excitement by opening new packs live on video. Former attorney Lee Steinfeld, 34, is one of them.
“I just find it so nostalgic to myself. It reminds me about when I was younger,” Steinfeld said. He opened up a pack during his interview with Inside Edition, and ended up getting a really good card.
It all adds up to big business where the cards are bought and sold on an e-commerce site called TCGplayer.
“We are talking hundreds of millions of dollars on old, new, used Pokémon cards,” TCGplayer spokesman John McDonald said.
Steinfeld doesn’t believe the craze will go away anytime soon. “I don’t see it going anywhere. In fact, I see the business aspect of it just increasing,” he said.
The COVID-19 pandemic is being credited for making Pokémon popular again, because during lockdown lots of people became nostalgic for simpler times.
