Yes, you read that correctly, it is now possible to invest in Pokémon cards. But before breaking your PEL to buy the first card that comes your way, I offer you an article that is intended to be as complete as possible so that you know everything you need to know before investing in Pokémon cards, this new trendy exotic investment.
Pokemon. This name means something to you. This is a very famous video game license created in 1996 by Satoshi Tajiri. It was a role-playing game, where the player takes the role of a Pokémon trainer, those endearing little monsters that must be captured, traded and trained in order to face other trainers in battles of … Pokémon. Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Charmander or Pikachu are among the few famous Pokémon that accompanied the player during his adventure (#teamsalameche). If you’re around 30 years old, it’s a safe bet that you spent a good part of your childhood playing this game with the first Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue editions on Game Boy in the playgrounds.
Due to the unprecedented success of the license, many derivative products have emerged. In particular, and this is what will interest us here, Pokémon cards. This is a collectible card game (similar to “Magic the Gathering” or “Yu-Gi-Oh!”) But with its own rules and, of course, its own universe. These cards were also popular in schoolyards, which is probably why today, 25 years later, these cards are making a comeback.
Although there have always been collectors, who wanted to supplement their collection of Pokémon cards, it is really since the first lockdown (thanks the covid) that the demand has exploded. Transforming this childish hobby into a real exotic investment product in the same way as investing in wine, in art or even investing in collector’s watches.
25 years have passed since the release of the first Pokémon card game series. Every year new cards are produced and come to enhance the game. These new series are called “sets”. Moreover, you can easily find the latest sets sold in any large store such as Fnac or video games and derivative products such as Micromania. The popular cards are mainly from the first set, released in 1996. But beware, much more recent cards can sometimes be traded at very attractive prices.
To recognize a card from the base set, you need to look in the middle right of the card. If you don’t see an icon, it is a card from the base set. Otherwise it’s another edit like in the picture above where the Pikachu on the right belongs to the “Jungle” set.
The so-called “first edition” cards are marked by a “First Edition” icon in the middle left of a card representing a Pokémon (the icon is located at the bottom left for trainer cards and at the top right for “energy” cards. “). This acronym indicates that this is the first draw in a series of cards (so not necessarily from an old series). Indeed, the Pokémon card game is still in production, new sets (“sets”) of the game are released regularly as I have already mentioned above. A card with the first edition icon guarantees that the card in question is from the first impression of this set.
If you own a First Edition card, and especially if this is one of the first sets of cards released, you undoubtedly own a very valuable card. The first edition cards of the more recent sets have, it must be admitted, a much lower value.
