Would You Look at That, Capitalism Ruined Something That Used to Be Fun... Again.

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 Just a few short years ago, you could walk into a Target or a Walmart and find Magic: The Gathering or Pokémon cards on the shelves. In 2025, retailers are now having to put "per customer" rules on trading cards. Trading card sales at Target are up nearly 70% year to date and are on track to deliver $1 billion in sales this year. Why is that? What created this trend that is actively preventing your average 33-year-old from finding cards anywhere?

Essentially, in 2020 when the world encouraged people to stay indoors, a flood of nostalgic millennials with disposable income started seeking out cards they missed out on as kids. Some of those nostalgic millennials happened to be social media influencers with massive followings who legitimized the hobby and acted as a marketing tool for the second-hand market of cards. Going as far as to treat Pokémon cards as a legitimate investment as opposed to playing the stock market.

A core mechanic to the trading card hobby from Pokémon or even sports cards is opening "chase cards," usually depicting a fan-favorite character or athlete printed at a higher rarity or premium versions of those cards. The easiest example to point to is the Pokémon Trading Card Game 1999 Base Set Holo Charizard. The card that had 7-year-old kids losing their minds opening Booster Packs in 1999. For context, there was only about a 2% chance to pull this card out of any given pack. Hardcore collectors or players will buy tons of packs to find it. These cards are worth more since they are in a higher demand among collectors.

Yes, I've had this since 1999.

In 1999, when I pulled the above Charizard from a pack, the going price was $35. Had it been the first edition printing, that would have added about $10 to the value. Again, this card sat in a binder from 1999 until 2025 when I sent it to PSA for grading. The benefits of doing so are that it is better preserved for the future, and it is now included amongst the population of similarly graded cards. Of course, my 25 year old card that has moved to at least 5 residences throughout its lifetime is not in pristine condition. As is, I'd be lucky to get $250 if I were to sell it. A pristine version of this exact card? A PSA 10 most recently sold for $11,155 at the time of this writing. The Shadowless (different, smaller print run) version? PSA 10 Most recently sold for $54,655.

So how does the price of this vintage card affect what is happening today with the hobby? Well, my theory is that the genius people over at Pokémon have refined the way they make these chase cards. My theory is that they activate the "Ooh, shiny" part of our brains. The same part that made the first human to discover gold think "Man, I really think we should kill people about this."

In the future, wars will be fought over this. Better stock up!

So really, what is the harm in a wave of nostalgia and some super serious collectors dropping major cash on some shiny cardboard they like? Well, honestly nothing with that part. The thing that has ruined the experience for the average person is scalpers. On certain mornings in a metropolitan area at your local Sam's Club or Walmart, you may be so lucky to witness the nature of capitalism in it's purest form.

Sights like this one:

Pictured: Jackasses.




Or this one:



Followed by this one:

MSRP $26.94


On top of this, you have entire discord servers dedicated to purchasing from online sources at MSRP by the thousands.

The only cure for this disease is for people to stop buying these products from scalpers. These trash humans are cashing in on the sickness that is FOMO. Fueled by social media influencers inundating your feed with imagery to make you want. Flashy videos compelling you to consume. Highlighting the coolest possible outcomes urging you to BUY BUY BUY! I honestly hope these scalpers lose every dollar they have made when the "bubble" bursts. 

Garbodor, the garbage Pokémon. See also, scalpers.
























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