{"id":382376,"date":"2026-05-22T12:01:51","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T10:01:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prostartup.it\/crypto-bros-scalpers-and-logan-paul-inside-the-world-of-pok-mon-where-cards-are-sold-for-millions\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T12:01:51","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T10:01:51","slug":"crypto-bros-scalpers-and-logan-paul-inside-the-world-of-pok-mon-where-cards-are-sold-for-millions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prostartup.it\/ru\/crypto-bros-scalpers-and-logan-paul-inside-the-world-of-pok-mon-where-cards-are-sold-for-millions\/","title":{"rendered":"Crypto bros, scalpers and Logan Paul: Inside the world of Pok\u00e9mon where cards are sold for millions"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><span class=\"HighlightShare-hidden\" style=\"top:0;left:0\"><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"RelatedQuotes-relatedQuotes\" id=\"RegularArticle-RelatedQuotes\">\n<div class=\"RelatedQuotes-quotesContainer\">\n<div class=\"RelatedQuotes-titleAndTime undefined\">\n<p class=\"RelatedQuotes-text\">In this article<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<ul class=\"RelatedQuotes-list\">\n<li class=\"QuoteItem-item\" aria-label=\"Quote for null\"><span class=\"QuoteItem-symbol\">7974.T-JP<\/span><span class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-watchlistContainer\" id=\"RegularArticle-WatchlistDropdown\" data-analytics-id=\"RegularArticle-WatchlistDropdown\"><button class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-watchlistButton\" aria-label=\"Add To Watchlist\" data-testid=\"dropdown-btn\"><span class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-addWatchListFromTag\"><\/span><\/button><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"RelatedQuotes-cfaButtonContainer\"><button id=\"ArticlePageTickerCreateAccountButton\" class=\"CreateFreeAccountButton-buttonContainer\"><span class=\"CreateFreeAccountButton-buttonText\"><span>Follow your favorite stocks<\/span><span class=\"CreateFreeAccountButton-buttonTextBold\">CREATE FREE ACCOUNT<\/span><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"InlineImage-imageEmbed\" id=\"ArticleBody-InlineImage-108293013\" data-test=\"InlineImage\">\n<div class=\"InlineImage-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"InlineImage-imagePlaceholder\" style=\"padding-bottom:55.55555555555556%\">\n<div style=\"height:100%\" class=\"lazyload-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"InlineImage-imageEmbedCaption\">This photograph shows displayed collectible cards from the Pokemon Trading Card Game (TCG) at an amateur collector&#8217;s appartment in Paris on March 11, 2026.<\/div>\n<div class=\"InlineImage-imageEmbedCredit\">Martin Lelievre | Afp | Getty Images<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<p>When I was a kid in the late 90s, collecting Pok\u00e9mon cards was a fun hobby. I&#8217;d buy packs, hoping to get the rarest &#8220;shinies,&#8221; or holographic cards.\u00a0We&#8217;d\u00a0trade with friends and even go to meet-ups to trade cards\u00a0trying to &#8220;catch &#8217;em\u00a0all&#8221; \u2014a catchphrase that defined the franchise that had gone from Nintendo Game Boy to an anime TV show.<\/p>\n<p>When I started collecting again two years ago, things had changed. I&#8217;ve stood in line with 100 people in a parking lot outside a toy store for the latest restock of cards. I&#8217;ve seen four men huddled around their car talking about how much they could make by selling the trunk of\u00a0cards they bought during a morning hitting different stores.<\/p>\n<div style=\"height:100%\" class=\"lazyload-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<p>New cards can sell out in minutes. People coordinate on X and Discord to know where to go. <\/p>\n<p>There are similar scenes in the U.S. Videos have circulated on social media of people stampeding over each other to get their hands on card packs.\u00a0There have even been reports of smash-and-grab thefts of stores that stock cards. Prized cards resell at multiples of what they retail for. The rarest can sell for millions of dollars.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s\u00a0a stark contrast from when I could walk into any store and buy however many I wanted.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"InlineImage-imageEmbed\" id=\"ArticleBody-InlineImage-108293014\" data-test=\"InlineImage\">\n<div class=\"InlineImage-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"InlineImage-imagePlaceholder\" style=\"padding-bottom:55.55555555555556%\">\n<div style=\"height:100%\" class=\"lazyload-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"InlineImage-imageEmbedCaption\">A long line of people had formed outside Smyths toy store in Staines, U.K., before the store had opened as fans looked to get their hands on the latest restock of Pokemon cards on March 28, 2026.<\/div>\n<div class=\"InlineImage-imageEmbedCredit\">Arjun Kharpal | CNBC<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<p>From 2004 to 2020, Pok\u00e9mon card prices rose 282%, according to an index compiled by Collectors, which owns card grading agency Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA). Since 2020, prices have risen by an incredible 1,350%, per the index.<\/p>\n<p>Prices have surged and even outperformed traditional asset classes, attracting the attention of people looking to make a quick buck and ultra-high net worth individuals seeking investment assets to protect or grow their wealth.<\/p>\n<div style=\"height:100%\" class=\"lazyload-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<p>People who have made money from cryptocurrency are piling into the market, market watchers told CNBC, as prices reach unprecedented levels.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div role=\"region\" aria-labelledby=\"Placeholder-ArticleBody-Video-108311041\"><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"ArticleBody-subtitle\">What are Pok\u00e9mon cards?<\/h2>\n<div class=\"InlineImage-imageEmbed\" id=\"ArticleBody-InlineImage-108277097\" data-test=\"InlineImage\">\n<div class=\"InlineImage-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"InlineImage-imagePlaceholder\" style=\"padding-bottom:55.55555555555556%\">\n<div style=\"height:100%\" class=\"lazyload-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"InlineImage-imageEmbedCaption\">A Pikachu Character poses at the Pokemon stand during the Brand Licensing Europe at ExCel on October 04, 2023 in London, England. <\/div>\n<div class=\"InlineImage-imageEmbedCredit\">John Keeble | Getty Images News | Getty Images<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<p>Pok\u00e9mon captured people&#8217;s attention in 1996 when the first games were released for the <span class=\"QuoteInBody-quoteNameContainer\" data-test=\"QuoteInBody\" id=\"RegularArticle-QuoteInBody-2\">Nintendo<span class=\"QuoteInBody-inlineButton\"><span class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-watchlistContainer\" id=\"-WatchlistDropdown\" data-analytics-id=\"-WatchlistDropdown\"><button class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-watchlistButton\" aria-label=\"Add To Watchlist\" data-testid=\"dropdown-btn\"><span class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-addWatchListFromTag\"><\/span><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> Game Boy. The trading cards followed shortly after. <\/p>\n<p>While\u00a0Pok\u00e9mon\u00a0continued to print cards, their popularity waned in the 2000s. Everything changed with the 2016 release of &#8220;Pok\u00e9mon Go,&#8221; a smartphone game that had people chasing across cities to &#8220;catch&#8221; Pok\u00e9mon in the real world. <\/p>\n<p>The launch of Nintendo Switch in 2017 and new\u00a0Pok\u00e9mon\u00a0games for the console brought nostalgic\u00a0millennials\u00a0and new\u00a0gamers into the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The cards gained particular popularity over the last three years, as The\u00a0Pok\u00e9mon\u00a0Company, which owns the franchise, releases sets with original characters that were introduced in the late 90s.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s kind of like a\u00a0Pok\u00e9mon\u00a0renaissance,&#8221; Stephanie\u00a0Farnsworth, a lecturer in media and communications at the University of Sunderland, told CNBC in an interview.<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0Pok\u00e9mon\u00a0Company\u00a0continues\u00a0to release new sets of cards every few months, with\u00a0hype being driven this year by special 30th anniversary products.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"ArticleBody-subtitle\">Pok\u00e9mon\u00a0market rally<\/h2>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<p>As well as raising prices, high-profile\u00a0sales have further driven the hype in the last few years.<\/p>\n<p>In February,\u00a0influencer Logan Paul sold a\u00a0rare Pikachu Illustrator card for more than $16 million,\u00a0after buying\u00a0it for just over $5 million in 2021.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div role=\"region\" aria-labelledby=\"Placeholder-ArticleBody-Video-108282250\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<p>Other rare cards sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars.\u00a0According to\u00a0Roy Raftery, a trading card expert at London-based auction house Stanley Gibbons Baldwin&#8217;s, the high-end market is being driven by people who have made money\u00a0off crypto.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;People tell me that they&#8217;re putting their\u00a0money in this because they&#8217;ve got nothing else to do with it, they made a lot of money on crypto, and they&#8217;re just\u00a0ploughing\u00a0it into Pok\u00e9mon,&#8221; Raftery told CNBC in an interview.<\/p>\n<p>A sweep of social media sites like X shows users affiliated with crypto often talking about\u00a0Pok\u00e9mon\u00a0cards as if they were stocks, discussing the market and debating whether the latest dip is just a correction.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Raftery said that most of the buyers at his firm are &#8220;not genuine collectors&#8221; but people &#8220;looking for high-end assets&#8221; or global businesses looking to buy\u00a0Pok\u00e9mon\u00a0card stock to\u00a0resell\u00a0&#8220;because of how lucrative the general market is for all these vintage cards.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s\u00a0not just vintage cards being resold at big markups.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<div id=\"RegularArticle-DataWrapperChart\" class=\"DataWrapperChart-dataWrapperContainer\">window.addEventListener(&#8220;message&#8221;,function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[&#8220;datawrapper-height&#8221;]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(&#8220;iframe&#8221;);for(var t in a.data[&#8220;datawrapper-height&#8221;])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data[&#8220;datawrapper-height&#8221;][t]+&#8221;px&#8221;;r.style.height=d}}});<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<p>In the U.K., a Mega Evolution Ascended Heroes Elite Trainer Box sells on the official\u00a0Pok\u00e9mon Centre\u00a0website for \u00a354.99 ($74.50).\u00a0I found them on eBay being resold for more than \u00a3100 and in some cases over \u00a3300.<\/p>\n<p>Some of the more popular Elite Trainer Boxes, such as the Scarlet &amp; Violet 151 ETB Elite Trainer Box, are on eBay for more than \u00a3450.<\/p>\n<p>High-profile sales encourage others to think they can also make money from\u00a0more common Pok\u00e9mon\u00a0cards, Raftery said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div role=\"region\" aria-labelledby=\"Placeholder-ArticleBody-Video-108311039\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<p>&#8220;Now you have all\u00a0these 19 to 22-year-olds thinking to themselves, well, I\u00a0can&#8217;t\u00a0afford a\u00a0\u00a3500,000\u00a0card, but I can go buy<em> <\/em>a \u00a350 &#8230; elite trainer box &#8230; and then sell it\u00a0for \u00a3100,&#8221; Raftery said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"ArticleBody-subtitle\">Pok\u00e9mon\u00a0trading card scalpers\u00a0<\/h2>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<p>Pok\u00e9mon fans have a word for those who aren&#8217;t fans but buy up the cards to sell them at multiples of the retail price: &#8220;Scalpers.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Whatever true fans think of them, they have to compete with scalpers who often rapidly buy up supply. Online retailers\u00a0can&#8217;t\u00a0cope with traffic, as\u00a0automated software buys products on behalf of scalpers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ArticleBody-cnbcNewsStory\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==\" fifu-lazy=\"1\" fifu-data-sizes=\"auto\" fifu-data-srcset=\"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/image.cnbcfm.com\/api\/v1\/image\/108283633-1774551148434-Screenshot_2026-03-26_at_25203_PM.png?v=1774551253&w=160&h=90&ssl=1&w=75&resize=75&ssl=1 75w, https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/image.cnbcfm.com\/api\/v1\/image\/108283633-1774551148434-Screenshot_2026-03-26_at_25203_PM.png?v=1774551253&w=160&h=90&ssl=1&w=100&resize=100&ssl=1 100w, https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/image.cnbcfm.com\/api\/v1\/image\/108283633-1774551148434-Screenshot_2026-03-26_at_25203_PM.png?v=1774551253&w=160&h=90&ssl=1&w=150&resize=150&ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/image.cnbcfm.com\/api\/v1\/image\/108283633-1774551148434-Screenshot_2026-03-26_at_25203_PM.png?v=1774551253&w=160&h=90&ssl=1&w=240&resize=240&ssl=1 240w, https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/image.cnbcfm.com\/api\/v1\/image\/108283633-1774551148434-Screenshot_2026-03-26_at_25203_PM.png?v=1774551253&w=160&h=90&ssl=1&w=320&resize=320&ssl=1 320w, https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/image.cnbcfm.com\/api\/v1\/image\/108283633-1774551148434-Screenshot_2026-03-26_at_25203_PM.png?v=1774551253&w=160&h=90&ssl=1&w=500&resize=500&ssl=1 500w, https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/image.cnbcfm.com\/api\/v1\/image\/108283633-1774551148434-Screenshot_2026-03-26_at_25203_PM.png?v=1774551253&w=160&h=90&ssl=1&w=640&resize=640&ssl=1 640w, https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/image.cnbcfm.com\/api\/v1\/image\/108283633-1774551148434-Screenshot_2026-03-26_at_25203_PM.png?v=1774551253&w=160&h=90&ssl=1&w=800&resize=800&ssl=1 800w, https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/image.cnbcfm.com\/api\/v1\/image\/108283633-1774551148434-Screenshot_2026-03-26_at_25203_PM.png?v=1774551253&w=160&h=90&ssl=1&w=1024&resize=1024&ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/image.cnbcfm.com\/api\/v1\/image\/108283633-1774551148434-Screenshot_2026-03-26_at_25203_PM.png?v=1774551253&w=160&h=90&ssl=1&w=1280&resize=1280&ssl=1 1280w, https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/image.cnbcfm.com\/api\/v1\/image\/108283633-1774551148434-Screenshot_2026-03-26_at_25203_PM.png?v=1774551253&w=160&h=90&ssl=1&w=1600&resize=1600&ssl=1 1600w\" fifu-data-src=\"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/image.cnbcfm.com\/api\/v1\/image\/108283633-1774551148434-Screenshot_2026-03-26_at_25203_PM.png?v=1774551253&w=160&h=90&ssl=1\" alt=\"Rare Pok\u00e9mon card designed by Atsuko Nishida. \"><\/p>\n<div class=\"ArticleBody-cnbcNewsStoryHeader\">Logan Paul sold a Pok\u00e9mon card for more than $16 million. Here&#8217;s why investors are watching<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<p>I&#8217;ve\u00a0tried the websites of major U.K. retailers like Argos\u00a0and\u00a0John Lewis, and had them crash or suffer checkout issues in the flurry of a new product release. CNBC has reached out to Argos and John Lewis for\u00a0comment.<\/p>\n<p>This creates a supply crunch that pushes people to buying cards at a higher resale price, the University of Sunderland&#8217;s Farnsworth said.<\/p>\n<p>Scalpers create &#8220;volatility&#8221; and &#8220;panic&#8221;\u00a0so people see cards online and think &#8220;oh my god,\u00a0I have to go for this because I&#8217;m not going to get it anywhere else,&#8221; she added.<\/p>\n<p>David Bellinger, a senior equity analyst at Mizuho, said that the market for cards had changed at &#8220;such a\u00a0torrid\u00a0and quick pace.&#8221;\u00a0&#8220;So\u00a0it does have a little bit of a frothy bubbly aspect to it,&#8221; he added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"ArticleBody-subtitle\">Collectors still driving market\u00a0<\/h2>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<p>Amid all of this, there are collectors still buying just so they can complete\u00a0Pok\u00e9mon\u00a0sets or get cards depicting their\u00a0favorite\u00a0characters.<\/p>\n<p>In 2023, Johannes Heck,\u00a0a clinical pharmacologist, found his old Pok\u00e9mon card collection from the late 90s at his grandmother&#8217;s house.\u00a0Between May 2024 and 2025, he listed some on\u00a0eBay and\u00a0published\u00a0a paper about what the experience said about the trading card market.<\/p>\n<p>While Heck never spoke to his buyers about their motivation, he noticed that &#8220;uncommon&#8221; cards \u2014 one of three categories in old sets, along with &#8220;common&#8221; and &#8220;rare&#8221; \u2014 sold &#8220;remarkably fast.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"InlineImage-imageEmbed\" id=\"ArticleBody-InlineImage-106075742\" data-test=\"InlineImage\">\n<div class=\"InlineImage-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"InlineImage-imagePlaceholder\" style=\"padding-bottom:55.55555555555556%\">\n<div style=\"height:100%\" class=\"lazyload-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"InlineImage-imageEmbedCaption\">Pokemon cards released in 1999<\/div>\n<div class=\"InlineImage-imageEmbedCredit\">Yvonne Hemsey | Hulton Archive | Getty Images<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<p>Heck told CNBC there could be two types of buyers \u2013 people looking to complete their collection and those who thought that even &#8220;uncommon&#8221; cards would rise in price enough to make money.<\/p>\n<p>Mizuho&#8217;s Bellinger, who focuses on the consumer market, including collectables, said\u00a0that, while Logan Paul selling card for millions adds &#8220;a new element to the hype,&#8221; collectors are playing a part in the\u00a0overall market.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s\u00a0a lot more of these\u00a0local card\u00a0shows\u00a0popping up\u00a0&#8230;\u00a0I think there\u00a0is a collector base\u00a0&#8230; they\u00a0don&#8217;t\u00a0really care about buying and flipping and making quick money,&#8221; Bellinger told CNBC.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"ArticleBody-MobileAdhesion\" class=\"MobileAdhesion-container\" data-module=\"mps-slot\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"ArticleBody-googlePreferredSourceContainer\" data-module=\"GooglePreferredSource\" data-id=\"RegularArticle-GooglePreferredSource-5\">\n<div class=\"ArticleBody-googlePreferredSourceBorder\"><\/div>\n<p>Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.<\/p><\/div>\n<hr \/>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In this article 7974.T-JP Follow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT This photograph shows displayed collectible cards from the Pokemon Trading Card Game (TCG) at an<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":382377,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/image.cnbcfm.com\/api\/v1\/image\/108283633-1774551148434-Screenshot_2026-03-26_at_25203_PM.png","fifu_image_alt":"Crypto bros, scalpers and Logan Paul: Inside the world of Pok\u00e9mon where cards are sold for millions","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[2863,811,110,2013,2539,2514,2542,1869],"class_list":["post-382376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inv-business","tag-bros","tag-cards","tag-crypto","tag-inside","tag-logan","tag-millions","tag-paul","tag-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prostartup.it\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/prostartup.it\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/prostartup.it\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prostartup.it\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prostartup.it\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=382376"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/prostartup.it\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382376\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prostartup.it\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/382377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prostartup.it\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=382376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prostartup.it\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=382376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prostartup.it\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=382376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}