Pokémon cards, from vintage to modern, drew crowds at the Arizona State Card Show in Phoenix on March 29, 2025. (Photo by Jack Barron/Cronkite News)
PHOENIX – Pokémon vendor Tiffany Britton was never interested in collecting trading cards, let alone selling them for a profit.
Harry Britton, Tiffany’s husband, has been an avid Pokémon fan since the Pokémon Trading Card Game debuted in the United States in 1999, but Tiffany had never given the cards a second thought. Eventually, Harry shared his love for Pokémon with Tiffany and she’s been obsessed with collecting cards ever since.
“So I wasn’t at all,” Tiffany said. “Then he had some packs to open and then I noticed like, ‘Hey these are actually different cards.’ So then I found I was like, ‘Oh, I’m going to start a set.’”
Now, Tiffany has been collecting her favorite Pokémon 151 cards for years. She particularly loves the beautiful designs of 151 cards that pay homage to original cards.
“They’re really pretty cards, but it’s kind of like homage to the original, back in the day kind of cards,” Tiffany said. “They look very similar, but then they have a new twist on the illustrations.”
Pokémon cards were on full display at the 2025 Arizona State Card Show at the Phoenix Convention Center in March. While the event predominantly focused on sports cards, a large number of tables were decked out with Pokémon paraphernalia and run by enthusiasts who wore bright Pikachu shirts and other apparel.
Stories like the Britton’s have been made possible due to the nostalgia of Pokémon for millennials who grew up with the Japanese trading cards. That growing interest has made it possible for vendors to make a living selling cards from their favorite hobby.
“Old heads like me back when the Pokémon game and the show came out in the ‘90s, so we have people 30, 40 (years old) that were into it then,” Harry said. “Now they have jobs and can spend money on it so that’s where the market built from there.”
Vendor Richard Widmar sells Pokémon cards and custom 3D printed accessories at the Arizona State Card Show on March 29, 2025, in Phoenix. (Photo by Jack Barron/Cronkite News)
Beyond tales from nostalgic millennials, the niche world of Pokémon cards has grown in popularity since the COVID-19 pandemic. As people were forced into their homes, they often looked for something they could do without having to leave their houses and expose themselves to the virus.
“You can play these games without having to be in person,” vendor Richard Widmar said. “You can go online. You can do Discord. You can do anything that’s like virtual and people wanted things to collect.”
Vendor Josh Sandoval knows the impact the pandemic had on the Pokémon world better than most. Like most collectors, he grew up during the rise of Pokémon in the waning years of the 1990s and start of the 2000s. However, it was watching YouTube videos about the trading card world that sent Sandoval down the path to becoming a vendor.
“I just started thinking like, ‘Oh, I have some of those cards,’” Sandoval said. “So I started looking at it and from there, one thing snowballed into another. I started collecting more, and just started wanting to do it.”
Sandoval came from Orange County, California, to run a table at the trading card show. Sandoval said he typically runs tables at events in Orange County and Las Vegas but chose to come to Arizona due to the growing interest in Pokémon cards and the potential for sales.
“What we like to look for is kind of the longer-based shows like this one in the Arizona State Card Shows, like three day (and) pretty much eight hour days,” Sandoval said.
The Pokémon card world is propped up by great financial incentives for vendors. The cheapest tables at the Arizona State Card Show started at $275, with the most expensive ones costing $1,100. The high table costs are offset by the high prices vendors can charge for some of the most sought-after cards.
Cards available in stores can start at less than $5, while larger sets can cost upwards of $50. Some vendors at card shows sell these standard packs for similar prices, but the vast majority of profits come from graded cards.
“We’re kind of a little bit of both,” Tiffany said. “We do appreciate the cards, we love the selling. It’s really cool to be a part of people’s collections whether they’re looking for an investment, they’re looking for a particular card or set.”
Grading is the process of determining a Pokémon card’s value. Graded cards are contained in a clear, sealed case with a label identifying the card and all its characteristics. Cards are usually graded on a scale of one to 10, with higher-rated cards in better condition, whereas lower-rated cards have flaws.
Graded cards are incredibly popular for collectors, as over 50% of occasional collectors own a graded card, and 94% of confirmed collectors who have collected for more than two years own one.
However, most cards are sold for just a few dollars. A ParseHub analysis of 1,000 Pokémon cards listed on eBay found that the cheapest cards are sold for just $1.29, and the average card sells for $20.19.
“So there are some cards where you know they’re going to be popular,” Britton said. “Then there’s some parts you kind of hope they’ll be popular, okay, but it’s all online, so whatever, I’m usually going to price based on what was last sold.”
Harry Britton, left, and Tiffany Britton, Pokémon enthusiasts turned vendors, sell cards together at the Arizona State Card Show on March 29, 2025, in Phoenix. (Photo by Jack Barron/Cronkite News)
Despite the low average price, asking prices can range greatly depending on their value. For example, the Umbreon ex #161 card has a raw price of $1,247.76 and a high-end price of $3,150.89 for cards graded at 10, according to ArizonaTCG. Other cards like the Wailord #162 and Lillie’s Clefairy Ex #173 cost $34.48 and $33.75 on average, respectively.
“You see a lot of people now treating Pokémon like stocks because that’s what sports cards is, right?” vendor Richard Widmar said. “Players are stocks and everything. But now you’ve got people hopping from the hobby to hobby to, of course, mine and make money from it.”
Prices are highest in Japan, the homeland of Pokémon, with an average price of $93.73 for eBay listings, and Japanese purchases made up 19.62% of worldwide sales. The United States accounts for 62.19% of all card sales but had a lower average of $66.46.
Some vendors got into the niche world thanks to other enthusiasts. Josh Kohlbecker was a collector of Pokémon cards for years before deciding to become a vendor.
“I really needed to make space in my house and started going to tables after meeting a couple of friends,” Kohlbecker said. “They’re actually a few tables down; they’ve been here too. So they got me into selling my stuff.”
On the other side of the table, adults who grew up playing with Pokémon cards are the primary market. The older demographic is a necessity for the trading card world as the prices of sought-after cards continue to skyrocket, making them less accessible to younger collectors.
The popularity of Pokémon with adults with disposable income isn’t all bad for the trading card world. Those adult collectors are starting families of their own and getting their children into Pokémon at an early age, signaling the potential for the hobby’s growth.
“The way people are having kids back and forth, it feels like they’re pulling their kids into the hobby too,” Kohlbecker said. “I think it’s mostly the nostalgia for the parents and then being able to share the experience with their kids nowadays.”