Forget Stocks, Buy Pokémon

“Buy Pokémon cards, not stocks” might seem like a ridiculous phrase until one examines the price history. The market over the past several years has been extremely volatile. From mid-February to early April of 2025, the S&P 500 pulled back nearly 20% from its all-time high, and even the ‘safe’ index of American blue-chip companies nearly fell into bearish territory before recovering. However, Pokémon cards have told an entirely different story. Price trackers on Pokémon cards reveal a 46% annual price increase. To put that in perspective, Pokémon in the last twenty years is up an astounding 3,261%, putting the S&P’s 421% growth over that same timeframe to shame. Currently, the market price for many Pokémon trading card sets is two to three times MSRP. A kid trying to find a few packs at the local Target must compete for the latest restock with grown men who have been camped outside since 3 a.m. to get cards and turn a profit. 

Why are pieces of paper with imaginary creatures printed on them increasing in value so intensely? There are many logical theories for the craze. The kids who grew up on Pokémon now have adult money, the same level of obsession, and children of their own to buy cards for, and pristine old cards have grown scarce as decades of wear thinned the supply. Additionally,  social media hype has raised awareness, thus increasing demand. None of these explanations fully account for the immensity of the returns. The difference is that The Pokémon Company has intentionally developed a scarcity infrastructure by deliberately limiting supply and keeping MSRP prices consistent, despite the rise in demand. Collectibles like comic books, cryptocurrencies, baseball cards, and vintage toys have always existed, yet few have matched Pokémon’s trajectory. The Pokémon company has done an excellent job of leaning into the scarcity aspect and discontinuing sets after 2-3 years. However, grading companies like PSA and BGS are the main culprits for the high value of cards. Even new rare cards, released in 2026, that receive a flawless “PSA 10: gem mint” grade are valued around ten times as much as that card would be ungraded or “raw.” The trust that PSA has built around its consistent quality inspections makes it easy for strangers to exchange graded cards for thousands (often millions) of dollars, the same way a certificate of authenticity turns a paint-covered canvas into a million dollar asset.

A Picasso is not valuable because of what it is made of. One can buy canvas and paints at any store. A fine work of art is not worth millions because of how it looks either; the image a tourist takes of the Mona Lisa holds no real worth. The remarkably high value of collector’s items comes from the fact that they are rare and cannot be reproduced, unlike a digital currency that can be created and distributed infinitely. A rare item exists in one place; a pocket, a wall, or a safe. Gold works the same way. It is real wealth that can be held in your hand, neither duplicated nor printed. The alchemists, including stellar minds like Isaac Newton, spent their time trying to synthesize gold from base metals, never succeeding, because gold isn’t manufacturable. It has to be found. Centuries were spent chasing a shortcut that does not exist. A failure that reveals a key point, scarcity either exists, or it doesn’t: No amount of great minds or blockchains will ever prove otherwise. 

This does not mean that you should sell the Microsoft you bought in 2008 to buy a first edition Charizard Pokémon card. Stocks offer something collectibles and gold don’t: yield, liquidity, compounding growth through a company that actually creates something. Yet it’s worth asking which risk is more reasonable to worry about. Skeptics might be deterred by the fact that Pokémon might reprint an old set and dilute its scarcity. Yet, those same investors are rarely worried about the other notorious printer of paper. Few seem to ask these same question about their own currency, even though the answer is already on record. Governments have never once stopped printing money, and they surely will not start any time soon. The Pokémon Company has an incentive to limit production to preserve value, while the Fed has the opposite incentive and legal authority to act upon it. In a world where the value of paper assets is subject to the printing press, that which cannot be printed begins to look less like a hobby and more like insurance.