JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
If you grew up in the late '90s or 2000s or your kids did, this might have been a part of your daily soundtrack.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "POKEMON THEME")
JASON PAIGE: (Singing) Pokemon, got to catch them all. It's you and me.
SUMMERS: Pokemon were everywhere then - on your TV, all over merchandise and, of course, as trading cards. These days, the Pokemon universe is enormous. The first generation of 151 characters has expanded to more than 1,000. And now for some people, Pokemon cards - they're a serious financial investment. Justin Wilson is one of them, an avid Pokemon card collector based in Oklahoma City. He recently spoke with the Wall Street Journal about the spike in the value of Pokemon cards, and he joins us now. Hey, Justin.
JUSTIN WILSON: Hey, Juana. Thanks for having me on.
SUMMERS: Thanks for being here. All right, let's take it way back. When did you first start collecting Pokemon cards?
WILSON: Yeah, so I started out in the late '90s whenever the trading cards came out. I was big into the cards. I was big into the video games - specifically started with "Pokemon Yellow" on Game Boy Color. Was also a big fan of the TV show and the movies, as well - so yeah, dipped into a little bit of everything.
SUMMERS: What was it that got you back into it, or was there a moment that you kind of realized that these cards could really be valuable?
WILSON: Yeah, so I got back into it in 2019. So I had graduated college in 2016. I had started getting some disposable income, and I started just recollecting some of the same cards that I had as a kid. From there, I started collecting sealed boxes. And after 2020, whenever COVID hit, everyone was staying home. Everyone was going through their card binders. And around that time, I started noticing the rise in interest in Pokemon again, and along with it came the rise in prices. Specifically, the prices of my sealed packs started growing at a really fast rate, and it really struck me that this might be something there.
SUMMERS: That's so interesting. I have to ask at this point, how much is your collection worth, do you know?
WILSON: Yeah, so the current market value puts it right around $100,000.
SUMMERS: That is a lot of money for Pokemon cards.
WILSON: It sure is.
(LAUGHTER)
SUMMERS: All right, let me ask you this. Let's dig a little deeper. How much is your most expensive card worth, and what is it?
WILSON: Yeah, so I've got a first-edition base set holo Charizard. It is graded a PSA 7, and it is going currently for about 13- to $14,000.
SUMMERS: For the uninitiated, what makes that card so special?
WILSON: Well, so the original base set was the first set that came out in English back in 1999. And specifically the first edition of that - the first edition was much more limited, so that inherently increases the value of those cards. There's a lot lower supply of those. And the first-edition Charizard really just was the card that everybody wanted.
SUMMERS: So Justin, what would you say to people perhaps like me who have a collection stash somewhere collecting dust that they haven't looked at for years? What is the first step that they should take if they want to assess its value?
WILSON: Yeah, absolutely. So what I would recommend is going onto eBay, and what you can do is you can search for whatever cards you have, whatever sealed packs you may have. Search for them on eBay. You can click the tab that specifically shows the sold listings. So at that point, you'll be able to see what your cards are selling for on a daily basis.
SUMMERS: What has Pokemon meant to you over the years? Is this, for you, more about nostalgia, or is there something beyond that that makes this so meaningful for you?
WILSON: You know, I think it really does boil down to just nostalgia and fun. You know, it really is just a fun thing to participate in. It's fun to collect. You know, they're releasing new sets every couple months of these trading cards that have beautiful artwork of these classic characters. So I think probably the biggest thing that Pokemon has going for it as a product and as an investment is that it's for everyone. Pokemon transcends language. It transcends borders, age, class, profession. It really is something that is for everyone.
SUMMERS: We've been speaking with Pokemon card collector Justin Wilson. Justin, thank you.
WILSON: Thank you so much. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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