SINGAPORE: Pokémon trading cards have been popular in Singapore in the past years, and when a two-day trading card convention happened in the country, it was expected that 50,000 people would participate.
As reported by Shin Min Daily News, the two-day convention held nearly 300 booths, attracting both local and international visitors. When a reporter visited the event, it was discovered that Pokémon cards were the most popular collectable, followed by sports cards, anime cards, and others.
The rarity of these cards determines their value, and it is affected by factors such as the number of surviving cards, language versions, foil cards, variant artwork or those versions with special illustrations, and limited editions.
The most expensive Pokémon collectable card at the event belonged to a 33-year-old collector, who is the founder of a card trading platform. He told the reporters he was offered approximately S$1.3 million for the card, but he refused.
The collector admitted: “More than 10 people have asked me about the card’s price in the past two days, mainly out of curiosity. I hope the card’s price will appreciate further, at which point I might consider selling it.”
The collector shared that he started collecting cards during his childhood years, when his parents would give them to him as a reward when he did well in school. He admitted that he currently has more than 300 cards, with prices ranging from S$50 to six figures. He also invested more than S$1 million in this hobby.
According to the organiser of the trading card convention, trading cards are linked to the stock market and cryptocurrency trading. Local trading card collectors are mainly between 25 and 40 years old, and most are working professionals.
In a Reddit post, the Pokémon card craze is explained by a netizen as ‘nerd gambling’.
“We like our shiny cards, and some people have decided they can make money by taking all the supply to resale at higher rates,” the netizen declared.
Another netizen said that it became popular because humans like to collect stuff like baseball cards. However, people were more interested in Pokémon than sports.
