30 Years Later, Collecting Pokemon Cards Hits A Little Different
Overview & Key Takeaways
Let me sound like an old for a second.
I remember in the late '90s and early '00s, collecting Pokemon cards was a casual hobby. You'd go to your local brick-and-mortar store with the money you made from mowing the lawn or whatever, drop maybe $10 on a couple of packs, rip them open, then go to your middle school to trade cards with your friends. No one knew how to actually play the game; the cards just looked cool, and everyone wanted something. Me? I wanted a holographic Charizard, and I would've traded literally anything to get my hands on such a rarity.
It was so low-key back in the day. Saying that grosses me out, as I sound like a Boomer or Gen Xer, but it's true: Collecting Pokemon cards wasn't that serious, and we didn't put much stock in the cards, stuffing them in bags or pockets and watching them turn up in washing machines.
Now? Things are totally different. You can't just collect Pokemon cards as a hobbyist anymore. You've got to fight with scalpers looking to make a quick buck off nostalgia, as well as the kids who are either getting into the TCG for the first time or hoping to get something tradeable for their friends. (I don't decry the kids. They're not at fault.)
There have been plenty of incidents involving card collecting and violence lately. Robbers stole over $100,000 in rare cards from a California store in December 2025. A different set of robbers made off with nearly $120,000 in rare cards at gunpoint in New York in January 2026. Police broke up a chaotic Costco scene over Prismatic Evolutions in April 2026. And more recently, a Connecticut man was arrested for assaulting someone in a Target after being confronted for exceeding the store's limit for Pokemon card packs, while a 72-year-old Ohio man pleaded guilty to using a GPS tracker to stalk a woman stocking Pokemon cards.
https://twitter.com/POKESTREETZ/status/2096228338889081305
I get it--and I don't. The cards look cool, with fabulous designs on weighty cardstock. Sometimes there are alternate versions of the same card that have a fuller design, like a tiny piece of artwork, instead of just an illustration of the Pokemon that takes up a tiny rectangle. Collecting them for this reason, them being tiny pieces of artwork, makes sense.
I also understand the value of the cards, with many of them going for hundreds--if not thousands--of dollars on resale sites like eBay. It's a great way to make some money in this economy, especially if you have vintage cards that aren't being pressed and printed anymore.
But turning toward violence because you "gotta collect 'em all" or whatever is silly at best and petulant at worst. This is a children's hobby. That's what all of my friends did in middle school (even though we were all partial to Yu-Gi-Oh). I get that Pokemon is celebrating 30 years this year, but there's absolutely no reason to resort to violence--like shooting someone--over some illustrated cardstock. Besides, do these people even know how to play the Pokemon TCG? I didn't (still don't), and neither did my friends growing up.
That's perhaps my main takeaway from all of these chaotic and violent incidents. No one even knows how to play the game, so why are we taking collecting so seriously? The answer is obvious--money--but what we're robbing is kids' enjoyment of a hobby we barely understood ourselves. When you can only take one, you should only take one. Leave the rest for your son or daughter. They might be trying to trade their friends for that one card to complete their collection, and that's the real joy.
Let me sound like an old for a second.
I remember in the late ’90s and early ’00s, collecting Pokemon cards was a casual hobby. You’d go to your local brick-and-mortar store with the money you made from mowing the lawn or whatever, drop maybe $10 on a couple of packs, rip them open, then go to your middle school to trade cards with your friends. No one knew how to actually play the game; the cards just looked cool, and everyone wanted something. Me? I wanted a holographic Charizard, and I would’ve traded literally anything to get my hands on such a rarity.
It was so low-key back in the day. Saying that grosses me out, as I sound like a Boomer or Gen Xer, but it’s true: Collecting Pokemon cards wasn’t that serious, and we didn’t put much stock in the cards, stuffing them in bags or pockets and watching them turn up in washing machines.
Now? Things are totally different. You can’t just collect Pokemon cards as a hobbyist anymore. You’ve got to fight with scalpers looking to make a quick buck off nostalgia, as well as the kids who are either getting into the TCG for the first time or hoping to get something tradeable for their friends. (I don’t decry the kids. They’re not at fault.)
There have been plenty of incidents involving card collecting and violence lately. Robbers stole over $100,000 in rare cards from a California store in December 2025. A different set of robbers made off with nearly $120,000 in rare cards at gunpoint in New York in January 2026. Police broke up a chaotic Costco scene over Prismatic Evolutions in April 2026. And more recently, a Connecticut man was arrested for assaulting someone in a Target after being confronted for exceeding the store’s limit for Pokemon card packs, while a 72-year-old Ohio man pleaded guilty to using a GPS tracker to stalk a woman stocking Pokemon cards.
I get it–and I don’t. The cards look cool, with fabulous designs on weighty cardstock. Sometimes there are alternate versions of the same card that have a fuller design, like a tiny piece of artwork, instead of just an illustration of the Pokemon that takes up a tiny rectangle. Collecting them for this reason, them being tiny pieces of artwork, makes sense.
I also understand the value of the cards, with many of them going for hundreds–if not thousands–of dollars on resale sites like eBay. It’s a great way to make some money in this economy, especially if you have vintage cards that aren’t being pressed and printed anymore.
But turning toward violence because you “gotta collect ’em all” or whatever is silly at best and petulant at worst. This is a children’s hobby. That’s what all of my friends did in middle school (even though we were all partial to Yu-Gi-Oh). I get that Pokemon is celebrating 30 years this year, but there’s absolutely no reason to resort to violence–like shooting someone–over some illustrated cardstock. Besides, do these people even know how to play the Pokemon TCG? I didn’t (still don’t), and neither did my friends growing up.
That’s perhaps my main takeaway from all of these chaotic and violent incidents. No one even knows how to play the game, so why are we taking collecting so seriously? The answer is obvious–money–but what we’re robbing is kids’ enjoyment of a hobby we barely understood ourselves. When you can only take one, you should only take one. Leave the rest for your son or daughter. They might be trying to trade their friends for that one card to complete their collection, and that’s the real joy.
