I recently finished my investment thesis to share with retail and institutions regarding the Pokemon Market. This made me realize, albeit being here for almost 10 years, that the surge in demand and popularity is soon to lead us to a junk era, putting us in the 90s for sports.
Although several have probably thought about it at some point, I now firmly believe that Pokemon will be for milennials what sports was for boomers. There are several differences (sports is thinner but deeper, while pokemon is broader and not as deep), but I firmly believe now that, if nothing changes for Pokemon as an IP, it will become this generation’s investment “fun” vehicle.
Let’s just say that the Pokemon market is at a certain point where real liquidity is being provided, and maybe it’s time for it to get market makers into it, making a more stable asset class with fair market values and instant liquidity. Small and big investors and collectors alike are pooling money to acquire grails and hold them for the long term, and there are certain similarities with sports that make this a unique opportunity to buy stuff into the long long future, regardless of current prices
If Pokemon may be heading into a junk era, similar to sport cards a couple of decades ago, was already discussed a lot during the 2020/21 boom with Pokemon printing plenty of stuff into the ground. There are certain similiarities but also plenty of differences to that time. Some may argue that we already kinda are in a junk era, as probably 99% of the cards printed are basically worthless (even regular holos and some “ultra rare” cards). The amount of cards worth over 5 bucks relative to the total amount of cards printed might be even less than 1%.
Still, with TPC being in total control of the cards and deciding everything from card designs, new rarities, set compositions and printing, they are still able to make them desireable. At least for now. And although sport cards still have a lot of younger collectors as well, it’s way less compared to previous generations. Only the future can tell whether this will be the same for Pokemon because currently it is very popular by Millenials, Gen Z and also by Generation Alpha.
Still, would be interested to read your thesis as well once it’s finished as it’s always interesting to read different views and positions on certain topics.
Can you explain why you think Pokemon is not as deep as Sports? Do you mean in terms of overall timeline, or the depth of the contents of the trading card franchise itself?
I’ve never ever seen a boomer buy a sports card in my entire life. I see them in shops but never see anyone buy. I’ve even had sports cards as a child but never seen adults mess with them while I was hearing that some were expensive.
This has nothing to do with the topic.
I’ve seen plenty of people buy sealed sports cards to open in the store, but no one is buying singles or graded cards. They all come in selling though.