Wrt North America, there are two different economies people are living under. 59% of Americans can’t cover an emergency $1000 expense from their savings. Yet Van Gogh Pikachus transact at higher amounts daily. Some people worry about the cost of eggs while I bought an $8 (CAD) coffee yesterday without thinking.
People holding S&P 500 companies are 10% wealthier than they were in January, meanwhile people who live paycheck-to-paycheck that haven’t received a raise this year are 3% poorer simply due to inflation.
A severe enough recession will affect everyone. But the people buying PSA 10 goldstars are just not going to feel it the same way as the guy on ebay asking you to drop the price of a $60 card by $5. If we really are heading toward tougher financial times I’d expect to not simply see a crash in Pokemon. The stuff that younger and/or less wealthy people like to engage in will be disproportionately affected. Basically anything with a gambling aspect is the type of thing I could see having the most exposure. But when there is a sale on trophy cards or any sufficiently desirable card, there are plenty of people that will have the capital to take advantage of that.