I wanted to ask this question as people only think there were 2 bubbles, but I’ve heard from some members that there were more a while back (at least 1 or 2 more)?
There are plenty of other more experienced people that can give more details, but I believe the biggest peaks of pokemon cards were the initial English release, the first gold star boom, the Pokemon Go boom, the COVID boom, the waifu boom, and now.
Thinking about a bubble in terms of extremely fast price increases immediately followed by decreases, I’d say the biggest were in specific cards in 2021 and 2023.
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There is already a thread on this. I missed the gold start bubble of 2014, but the first post mentions all of the bubbles that most people recognize.
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From my memory (keep in mind it is a bit murky by now), Post Pokémon Go release had a pretty big surge of interest, Prices like 1st edition Neo Discovery Umbreon PSA 10 soared to 800~1000 usd from their usual 350-450, and those types of price trends were hobby wide for most desirable WOTC cards in a 10 grade. Modern was considered worthless at the time… and when I say worthless I am talking $25 PSA 10’s People widely believed they had no future potential in terms of growth.
I don’t really remember what 9’s were doing at the time but keep in mind we were also living in the 10 or I lose my grading fee Era for most cards. (Yo @pfm its your time to shine )
Japanese set cards kind of lived in their own bubble & naturally didn’t go up that much as of the readily available sealed supply (lol 10 usd neo2 packs) & high print quality mixed with their higher pull rates, unless we’re digging in super rare promo territory like Play & Fan Club. (@woolsluk sleeping on 100+ neo2 prem files under his matress)
enfin, as WOTC boxes kept being opened with some PSA submitters sending them straight to PWCC to be auctioned off.. The interest dwindled demand was met & supply kept going up. Prices went down & shopping on PWCC after the crash was like shopping before the boom example: aforementioned Neo Discovery 1st Edition Umbreon fell to around $350-$450.
Wether that boom was Pokémon Go related or an age group getting a hold of some income was at the time highly debated.
Afterwards we ended up in a period where not so much happened and it was a fantastic time to be buying as collector, Until ofcourse the global Covid-19 pandemic struck. Now there were always these random times where certain cards spiked or crashed but nothing as significantly hobby-wide.
Wow this is quite a wall of text 
I’ll leave the other booms to the other users 
I’m so sorry 
another notable is that pops of desirable Psa 10 wotc cards were extremely low, I cannot remember how low but my gut feelings are saying sub 100 median 40 and for stuff like Neo Discovery Yanma 0 to 4
Anyways I’ll be waiting for the Chinese billionaire boom write-up don’t disappoint me Efour.
Train:ribbon:
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2001-2013 had no carbonation.
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I would have loved to be collecting during that time. Not for financial reasons, but for how fun it would have been being a buyer. Imagine buying the most expensive cards at the time and it wouldn’t feel like you need a security box at the bank to see it once a month.
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1999-2019 was peak for pure collecting. Not that you can’t enjoy it today, but that era was just so fundamentally simpler.
Even the 2014 GS bubble, or 2016 pokemon go were burps compared to today.
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It’s important to keep the PoV that bubbles rarely affect the entire market. Usually one area, like waifus, modern will see affects more than the others. But not always, and some bubbles like Covid, have seen large boosts across the whole market. Right now, I feel like the popular cards, whether stonkers or nostalgia, are seeing a boost, while some that are equally rare just aren’t. 
I wasn’t here (E4) for Gold Star or Go booms, but I was collecting through all of it, and it’s always been intersting to see what changes…
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