JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Trading card games have exploded in popularity in recent years, but none more so than Pokémon… And the audience is a bit older than it was back in the late 90s when the franchise first launched.
With the resurgence in popularity comes a darker side, one that in many ways resembles gambling.
Pokémon is the highest-grossing media franchise in history, raking in nearly $115 billion since 1996.
That’s nearly twice as much as Mickey Mouse, which has been around since 1928, for context.
But in recent years, it’s not just the Pokémon company cashing in on the popularity, especially when it comes to the trading card game.
“NFL teams, celebrities, you know, like models. Everybody’s doing this, is into Pokémon right now,” Jamey Neher said.
Neher owns Rally Point Cards in Mandarin.
It’s one of several new card shops in town, and it focuses almost entirely on Pokémon.
“There’s a lot of money in Pokémon right now. When you buy a card for $5 and then you see it up $30 in two weeks, you’re like, oh, this is a way to make a passive income,” Neher said.
The economy around Pokémon Cards has matured a lot in recent years, where the value of cards is tracked on a real-time basis, almost like stocks.
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Some cards, even in brand-new sets, are worth hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
“When it comes to the older cards, there’s true scarcity,” Nicolas Colarossi said.
Colarossi got back into the Pokémon card hobby after attending a card show, similar to ones that have popped up on a regular basis here in Jacksonville over the past two years.
The renewed interest made him go back and check out his childhood set.
That’s when he realized he was sitting on a goldmine.
The card he found was a Gold Star Charizard.
When he took it to another card show, he sold it for more than $12,000.
“I mean, and I think that that draws a lot of people back,” Colarossi said. “We all remember seeing this. What’s it worth now? Oh, yeah, it’s 13,000 dollars.”
The craze has gotten so intense that videos of people literally fighting over a new product on release days in stores have popped up all over the country.
A big part of what drives the value of Pokémon cards is the scarcity and the element of chance.
There’s no guarantee of getting anything of value out of a pack.
You could spend $10 and end up with nothing, or a multi-hundred-dollar card.
“I think that chasing that dragon, chasing that experience can certainly be a part of it,” said Colarossi.
Collectors and vendors alike have in some cases found ways of stacking the odds even further.
Coin flips to decide sale values are a common sight at card shows.
Or there are games like “pack battles”.
Neher showed Action News Jax how it works.
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One person buys a pack for $10, and the vendor does the same.
The packs are opened at the same time to see who has the most valuable hit, and it’s winner take all.
In our pack battle with Neher, we both got nothing, but we technically won with a card worth a few more cents.
But Neher noted online vendors, in particular, can take it to the extreme by designing games around winning cards or opening packs that can cost a hundred dollars or more for a single entry.
“Like spin the wheel and you can hit this $500 box, but 99 out of 100 people aren’t gonna hit that box. They’re gonna get a $5 pack,” Neher said.
Dr. Gregg Standwood is a Professor of Biomedical Sciences at Florida State University whose research focuses on the intersection of brain activity and addiction.
“When there’s big money involved as there is in this industry, then there is likely to be some behavior that straddles what we might consider ethical versus unethical,” said Standwood.
He suggested that just in the way a scratch-off ticket or slot machine increases dopamine in the brain, the thrill of opening a trading card pack or even a blind box collectible like a Labubu could trigger a similar response.
“The unpredictability of pulling a rare toy or a rare card, it’s really gonna enhance those reward systems in our brain,” Standwood said.
While he couldn’t find any specific research on the topic, it’s not hard to find stories online noting the connections between trading cards and gambling.
One recovering gambling addict with the user name Bo Le made that connection the hard way, admiting in a blog post he spent $1,500 opening packs over a short time span.
“The odds of pulling one are astronomically low, yet the dream of hitting that perfect pack fuels the addiction cycle even further, much like chasing a big win at a casino,” he wrote.
“Go back to the 1980s, say no to drugs. Is this the gateway to a more serious gambling addiction? And some individuals, it could be,” Standwood said.
That’s not to say there’s anything wrong with enjoying the Pokémon or another trading card game as a hobby, Standwood noted.
And Neher argued, as with most pleasures in life, it’s all about knowing your limits and keeping it within moderation.
“I would say, if you can’t afford your normal things you need in life, then you probably shouldn’t buy Pokémon cards. This is a hobby after all,” Neher said. ”There’s money to be made, but there’s also a lot of money to be lost too if you’re doing it the wrong way.”
In a show of full transparency, Action News Jax reporter Jake Stofan did buy a $60 four-pack of cards from Neher’s shop while at the store interviewing him.
When he took them home and opened them, he pulled this card and this card, with a combined value of over $300.
But generally speaking, the odds are stacked against the purchaser, and if you are predisposed to gambling addiction, it’s probably best to stay away.
If you or a loved one are struggling with a gambling addiction, you can call the Gambling HelpLine at 888-ADMIT-IT.
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