30s and 40s Captivated by Pokémon Cards... Surge in Listings and Searches

Triggered by the release of the expansion pack commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Pokémon Trading Card Game, collectors in their 30s and 40s are flocking to the second-hand card trading market.

According to the second-hand trading platform Bungaejangter on September 21, the number of registered Pokémon card listings and search users from September 1 to 17 surged by 272% and 337%, respectively, compared to the same period last year.

In particular, the transaction value proportion for people in their 30s and 40s stood at 58.7%, exceeding half of the total.

Their proportion of buyers was 41.6%, and their share of high-priced transactions worth 150,000 won or more reached 67.2%.

The average purchase price for those in their 30s and 40s was 1.5 times higher than that of people in their 20s and younger.

Considering that the Pokémon Trading Card Game was first launched in 1996, it is interpreted that the generation who encountered Pokémon during their childhood has re-entered the collecting market prompted by the anniversary expansion pack.

Transactions increased even further after the 30th-anniversary expansion pack was released simultaneously worldwide on September 16.

Right after the release on September 16 and 17, the number of registered Pokémon card listings increased 1.8-fold compared to the daily average from September 1 to 15.

The number of sellers increased 2.3-fold, transaction volume 2.8-fold, and the number of transactions 1.5-fold.

During this period, about 37% of the sellers were users who had no history of selling Pokémon cards in the previous 90 days.

It appears that an increasing number of sellers put cards they had kept at home onto the trading market for the first time.

Low-cost single card transactions and high-priced collecting are taking place together.

Among the Pokémon card listings registered over the past 30 days, 36.6% were priced under 5,000 won, and 16.8% were in the 10,000 to 30,000 won range.

High-priced listings of 150,000 won or more accounted for 11.1%, and 54% of the cards registered over the past year were sold within a week.

An official from Bungaejangter said, "It appears that both existing collectors and sellers who have kept their cards for a long time have flowed into the market, triggered by the release of the new expansion pack."

Bungaejangter is also running an event from September 16 to 29 to provide up to a 100% cashback on Pokémon card selling fees in line with the expansion pack release.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.