Podcast Summary: “Is the Hottest Investment Pokémon Cards?”

Podcast: The Journal.
Hosts: Jessica Mendoza, Ryan Knutson
Date: November 24, 2025
Produced by: Spotify Studios & The Wall Street Journal

Episode Overview

This episode explores the extraordinary rise of Pokémon cards as a speculative investment asset. Once the stuff of childhood nostalgia, Pokémon trading cards are now fetching hundreds of thousands of dollars at auction, outpacing even the S&P 500 and big tech stocks in returns. The hosts delve into the factors fueling this craze, the market forces and trends at play, the risks of a bubble, and what Pokémon cards symbolize in today's culture of financial speculation and nostalgia.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Pokémon Cards: Childhood Relics Turned Investment Gold

• Lucas Shaw’s Story: Lucas, a 27-year-old, rediscovers his childhood Pokémon card collection, which he now describes as his best investment—outperforming crypto and stocks and enabling him to buy a $7,000 engagement ring.
  • "Pokemon cards was definitely my best investment...splurge on things such as an engagement ring with three and a half carats of diamonds." (Lucas Shaw, 00:41)
• Pokémon cards, once virtually worthless, are now worth their weight in gold, with first edition cards appreciating over 10,000% (01:20).
• Returns from Pokémon cards have been estimated at 3,000% (01:27), blazing past major investment benchmarks.

2. Pokémon’s Global Power & Cultural Relevance

• The Franchise: Pokémon is now valued at nearly $100 billion—outpacing Star Wars and Marvel by total revenue (05:08).
• Cultural Moments:
  • The Pokémon Go craze is highlighted as a major event in driving enduring cultural relevance (05:34).
  • Both hosts reminisce about their own childhood experiences with Pokémon (05:43–06:18).

3. The Pandemic Boom & Influencer Hype

• Pandemic Effect: Lockdowns in 2020 led to a boom as people, flush with stimulus cash, sought new forms of entertainment and investment (07:03–07:26).
• Meme Stocks Parallel: Pokémon card trading mirrored the rise of meme stocks like GameStop.
• Logan Paul’s $5M Card: In 2022, YouTuber Logan Paul bought and flaunted a $5.3 million Pikachu Illustrator card, setting off further hype (09:09, 09:28).
  • "He, like, wore it around a necklace at WrestleMania." (Crystal, 09:29)
• Data: Pokémon cards showed a cumulative 3,800% return from 2004 to 2025, greatly outpacing Meta’s 1,800% from 2012 (10:00).

4. Market Volatility, Crime, and Speculation

• Signs of a Bubble:
  • Reports of violence and crime—such as a brawl at a California Costco (11:30), thefts, and even a stabbing—underscore the frenzy surrounding valuable cards (12:20–12:48).
  • "Cards have become such hot commodities that they've inspired scalpers, counterfeits, and a global crime wave." (Jessica, 12:20)
• Market Downturns: Seasonal crashes—cards have dropped in value multiple times, often after demand spikes due to mainstream attention (13:32–14:01).
• The Baseball Card Parallel: The hosts draw a comparison to the 1980s–90s baseball card crash, highlighting risks of overproduction and lost value (14:08–14:38).

5. How Do You Value a Pokémon Card?

• No Standard Pricing: Unlike stocks, cards lack fundamentals like balance sheets or quarterly earnings. Their value relies on popularity, rarity, and cultural relevance (13:00–16:12).
  • "Pikachu doesn't have a balance sheet...this is, in other words, sort of like a vibes-based rally." (Crystal, 10:33)
• Physical Risks: Cards are tangible assets—meaning they’re vulnerable to fire, flood, theft, and other physical risks, unlike digital investments (16:12–16:58).
• Sentiment and Heirlooms: Some, like collector Matthew Griffin, treat cards as sentimental heirlooms rather than pure investments (17:08–17:56).

6. Nostalgia Commodified

• Broader Trends: The Pokémon card craze is a symbol of the modern tendency to commodify nostalgia and create markets for anything, with Crystal saying:
  • "People more and more so are trying to make anything and everything tradable...even a childhood hobby." (Crystal, 18:54)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

Introduction and Personal Stories

• "Something that was relatively worthless for 20 years is now worth their weight in gold."'
  (Lucas Shaw, 00:20)
• "Pokemon trading cards are not just for kids anymore."
  (Lucas Shaw, 01:11)
• "It's the Holy Grail itself. Pikachu Illustrator. And we're at 500,000..."
  (Crystal, 04:18)

Influencer Impact

• "He, like, wore it around a necklace at WrestleMania."
  (Crystal, 09:29)
• "According to one data analytics firm, Pokemon cards have delivered a roughly 3,800% return from 2004 until this past August...meaning Pikachu has thunderbolted past Mark Zuckerberg."
  (Jessica, 10:00)

Concerns of Volatility

• "Pokemon cards have declined a lot since the big pandemic boom....you also know the Pokemon card market has actually crashed a couple of different times."
  (Crystal, 13:32)
• "There's always a risk that Pokemon could do that as well. Of course, Pokemon could somehow lose its popularity in years."
  (Crystal, 14:52)

On Tangible Value and Meaning

• "This is money that I'm investing in sentiment, not flipping for value...to me, this is a personal collection...It is the child in me."
  (Matthew Griffin, 18:07)

On Modern Speculation and Nostalgia

• "Nothing is really off limits when it comes to what you can trade, even a childhood hobby with Pokemon."
  (Crystal, 18:54)

Timestamps for Important Segments

| Time | Segment | |-----------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:41 | Lucas Shaw’s card-to-cash story | | 01:20 | First edition cards appreciation, 10,000% statistic | | 04:18 | $500,000 Pikachu Illustrator card at Heritage Auctions | | 09:09 | Logan Paul’s high-profile Pokémon purchase | | 10:00 | Pokémon returns vs. S&P 500 & Meta; market skepticism | | 12:20 | Crime wave and violence related to Pokémon cards | | 14:08 | Baseball card crash cautionary tale | | 16:12 | The challenge of valuing Pokémon cards, sentiment-driven investments | | 17:34 | Matthew Griffin’s heirloom approach | | 18:54 | Crystal: Nostalgia as a commodity in modern trading | | 19:18 | Crystal's own plans to search for Pokémon cards at home |

Conclusion

The episode cleverly mixes data, personal anecdotes, and market analysis to tell the story of Pokémon cards shifting from playground pastime to investment phenomenon. It probes whether the astonishing returns are sustainable or simply a bubble driven by nostalgia and influencer hype. Through stories of collectors, investors, and market observers, listeners are left to ponder: are Pokémon cards tomorrow’s blue chips—or another junk wax era waiting to happen?