Sports Card Collectors v/s Younger Generations Collectors
 

Most of us have been sports card collectors since childhood, most hobby's need new blood to help keep the hobby alive--demand, price, Etc.--It appears the younger folks are trending more toward the future for Pokémon--watch and observe some of the videos, people fighting for it--

Pokemon/TCG are red hot now. How long it can sustain itself no one seems to have a handle on...

As an outsider it's hard for me to gauge what's really going on and how to project it because there's a lot of artificial hype going down in the hobby.

It does seem that Pokemon/TCG are having a moment right now like ballcards did in the 1980s/early1990s where people outside the hobby are digging up old collections and taking it to people that know how to monetize it. There is a lot of product flowing right now.

Pokemom is one of those things that transcends a card hobby. It is one of the most popular video games of all time. One of the most popular animated shows of all time. They have collaborated with every company under the sun.

One of the things people like to do is draw parallels with modern sports cards. This is a bad comparison. People actually COLLECT, Pokemon cards they don't just play hot potato for a few months like modern sports card "collectors". You see pokemon binders with pages of the same cards, they look like junk wax binders from 1988. They even have vintage pokemom card collectors. I know 30 years doesn't seem very vintage, but think of it like collecting a 56 mantle in 1986...

Another massive point that needs to be said when talking about pokemon cards is the fact they capture female collectors, and a LOT of them. This is not true with any other sport or trading card game. Sure some collect modern or a few collect vintage. But a ton of Women collect Pokemon cards (and other memorabilia). To the point I wouldn't be surprised if the number of pokemon collectors is somewhere around 20% female. While for sports that % is well under 1%.

Talking about true collectors, another really big advantage pokemon has (relative to the the massive amount of collectors) is that they can be collected for extremely cheap if you are just doing it for fun. I'm talking if you like a certain pokemon, the majority of its cards can be bought for under 5 bucks and lots of them probably for a dollar or less. Even vintage ones are usually under 20 bucks. Of course this changes for red hot new cards or cards that are mega high grade or truly rare cards. But I would say on the vast majority it can be done very cheaply.

It's not all good for Pokemon though, I have noticed being a spectator that a lot of people are addicted to collecting it that don't have much money. So you will see people selling their collections a hundred times a day. This means that prices fluctuate an ungodly amount. And from my spectating the price usually goes down over time. I understand now it's a massive boom, but people can only go so far.

I recall selling Pokemon packs in the late 90’s.
My belief is multifaceted. The younger generation that was raised on Pokemon are now the CEO, MD’s, Attorneys, Tech executives etc.. They likely are behind much of the demand and price that has been realized over the last decade.
Second thought is that Pokemon “stars” never seem to be forgotten. They are not getting in trouble for spousal abuse, drug dealing, steroids etc…
Lastly, a kid can still afford to buy a decent pack or two at the local Walmart. (If they can find them) Something that has gotten kind of difficult with sports cards.