Why Pokémon Cards Are NOT IN A BUBBLE!

Added: 2026-05-22

[00:00:00]The biggest question right now is the Pokémon market in a bubble. And before I get into that and say, "Hey, yeah, we're in a bubble." There's actually a few areas that we need to uncover so that this actually makes more sense. Now, the first area that needs to be understood, especially around the word bubble because it just gets thrown around. Like everyone just like like like like we're all sharing Tic Tacs. Like, "Oh, yeah, we're just in a market bubble." So, I I think I want to just kind of make this answer pretty clear, especially for a lot of you watching. But, when we look at the definition of a bubble, a market bubble is when prices rise beyond what something is actually worth. It's usually driven by hype, excitement, and the fear of missing out. Now, before we just jump into the conclusion and say, "Ah, yes, Pokémon cards are in a bubble." There's two areas we need to look into. Number one is that collectibles technically have no value outside the fact that they are collectibles. Now, this information is very understood by the market, and I tend to think of this almost as baked in knowledge, and I'll explain more about that just in a second. Though, the point number two is uh the worth of collectibles is just very slippery in general because the issue right now is we have more people entering the hobby than the amount of product that's available. Because in terms of collectibles have actually gone up more than what they're worth, that's very complicated because as you all know, no one can get product at the moment. So, what we can see is that there is far more demand right now than there is supply in the market. And even if supply did eventually catch up, you also have another problem is that the the purchasing behavior of collectors is different. People just do not buy one booster box. If collectors do have the choice, and you can call them scalpers, whatever you want to call it, uh the the the the real profile right now of a collector, uh we we can call them scalpers, but most people buy more than one product.

[00:01:47]Now, if people do have the opportunity to buy more, they will. That's just a fact of the current market because a few years ago one like a collector would buy a booster box and call it a day. They would not even think about keeping it sealed, whereas today that's a completely different discussion. Most people, especially a lot of people watching this channel, you probably right now on the other side of that screen, you probably collect sealed as well, okay? It's just become a very normal part of collecting at the moment.

[00:02:13]That is the the landscape of collecting has changed. So, we do have a bit of a problem because even if supply does start catching up, you do have a massive amount of people who do like purchasing sealed and holding on to that. And that's where that bubble kind of area can become a bit of a problem, but I'll get into that in a second. Because the thing is, running this channel it gives me a lot of unique insights and I don't think a lot of people have any idea how many new people have entered the hobby right now. Every second comment I get is, "Hey Phil, I just started collecting this week. Love this video." "Phil, I just started collecting this month. This video super helped me." I have never seen so many people enter the hobby like right now in my whole 2 and 1/2 years of creating content. And I like explain what I mean as I go through these prices. Check out the market right now.

[00:02:59]Like I mentioned before in the video, the definition of a bubble is pretty straightforward. It means things are rising beyond what they're technically worth. Now, when it comes to Pokémon cards, this is pretty complicated because the hobby is growing at an accelerated rate. Currently, there's not enough supply to meet the demand. So, in order for this bubble to pop, you would need a massive amount of people to not be interested in collectibles anymore, which I think right now is a tough ask considering that it's not just that someone's collecting something separate to Pokémon. Pokémon as an IP is super strong as well. So, there's always going to be a massive market for Pokémon cards, regardless of whether or not a lot of people all these sneakerheads and hypebeasts and stuff they leave, you're still going to have a big market for Pokémon cards. Now, interestingly, we can see here selling for 488 the Pikachu or the Forest Chu or I think that's the nickname right now.

[00:03:54]Right now selling for $1,076.

[00:03:56]So definitely like it's it's ridiculous. Okay, brand new card to sell for that much. It's very expensive. Now interestingly, I want to just check out because I do think the Japanese market also has proven to be quite an interesting market at the moment. Main reason being is Japanese Pokemon products have always been super cheap. But when I look at it, they've actually grown a lot in price as well.

[00:04:18]I'm looking at the Black Belt Deluxe right here. 3 months ago it was selling for $137.

[00:04:22]Right now selling for $197 as well. So if you do want to get some skin in the game, I do think as well Japanese Pokemon products are pretty interesting cuz I mean in the last year the market low was 72 bucks. So yeah, like the Japanese market as well does have opportunities and we can see even the Japanese cards, they're also climbing.

[00:04:39]And I I personally feel the reason why Japanese is climbing so much as well is because it just is a bit of an easier financial entry point to start collecting Pokemon. If you are new to collecting and you just collect English, Japanese Pokemon cards are incredible.

[00:04:53]They have a very different feel to English cards. Though there is a massive audience for them as well. And honestly, it's a great experience opening Japanese packs, too. Now as I was saying and going through these Japanese Pokemon cards, it is a good time to talk about today's video sponsor, Buyee. So if you've ever tried to buy something from Japan, it's likely you've run into the problem where the seller won't ship internationally. Well, this is actually where Buyee comes in. Buyee is a middleman between you and the Japanese marketplace. Buyee is a Japanese proxy shopping service. So you can actually just search for whatever you're looking for on Buyee. For example, right here I'm looking for Pokemon cards and I can see what's available. If I do go and decide to purchase something, all the items get sent to Buyee's warehouse in Japan, then they're packaged and shipped to your doorstep for international shipment. Buyee handles the shipping to multiple regions including North America, Oceania, and Europe. Now what's really cool is that if you are a first time user, you can actually get a 10% discount off your first month. Just head to the link in the video's description.

[00:05:49]A big thanks to Buyee for supporting the channel. Now, let's get back into this video. Though, as I was saying, collectibles are different to a lot of other markets because there is that baked-in understanding of what they are.

[00:06:01]You, me, everyone watching this channel, we all know that collectibles are not going to generate profits in a way or produce cash flow or suddenly become some useful resource that change the world. So, for example, if you invest in a business, you're investing in the potential customer base, the profits, the so on and so forth. If you're buying real estate, you're hoping on the rental yield and the the area is going to become more popular over time, etc., etc. But, when you buy a PSA 10 chase card or a Pokémon collectible, you already understand the the final outcome. The rarity is essentially the value proposition of collectibles. And the reality is that collectibles don't have any real-worldly outcomes outside of their rarity, and that is a bit of a blessing for them and a curse. Because collectibles don't have any sort of intrinsic value outside of their rarity, they also become immune to a lot of things as well because they're not really tied to specific outcomes, if that makes sense. It's not like collectibles are going to become some life-saving thing that helps everyone.

[00:07:02]Everyone does understand what they are, and I hate saying it because it's just so overblown, the whole shiny cardboard thing. But, reality is yet that they are, but it is an understand knowledge between you, between me, between all of us watching. understand what collectibles are. They are simply rare items with a very, very popular IP, whether it's Pokémon, Dragon Ball, One Piece, you get the gist. So, now in terms of this answer of whether or not we are in a bubble, I do feel it is quite complicated. Prices are climbing ridiculously for Pokémon cards, and there is a lot of growing sentiment right now that we're off we're in a bubble, and this has become somewhat of a concept that everyone has just agreed on. But, then also there is this other side that if prices are rising because there's more people entering the hobby and then there's not enough supply to meet the demand, it kind of does defeat the purpose that we're in a bubble because it seems right now there's not enough product. I'm just not [snorts] sure whether or not this is if if that's the top of the market right now or if that's a bubble right now. Selling for $834, right now selling for $1,331.

[00:08:07]And honestly, if I pull that in the last month, it's been pretty consistent. You can see 1.3K 1 month ago selling for like 1.2K. So, that's like for in terms of percentage-ly that hasn't like gone up that crazily in percentage in the last month, but hasn't dropped. So, it seems like it's finding some stability.

[00:08:25]Here's the thing that they kind of I think of it like oh, this is my kind of way I'm positioning it. How are you going to get thousands and thousands and thousands of people to just stop caring about Ascended Heroes? It seems really unlikely and especially that it looks like with Chaos Rising, Pitch Black, well, we can't really comment on Pitch Black. We do know it's a very small set, but definitely with Perfect Order and Chaos Rising, uh is a lot of people are not that happy with those sets, whereas a lot of collectors are very happy with Ascended Heroes. So, that also plays a part. Now, I just want to say before continuing in the video and just a little bit of appreciation for a lot of you because I'm getting quite close to 100,000 subscribers, which is just uh mind-boggling to me. And and like the going into this creative work and making these videos, it it's been a real big journey for me. Though, last year I decided to create a channel which was a completely different experience, the Phillips Collectibles. This channel is called Phillips' Trick Room. Uh long story short about that channel, I actually did stop posting on it because I was going through a lot at that time and I was always a bit shattered about it. And the the irony is I stopped posting on that channel uh pretty much the day it became monetized. And yeah, I just there was too much things going on in my life at the time. Though, the vision never faded and I have reignited the spark. The channel is back and thriving. You can see me take on video game essays, talk about the Nintendo Switch 2. And I did make a recent video talking about Pokémon Legends Z A and asking the question, is it actually that bad? You can see all the details to Philip's trick room. I'd really love your support on that channel. It's all in the video's description. Now, moving on to the Pokémon 151 Ultra Premium Collection. This is in terms of banana behavior, in terms of growth that is insane. It is this UPC. In the last 3 months, it was selling for $622.

[00:10:09]Right now, the UPC is at an all-time high for $952 US. One Ultra Premium Collection is selling for a thousand bucks. That is wild. That is so so expensive. If I pull that into the year graph, it gets even more crazy because if we travel all the way to last year, was selling for $344.

[00:10:28]Now, you got to remember 344, that was already more than double retail price.

[00:10:33]So, you have to consider this. People of last year, collectors of last year, looked at $344 US and said, "That is too expensive." But look at that, it's it's close to triple that price right now.

[00:10:44]So, here's the thing what you got to consider. When we're looking at the Sent the Heroes today, when we're looking at all these sets, for them just to now drop, you have to remember there is so many more people coming into the hobby. So many people are entering the hobby. It's very hard for these collectibles to just like for the audience to leave. And that's why I wouldn't really get too fixated on this bubble and this bubble popping. I'm hearing so much of that. I don't buy it at the moment, man. And I'm telling you the reason why is because just seeing so many newcomers enter, I just don't know how it's going to pop. Don't forget, collectibles in a way, they're a little bit of a lifestyle, too. And that's not really spoken about. People don't realize that collectibles you you like like a lot of people's identity attached to that. Card shows, their social media accounts, create content creation. Even myself right now, uh Pokémon cards are like so so much of a person of who I am. And would I just stop collecting even if I didn't have this channel? I've collected uh since I was a kid. So, for me now to just stop collecting uh in a few years, it doesn't me it really make a lot of logical sense to me cuz it's been such a big part of my life.

[00:11:47]So, I know a lot of people are like that as well. So, I don't know. I'm just not buying this whole bubble about a pop. I think it's a I honestly think it's a really really wishful thinking, to be honest. But honestly, with all these changes, I think there's a question about the future of collectibles right now and whether or not they're going to last in the long term. Well, the answer to that is in this video on screen here.

[00:12:07]In this video, I uncover the future of Pokémon investing and look at what's to come in the future. If you enjoyed this video, click the video that's appearing on screen. You can learn more about that topic there. Really appreciate you watching and I'll see you on the next video.