What's Happening To Pokémon Cards?

Lots of people are saying that Pokémon's in a bad place right now. When we were kids, we just traded cards we didn't like for cards we did like. But today, people have businesses, investments, and multi-million dollar empires built on Pokémon cards. I've heard some collectors say that they're leaving the hobby. They don't want it anymore. They say it's a bad time to start. So, how did we get here? We now celebrate February 27th as Pokémon Day. This was the release date of the games in 1996, but it was later that year, October 15th to be precise, that the first two trading cards were released to the public via Cororo magazine. Inside the magazine, you could find a Jigglypuff card and a Pikachu card. A few days later, on the 20th, the first ever expansion set was released. This set had 102 cards, and yes, this includes the Charizard. Now, the first cards to be printed were actually missing their rarity symbols in the bottom right. The mistake was quickly corrected, and the symbols were added. Now, this probably meant nothing in 1996, but today, collectors have divided the original cards into two camps, referring to the initial print as no rarity. Don't forget about no rarity cards because they play an important role later. But more sets kept coming out. Pocket Monsters was a huge success. Outside of the mainline sets, more were developed for vending machines. There were jumbosiz promo cards and illustration contests which birthed some of the most sought-after cards to this day, like the Pokémon Illustrator. We'll talk more about the illustrator, but what you need to know now is that only 39 copies were originally distributed to contest winners. Today, that number is estimated to really be 41 or more, but it's still incredibly rare. Ever since its release, it's been a grail to collectors. Each pocket monster could utilize one or more energy types in the game. Fire, grass, water, psychic, fighting, lightning, and colorless. This made for an interesting rock paper scissors style strategy building and deck building. But all of this was still contained in the little country of Japan. >> There was a guy named Gary though who saw what was going on and started importing cards into North America at this time. He would later become a large public figure in the hobby due to his foresight of what Pokémon would become in the West, which was right around the corner, and would honestly change the course of history for '90s kids. And no, I'm not being dramatic. Magic the Gathering started back in 1993 and was developed by Wizards of the Coast. That's why Wizards already had distribution channels, relationships, and basically owned the collectible card scene in the United States. Signing a deal with Wizards was a no-brainer for the Japanese companies. So, Wizards became the official distribution partner for Pokemon Monsters, which was now being sort of rebranded as Pokémon. The very first Wizards Pokémon cards were handed out for free at an E3 event in 1998. This was a gaming and software convention. In early 1999, some more products trickled out along with the first expansion pack, base set. Base set had the same 102 cards as the Japanese version, but also a handful of changes. Wizards had redesigned the cards for the Western market. Bright yellow borders, a fresh design on the backside, a new hollow pattern, and a first edition stamp. This stamp allowed Wizards to tap into the collector's market. Only a limited amount were printed before it was removed from production, but they ended up capturing the attention of collectors for another reason. It's not all Wizards fault, but they made a lot of mistakes. Each set, like base, jungle fossil, and the others, was riddled with errors and small changes that created new variants. The first edition stamp worked, but people also started collecting the cards that had factory defects, design errors, and other mistakes. For example, this base set Raichu was accidentally printed with a pre-release stamp. It seemed like a small inconsequential mistake at the time, but it would one day become a grail like the illustrator. By the way, the illustrator at this time was breaking records with a $23,000 sale. Don't forget that number. So, I want to explain something important. For a boom or a hype cycle to occur, outsiders need to be brought into Pokemon, there have to be new people coming in for the franchise to grow. Pokemon can release the biggest, craziest set ever, but if only Pokémon fans see it, it doesn't expand to a new audience. The 1999 to 2000 Pokémonia was the first time we saw a real life example of this phenomenon, but definitely not the last. So far, the original series only had generation one Pokemon, but it was about to change with the Neo series. This series was comprised of only four sets: Neoenesis, Discovery, Revelation, and Destiny. And yes, I constantly get them mixed up. This was the introduction of not only generation 2 Pokémon, but two new energy types, dark and metal. Pokemon like Umbreon, Hounddoom, Tyranitar, Steelix, Skarmmory, and Caesar or Scizor, we all said Caesar when I was a kid, were big hits that utilized dark and metal energy. Baby Pokémon were also introduced here. These were Pokémon that could evolve into basic Pokémon. Think Pichu, Smoochum, or Magby. This set was based on Pokemon Gold and Silver and did a great job of making it feel like an adaptation with tool cards being similar to held items, for example. The third set of this series, um, Revelation was kind of important. Uh, it was a turning point. This set introduced the first shining Pokémon cards, Magikarp and Gyarados. And the next set, uh, I think Destiny, gave us eight more. But the Japanese version of Revelation Awakening Legends was the first set to be released by the Pokemon Company. You see, Pokemon started out as three companies. Game Freak, who developed the games, Creatures, who were in charge of the merchandise and extended IP, and Nintendo, who basically backed the project in exchange for exclusivity on the Game Boy. But yeah, by the late 2000s, they decided to evolve into one single company and each own one-third, the Pokémon Company. They of course wanted to do the same internationally, but one middleman would have to be eliminated first. The Eseries starts with Expedition, the first of only three sets, and let's just jump into it. The cards got a massive redesign with plenty of little adjustments, but most importantly, these big fat yellow borders. What you see here and here are dot codes. These cards are compatible with Nintendo's e-reader device for the Game Boy Advance. The dot codes contain data that can unlock mini games, Pokedex data, or other goodies. It's pretty fun, actually, and you sometimes have to scan a small collection of cards in order to unlock the prize. The booster packs got downsized, going from 11 cards to only nine cards, and the first edition stamp was removed. That's right, no more stamps. But something else, something bigger was happening at this time. Pokemon was struggling. First of all, no one had e-readers. The product was not at all successful in the West. So, this new gimmick was dead in the water, and kids just didn't like the new design. Now, I don't remember hating it, but I remember not wanting e-readers because they felt cluttered and weird. Also, Pokemon was naturally coming down off its Pokemonia high. Because of these factors, Wizards printed fewer cards, and the e-reader units were discontinued within 2 years. Over in Japan, the VS series, which was exclusively Japanese, introduced the new design and ironically a first edition stamp. The e-readers, well, they were bigger in Japan. Kids wanted them and they used them. It got newer versions and continued support for years. Then they got another exclusive E-series set called Pokemon Web. This was a reprint set with cards from the original series, but updated with the new E-series card design. Pretty freaking cool, to be honest. They called it Pokemon Web because the packs could only be purchased online through the new mysterious internet. Aquaplus was the next international set and introduced crystal type Pokemon, which gave Pokemon the new ability to adapt to another type based on its attached energy. Some more crystal Pokémon were added in the last set, Skyidge. So that makes nine crystal cards in total. Now, Skyidge is quite special. Remember how the Pokémon Company was formed and took over the distribution in Japan? Well, Wizard's contract was coming to an end. But even months ahead, they knew. They saw what was happening, and they couldn't help but notice the change in demeanor from their Japanese partners. Skyidge got one single print run. Even though the whole Eseries was being printed less, Skyidge was cut short because the Pokémon Company wanted to kick Wizards out and take over. But listen, this wasn't a good thing or a bad thing. Wizards was kind of fumbling the distribution of Pokemon cards, but they did a really, really good job at running game nights called the Pokemon League. And if you look back at old forums and letters between Wizards employees and the players, it's obvious that they really, really cared about us. But as a result, Skyidge cards and honestly all E-series cards are ridiculously expensive today, but also kind of extremely cool. Many collectors think they're the best looking Pokemon cards ever, which is ironic. Oh, and Skyidge was the last set to have a Kadabra card. Kadabra's name in Japanese is Yunar, which sounds an awful lot like Yuri Geller or Yuri Geller. Geller is this guy. He's a performer, a self-claimed psychic, and he invented the whole spoon bending thing. So when he saw Yungurer, a Pokemon that was obviously built on his likeness, he got upset and sued Pokemon. Now Pokemon never admitted to it, but they also didn't deny it. They agreed to no longer produce any Kadabra cards, which killed off the idea of ever having a single set to feature all 151 original Pokémon. So Skyidge was the end of Kadabra and E-series and Crystal Pokémon, but also Wizards. The fallout between the two companies wasn't pretty. This was a messy breakup. Wizards considered Pokémon to be their baby, and the Pokémon Company, they didn't give a crap. Now, Wizards did sue Pokémon, and they battled in court, but it didn't get far. Wizards lost, and a new era of Pokémon cards was coming in fast. And so, the EX series began. This was the biggest series by far with a whopping 16 mainline sets. It all started with EX Ruby and Sapphire. It was the introduction of generation 3 Pokemon and came with many other changes. The cards underwent another refresh, but the biggest transition had to do with the new corporate bosses. This was the first set distributed by Nintendo of America, but later sets were handled by Pokémon USA, which later merged into the Pokémon Company International. But this big shift away from wizards and into the hands of the Pokemon people was felt most in the official trading card game. The Pokemon League was shut down and a new competitive event called Play Pokémon was created. The game itself saw a lot of rule changes. This series is the first appearance of the EX card, a mechanic that would stick around, albeit with a handful of different names. In the EX series, these had silver cosmos hollow borders and upped the ante of the game by awarding your opponent two prize cards upon a knockout. Oh, and they phased out baby Pokémon as a game mechanic, but they continued to get cards still. This series lasted until 2007 and leaned heavily into the TCG. They poured money into events and tournaments and kept pumping out new EX Pokémon, but things just weren't looking good. And it was about to get worse. The Diamond and Pearl series was next, introducing yet another refresh and new generation of Pokémon. Now, every time they did this, the '90s kids who bonded with Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle felt a little more distant. They expected us to fall in love with the new generation over and over again, but that proved to be difficult. However, we did get level X cards. These were the new EX cards. you could say. And moving forward, each series gets a new gimmick to spice up the TCG. One other thing they introduced with this new series was the Diamond and Pearl Battle Pokedex. This was a secondary Pokédex that moved around and reordered some Pokémon. Moving into generation 4, the new forms of Pokémon were building up. For example, baby Pokémon. Pichu evolves into Pikachu, right? Well, Pikachu is number 25 in the Pokédex, but Pichu is number 172. Moving Pichu to precede Pikachu resulted in Pichu having two Pokédex numbers, and this changed everyone else's Pokédex numbers. The only reason I mention this is that this number was printed on this era of Pokémon cards. Lots of collectors think this is some kind of serial number, which is fair, but no, it's just a reminder of a silly idea that didn't last long. at a time when they really needed a good idea. But overall, the Diamond and Pearl era was kind of bland. This was back when they focused on new Pokémon and didn't milk Pikachu and Charizard for every set. But the final expansion of Diamond and Pearl was Stormfront and delivered pretty much that. This set had six secret rares, three of which are base set cards re-imagined. Charmander, Charmeleon, and Charizard were redrawn by Arita. The other three are shiny Pokémon. Drifloon, Duskull, and Vtor. Moving on to the Platinum series. This is when I first fell out of Pokémon. I was going into my teens, and things like Halo 3, MSN, and of course, Girls were winning over my interests. And I wasn't the only one. Those of us who hung on this long were finally letting go. This was yet another blow to the Pokémon franchise, and the cards weren't pulling me back in anytime soon. But there were a few collectors out there who stood by Pokémon and continued to buy, sell, and hunt for the world's rarest cards. Even though Pokémon wasn't cool and actually considered pretty nerdy, Rusty, sometimes known as TCA Gaming, was still obsessed. He put his heart and soul out on the line and searched for Charizards when no one else was. Zach, also known as Gem Mint Pokémon, did the same. Social media was still in its infant days, and there was no internet clout for assembling a complete first edition base set outside of some small forums. It's people like Rusty and Zach who kept the niche collector space alive during this time. Even though the Platinum series didn't offer a very good value proposition, Level X cards were cool but growing stale. And the vintage reprints they were very slowly trickling out were either TCG focused or just kind of weird. Heart Gold and Soul Silver were remakes of the original generation 2 games, Gold and Silver. And this series of cards was actually really cool looking back. Prime cards are nice. Legend cards are phenomenal. And these redesigned energies are sought after by everyone now. And they updated the card borders to this kind of ancient look. I think it's pretty cool. But I wasn't paying attention any longer and neither were my friends. The TCG was still going strong, but the Pokémon card scene in general was pretty quiet. And if we look at Call of Legends, this set feels like a cry for help, or at least a strong signal that the Pokémon Company was lost. Call of Legends is unique in so many ways. It was released as a new series, but only ever had a base set, and it had no Japanese counterpart. Many of the cards are Heart Gold, Soul Silver reprints with new exclusive artwork. And the chase cards are shiny legendary Pokémon that were rare and expensive lottery promos in Japan. As time went on, the characteristics of Call of Legends grew to be in line with what we now call a special set, and Pokémon began to officially list it under the Heart Gold Soul Silver series on their websites rather than its own series. So, what was this? A failed experiment, a filler set? We don't know for sure, but it came out at a weird time, and the cards are nearly impossible to find today. It has some similarities to Skyidge, being underprinted, but now sought after. Pokemon Black and White were released in Japan as two expansions on the same day, the Black Collection and the White Collection. The International Set was just one single set, Black and White. Of course, the video games preceded the cards and they were a huge hit. Many fans today still stand by Black and White being the best Pokemon games, but this new series was clearly a big effort from the Pokemon Company. They wanted out of this rut, and it worked. These games were a big success, and the cards were a hit, too. This was when I picked up Pokémon once again, or put down Halo 3, rather. And I remember being overwhelmed by black and white because it was exclusively generation 5 Pokémon that I didn't recognize. I didn't grow up with these guys. Like previous series, we got an updated card design. This refresh rearranged a bunch of things like the evolution box, copyright info, Pokédex entry, and introduced the tinsel holo foil pattern. Oh, and the borders were changed back to solid yellow instead of that dirty ancient look. The cards in each set were now ordered by type instead of Pokédex number, which was nice. And the Japanese cards ditched rarity symbols in exchange for letters. However, full arts were the big thing. Raram and Zechron were the TCG's first ever cards to feature artwork spanning borderto border, and it was awesome. They didn't lean into it very heavily at first. Emerging Powers had a Tornado and a thunderous full art. Noble Victories had four Pokémon and the first full art trainer N. But next Destiny's, the fourth expansion, introduced the new EX cards, plus six full arts. We also saw some of the first textured cards during this series. Pokemon cards were good again, and we even got our first ever special set, Dragon Vault. Well, as long as you don't count Call of Legends. Dragon Vault had 21 cards, including one secret rare. It was actually pretty cool. The last few sets of black and white introduced Team Plasma cards. These have a unique look with a Team Plasma insignia near the bottom, blue borders, and lightning on the EX cards. And yes, Team Plasma full arts are a thing. New secret rares were also added with gold borders and texture, which was nice since the secret rares from previous years didn't really offer much. This gold detail made it feel a little more special. And then the final set of the black and white block is when things really kicked off with Pokémon's first big subset. This set was called Legendary Treasures and had two secret rares, Rasharam and Zechron, once again, but this time in full gold. This was huge, and these cards turned into pretty expensive collector's pieces later on. But that's not even the subset. The subset is called the Radiant Collection, and it's a set within a set. It's made up of 25 cards and can be found in Legendary Treasures booster packs. Each card features new unique designs and an extra holo pattern. Legendary Treasures was one of the most exciting sets in years and is known for being fun to open. After this came XY, introducing generation 6 Pokémon. So, most series reset and introduce a new gimmick, but this time EX's carried on into the XY series. The new change was Mega EX. though this was like EX but an additional mechanic to be played on top. This series also played around with ancient traits which looked like this weird three/arter artwork style and break cards which are a choice. All of this was getting pretty hectic but in a good way. Compare this series to Platinum and it's obvious that the new direction was working. In early 2016, XY Generations came out, which was the beginning of Pokemon's 20th anniversary and included the second Radiant Collection subset. This set was an upgrade showing collectors and players what full art cards could look like when taken to the next level. I'm at a small local card show right now. I just stepped out and my editor just sent me a message about this script. So earlier I told you guys all about the low points of Pokemon. How '90s kids didn't connect with the newer generations. Well, I forgot to mention that lots of kids did connect. Gabe is a few years younger than me, so he actually grew up with generation 5. Snivy, Teepe, and Ashawat mean to him what Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle mean to me. So yes, Pokémon went through a dip in popularity, but it was busy fostering new friendships and bonding with younger kids who have always been Pokémon's target audience. By targeting the younger demographic, Pokemon plant seeds that grow, creating a multi-generational franchise. Just because these cards were hated then doesn't mean they're hated now. Every year of Pokémon means the world to somebody. Okay, I'm not going to sit here and tell you what Pokémon Go is, but if you weren't playing it in 2016, then where the heck were you? Seriously, this was almost Pokémon Mania 2.0, kicked off by millennials being obsessed with generation 1 once again. And this is where we see our first big boom in Pokémon cards. Pokémon Go had everyone digging up their old collections, and we saw a lot of them popping up on Facebook Marketplace. At this time, I was able to pick up an old collection from someone in my city for just 40 bucks. and it had some nice cards like this shining Mewtwo, Shining Magikarp, and a bunch of vintage hollowos. In late 2016, we got Evolutions, which was a massive move from the Pokémon Company. This was a full set of vintage reprints, paying respects to the original base set. There are some modern designs in there, but the big boy was back. You could pull a base set Charizard once again, but they sat on the shelves. This set didn't sell yet. Sun and Moon kicked off a new series with generation 7, which introduced GX cards. They were kind of like full art exs, also rainbow cards, gold cards, and a lot of full arts and prism cards, alternate arts, ultra beasts, and full art shinies. Sun and Moon was a wild time, and this was the early stage of modern Pokémon. They were finally packing these sets full of crazy stuff, and people were eating it up, but that hype cycle from Pokémon Go had died down. Sure, some new collectors stuck around, but the market had seen a correction. Remember that guy who was importing Japanese cards into America in the late '90s? Well, by this time, he had earned the nickname King Pokémon and even appeared on Pawn Stars to show off his Charizard collection. Gary was a pillar of the community both in person and online. Just another example of someone truly passionate about Pokémon cards, collecting when no one else was looking. It was around this time that I decided I would have to meet Gary one day. The series wrapped up with Cosmic Eclipse, which was a great set and featured a whole slew of fully illustrated secret rares like Pikachu, Piplop, Mimikyu, and Toqual. But Pokémon was heating up again. In October 2019, a new record was broken when the illustrator sold at auction for $195,000. This triggered a lot of discussion around Pokémon cards as an investment since many saw this massive sale as a fluke. The next series was Sword and Shield, which started off rocky, but then something happened. 2020 was a wonderful year. Everyone was calm, healthy, and Facebook was full of honest and reliable information. And Vivid Voltage, the fifth Sword and Shield expansion released. Yeah. So, Vivid Voltage basically dropped the same day as co. All of a sudden, we were all stuck at home with nothing to do but dig through our storage closets and garages only to discover, what's this? Oh, my childhood Pokémon card collection. Remember how a hype cycle has to be triggered by newbies coming into the hobby? This is what happened with Pokémon Go. And it's what happened when Logan Paul, one of the biggest YouTubers in his family, drumed up a ton of mainstream hype behind his first edition booster box opening. There are more factors at play, which we will talk about in a moment, but these events helped kick off a crazy hype cycle. This rainbow Pikachu was the biggest card at the beginning of 2020. Everyone was going crazy for it, and Pokémon cards were impossible to find at retailers. The next set, Shining Fates, had a shiny Charizard, which made everything worse. And then we got Battle Styles, a set that was actually kind of lame, but had this Tyranitar in it, which marks the first Sword and Shield Altar Chase card, and was an omen of things to come. Next, Chilling Rain, then Evolving Skies, then the 25th anniversary set, Celebrations. Getting your hands on these cards was messed up. I mean, similar to what we have today, there were scalpers, lineups at Walmart at 7 a.m., online stores being raided by bots and more. Oh, and Evolutions, it exed. But what the heck really happened? Of course, the pandemic had a lot to do with this. Everyone was stuck at home, isolated, but more online than ever, which is kind of perfect for Pokémon cards. The Sewish Canal got plugged up by a bad driver, further destroying our supply chain. and Pokémon was in the middle of a huge marketing push for their anniversary. On top of all of this, we had extra money. People were receiving government assistance in the form of paychecks, and anyone who was saving for a vacation party or event suddenly had extra disposable income since we couldn't have social gatherings. This was like adding gasoline onto a fire. All the stars aligned and Pokémon cards skyrocketed. At this time, the world's only PSA 10 illustrator sold for a whopping 5.275 million. But there was a correction in 2023 and sort of 2024. I think things just got too hot too fast. We were seeing record-breaking sales weekly and a lot of rich people buy into the hobby. We also had investment firms sniffing around and Pokémon was an alternative asset just like that. This was around the launch of the Scarlet and Violet series, generation 9. We got rid of the yellow card borders, switching to gray, even though Japan had done that in 2004, and revamped the rarity system. We now have a more nuanced and detailed scale of rarity symbols with new ones popping in and out depending on the set or series. But during this new dip in popularity, Pokémon released Pokémon 151. This was the first set ever to feature the original 151 pocket monsters. That's right, even Yurer. Yuri Geller had previously written the Pokémon Company and granted them his blessing to print Kadabra cards once again. And this set was awesome. For the first time ever, we could revisit Kanto in one expansion set. We'd been waiting for this for almost three decades. This drew a lot of people back in and reignited the passion of many collectors, but it didn't kick off another hype cycle. I love this set and I bought one of each product. I pulled the Charizard and then I pulled it again during a live stream giveaway. I almost mastered the set and I got obsessed with the Cosmos holo pattern. But when I went to my local Costco, the ultra premium collections were just sitting there on a pallet. hundreds of them collecting dust. I bought one and I was happy and I think most collectors felt the same as me. There was no FOMO, so no greed. But then in late October 2024, Pokémon TCG Pocket released worldwide on mobile. This is a digital Pokémon card collecting game, and it was kind of an insane success, making millions in just a matter of days, probably hours to be honest. and they marketed this game to everyone. Like I mentioned earlier, outsiders, they need to be brought into the ecosystem for a boom to happen. And that's exactly what was happening. This channel is targeted primarily to beginners in the Pokémon card hobby. So, I work with and interact with beginners every day. And in late 2024, I noticed that everyone was leaving the same comment on my videos. pocket got me back into Pokemon cards. Now, a lot of these people weren't actually beginners. They were millennials who grew up with Pokemon, but let go. Now, they were returning and all had the same mission to collect the original 151. And all of a sudden, these Costco pallets of Pokémon 151 disappeared. And we strapped in and took another trip to the moon because Pokémon just hit another hype cycle. 2025 was the biggest year in Pokémon by a lot. It's crazy because 2020 felt like it couldn't get any bigger and now all I want is to go back there. This Pokemon mania ripped right through 2025 and here we are in 2026 where things are spiking once again like spiking on top of a spike. For the first time since Heart Gold and Soul Silver, we got a new series without a new generation, Mega Evolution, which featured Mega Evolutions. This new series rebranded the gold cards into something that people actually liked. Well, most people, introduced a new rarity, which is a play on the old Mega EXes, and somehow leveled up the cards again with crazy new artwork. I think this is going to be a fun series. So, where is Pokemon today and how did we get here? In just the past few months, a PSA 10 no rarity Charizard sold for over $600,000. And the no rarity cards are now considered to be some of the most soughta in the entire industry. All stemming from that small mistake in 1999. One of only three known copies of the pre-release Raichu sold for over 500 grand. A black label restram was sent into space and auctioned off for charity. And that same PSA 10 Pokemon Illustrator now sold for over $10 million. Hey guys, editor Gabe here. I'm just jumping in with a quick correction. So Oliver filmed this video before the illustrator actually sold, and he even recorded a couple of extra takes with his best guess for what the final price would be. And EU was even off with all of those. The $10 million guest was a little bit shy. The illustrator actually sold for $16.5 million. Yeah. I was recently invited to Colleia, a celebration of Pokémon cards featuring some of the most expensive and rarest cards in the entire world. We're talking about Pokemon illustrators, no rarity Charizards, the pre-release Raichu, Snap Cards, and much more. But I also got to meet some of my heroes like Gary, Rusty, and Zach. This was a celebration of not just cards, but also the collectors who stuck around during the hard times and have pretty much dedicated their lives to documenting the rare and interesting cards in Pokémon. This whole event was a validation of Pokémon cards as a hobby, investment, lifestyle, and communitydriven Goliath. The amount of content, events, and even apps coming out today is incredible. I'm so proud to be part of it. Pokémon has changed. Oh man, it's really changed in a big way. I know we all miss the days when it was simple, but I think the thing we're holding on to so tightly isn't Pokémon cards. It's simpler times when the world felt smaller and we weren't infected with social media. Look at this celebration of culture. This gathering of a community all bonded by a shared passion. You don't need to be afraid of letting go because this community will catch you. Pokémon cards has gotten better. In fact, I think there's never been a better time to start.

💎Become a channel member for early access to videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJrBXKBCYtHrW_PSjZc3amQ/join Edited by: @GabesPC Join our Discord server: https://discord.gg/Sz37npA5CF Send fan mail to: Sleeve No Card Behind PO Box 26002 KAMLOOPS RPO VALLEYVIEW, BC V2C0A9 The Weekly Weedle Podcast: @theweeklyweedle Sign up on Whatnot to get $15 off your first purchase: https://whatnot.com/invite/sleevenocardbehind Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sleevenocardbehind/ #pokemoncards About: In this video, I go through the history of Pokémon cards, beginning in 1996 and ending in 2026. 30 years of the Pokémon franchise, told through cards. In order to keep this video doable, I had to omit a lot of details and little pockets of the TCG that I would've loved to speak about. So please understand that this is a broad view, not an in-depth deep dive. Enjoy!