Is the Pokemon card craze over? TCG expert explains why prices may finally decrease

A Pokemon card expert has revealed that the Trading Card Game has seen a decline in prices over the past few months. The collector explained why prices could continue to drop. Is the Pokemon TCG bubble finally bursting?

The Pokemon TCG saw an explosion in popularity after YouTuber Logan Paul put a major spotlight on the hobby in 2020. Prices for the Nintendo items skyrocketed as collectors and scalpers tried to get in on the nostalgic gold rush.

According to one expert, however, the Trading Card Game could see a drop in prices in the coming months. The analyst revealed the biggest reason why the insane market surrounding the collectibles could soon see a decline.

Is the Pokemon TCG craze coming to an end?

In his latest upload, long-time Pokemon expert ZandGEmporium explained why the declining prices for the 1998 Base Set could be an indication of the market’s overall decline. “The reason I look at Base Set is it’s the lifeblood of the market. It’s like big tech stocks, these are the ones that will really go bring up the market or bring down the market,” he said. According to the seller, the 90s Pokemon expansion has seen a decrease in prices.

“From March 2021 to July 2021, we had a 25% decrease in the PSA 10 prices and 32% decrease in PSA 9s. And the box price went down 27%. So once again, another quarter, another big decline in the Base Set. Don’t know when it will happen, but the bottom will hit. And once the bottom hits, a lot of people might slowly get back into [Pokemon cards]. So we have big declines across the board,” he added.

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The expert used a PSA 10 Alakazam as an example which was selling for $850 before dropping to $475. ZandG theorized the decline was the result of fans running out to get their cards graded, which meant a boom in population. “A hundred PSA 10s were added to the Base Set from March to July and there was 2,945 PSA 9s,” he continued, before warning that more graded cards would be entering the market in the future. “There is a WHOLE lot of Base Set coming.”

Interestingly, the Trading Card Game veteran also heard that grading company PSA was so backed up, they still haven’t even gotten around to scoring collectibles submitted from Fall of 2020 which is when the craze exploded following Logan Paul’s videos: “PSA hasn’t even gotten to those yet. So there is a WHOLE lot more [Pokemon cards] out there still to grade.”

While ZandGEmporium does not believe the market will permanently be down, he reiterated the upcoming wave of graded cards entering the market is going to have an impact. “I really think we’re going to have to get through this whole entire 2021 to really see how this shakes out.” The seller pointed out that it wasn’t “that long ago” that TCG items were selling for far less.

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So has the current Trading Card Game bubble burst? No. It’s clear, however, that prices have been slowly declining for a handful of months. Fans that have struggled to buy Pokemon cards may be able to breathe a sigh of relief if the value of the Nintendo collectibles continues to fade. Only time will tell if the slide continues or if it eventually bottoms out before increasing again.