Ludwig stunned by harsh reality of Pokemon card values

Twitch star Ludwig Ahgren was floored after learning that his Pokemon Trading Card Game collectibles weren’t worth as much as he thought they were. The streamer revealed just how harsh the value of TCG items drops depending on grade.

Pokemon card fever swept over sites like YouTube and Twitch in 2020. Popular content creators would lose their minds in front of viewers after pulling rare TCG items supposedly worth thousands of dollars.

However, streamer Ludwig broke that illusion during his April 29th broadcast when he learned the truth about how much Pokemon Trading Card Game collectibles are actually worth – and it’s pretty heartbreaking.

Ludwig stunned by Pokemon cards’ real value

While many content creators are quick to flash the supposed value of a Pokemon card they pulled live on stream, the reality is that the item’s true worth entirely depends on whether they get graded a high score by a company like PSA or Beckett.

Twitch star Ludwig learned during an April broadcast that Pokemon TCG collectibles are worth a ton of money if they are specifically scored a 10 in quality – and it’s almost next to impossible to get one graded at that level. “Dude I didn’t realize it was this hard to get a 10,” Ahgren exclaimed in shock after sending off the bulk of his card collection to PSA months back.

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He was stunned when the majority of his items came back as PSA 9s and told viewers he would be cautious in the future with the value he lists on stream. “Oh my God, two 10s in a sea of nines. It’s REALLY hard to get a 10. I didn’t realize how hard it was!” he said. “Of the 26 cards, only two were 10. It is HARD to get a 10. This was eye-opening. Next time I do a box opening, I’m calling everything a 9.”

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Both Pokemon fans and Ludwig viewers were also floored by the harsh reality of what cards are actually worth and took to the video’s comment section to air out their thoughts on the situation. Many were just as stunned at how difficult grading is.

“God this really puts into perspective how much money Lud has gambled on cardboard,” one user wrote, unimpressed with the cards’ true value.

Another joked, “Ludwig: Can I make money with Pokemon cards? PSA: NEIN.” One viewer even hit out at the grading process and exclaimed, “Now I’m even more convinced that this whole grading s**t is a complete scam.”

Those looking to cash in on the Pokemon card frenzy have another hurdle to cross as grading companies like PSA have become so overwhelmed by the hobby’s explosion in popularity that they have now stopped taking submissions completely. It also should be pointed out it costs quite a bit to get items graded, making it a risky investment.

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If nothing else, Ludwig’s TCG grading video is a much-needed dose of reality. Next time viewers see their favorite streamers opening up Nintendo collectibles, the value they think it’s worth is probably not accurate. It’s more complex than it seems on the surface as card grading is extremely complicated.