Despite the Japanese franchise nearing its 30-year anniversary, young men in particular continue to be on a lifelong mission to “catch ‘em all”—and are spending hundreds, sometimes even millions of dollars, collecting trading cards.

Part of the “boy math” is that investing in cards could yield significant returns, and there might be some truth to the matter. 

Pokémon cards have seen the largest long-term increase in value among all card categories: up 3,261% over 20 years, according to data provided to Fortune from Card Ladder. Even looking at a one-year investment, the average Pokémon card is increasing at nearly 46%—a pace far exceeding hot stocks like Nvidia so far in 2025 or the S&P 500’s average 12% annual return rate.

While cards have to be rare and in pristine condition to make significant profit, the industry frenzy has left the shelves of retailers like Walmart and Target bare—and even caused some stores to enact limits or pauses on selling altogether. And online, it’s pushing the resale market to new heights. 

Users on eBay searched for “Pokemon” nearly 14,000 times per hour in 2024, according to Adam Ireland, VP and GM of global collectibles at eBay. And pairing the Pokémania with continued demand in the sports card world (thanks to athletes like Caitlin Clark and Michael Jordan), it’s created a perfect storm of opportunity for the trading card industry. The total gross value of cards on eBay has increased for nine consecutive quarters.

“The trading card hobby has entered a new era, driven by technology, innovation, community, and a great balance of modern creativity–with new sets, storylines and characters–alongside good old nostalgia,” Ireland tells Fortune.

Social media is driving a trading card craze—and some poor financial decisions

No other influencer may have driven continued interest in Pokémon cards in particular than Logan Paul. The YouTuber, who is also known for his ventures into professional wrestling, boxing, and entrepreneurship, has spent millions of dollars purchasing cards—and then profiting off the millions of views generated from his content.

“Nostalgia + business = the new art,” he wrote on social media after spending $200,000 on cards.

“These things are appreciating like crazy as collectibles are becoming very low supply, high demand art pieces.”

Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images

Logan Paul wearing a Charizard Pokemon card chain as he entered the ring for a 2021 boxing match against Floyd Mayweather.

In 2022, he broke a Guinness World Record for the most expensive Pokémon trading card sold at a private sale with the purchase of a PSA Grade 10 (essentially perfect condition) Pikachu Illustrator card for $5.275 million.

“This card cost me more than my ranch. My 84-acre ranch,” Paul said at the time.

Other social platforms, including TikTok, are full of content creators who have dedicated their lives to the purchasing, opening, and reselling of cards. 

But for some, the joy of collecting or making a profit doesn’t work out as much as planned, with a recent call into Dave Ramsey’s personal finance vodcast showing just how bad the obsession is gotten for some young men.

“I messed up big. I went behind my pregnant wife’s back and racked up $26K in credit card debt in four months,” the caller said.

“What did you jack up $26K on?” Ramey asked.

“Pokemon cards—trying to buy a bunch and sell them online, but it didn’t work out.”

Like other collectables, trading cards can be considered a “commodity” and even art, according to Jason Howarth, SVP of marketing and athlete relations at Panini America, a sports card company. But whether to consider it a true investment opportunity depends largely on your intentions.

“For some people, they (collect) because they view it as an investment. Others do it for the pure fun of it,” he says.

By and large, most collectors are not going so off the deep end and being overly financially irresponsible, and instead see the hobby as a guilty pleasure. That includes Ryan Hoge, the president of PSA, one of the biggest companies that evaluates the condition and authenticity of trading cards. He said he personally has tens of thousands of cards, but like many, he enjoys collecting them, even if they are stored up in a closet.

“I think sometimes people want to break from the digital, and this is a good outlet for it,” Hoge tells Fortune. And not only do you get to hold something in your hand, but you also get to interact with a community of like minded people that have similar interests.”

Last month, nearly 125,000 fans attended Fanatics’ (which owns trading card company Topps) second annual convention centered around all things sports and collectibles. And the event notably saw influencer and former gymnast Livvy Dunne purchase a card of her professional baseball player boyfriend for $2,850. The National Sports Collectors Convention, which also brings over 100,000 fans, is set for later this summer outside of Chicago.

A billion-dollar market built on nostalgia

While the trading card industry was on the brink of extinction following overproduction in the 1990s, it’s since recovered and is booming. Sports cards bring in $1 billion in annual revenue for manufacturers and retailers, according to The Athletic. Pokémon alone brought in a similar number, and was the only toy to surpass $1 billion in sales last year, says Circana data.

And even though over 75 billion Pokémon cards have been produced (enough to wrap around Earth end-to-end 165 times), demand is still skyhigh, according to Barry Sams, vice president of game development and community engagement at The Pokémon Company International.

“With explosion in demand, we’re printing at maximum capacity to deliver the greatest amount of cards possible to fans for current expansions while ensuring we maintain quality standards,” he tells Fortune. 

“Those who grew up with Pokémon now have children of their own to share that passion with, and oftentimes, that means revisiting old Pokémon card collections and recreating fond childhood memories as a parent.”  

The opportunity within the card industry is causing retailers like GameStop to pay greater attention. The electronics store said in the first quarter of 2025, collectibles, such as Pokémon and sports cards, made up 29% of the company’s sales—outselling video game software.

“We’re focusing on trading cards as a natural extension of our existing business,” GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen said at the company’s annual shareholder meeting last month. “The trading card market, whether it’s sports, Pokémon or collectibles, is aligned with our heritage. It fits our trade and model. It appeals to our core customer base. And it’s deeply embedded in physical retail.”

The industry continues to fascinate even world leaders. During this year’s Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House, President Donald Trump was seen with a graded trading card that depicted the assassination attempt on him last year.

And in a recent meeting with a young student, Pope Leo XIV didn’t shy away from the trading card frenzy and was more than happy to sign a “Popplio” Pokemon card.

“It doesn’t matter how old you are, when you get a pack of cards in your hand, the first thing you want to do is rip it open and you hope that you’re going to get that hot rookie, or you’re going to get a player from your favorite team,” says Panini’s Howarth. “If any one of those things happens, you’re ecstatic.”