Japan’s Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported on the global craze in the trading card market and introduced a card of the animation “Pokemon” character “Pikachu” that was sold for a whopping 7 billion won per sheet.The card is called “1998 Pokemon Pikachu Illustrator Card PSA 8”, and because it is not a product that was commonly sold, it was priced high in recognition of its rarity.This card was provided as an award to the winner at the “Pokemon Illustrator Competition” held between 1997 and 1998, and only 41 cards were produced at that time. Of these, only 10 cards remained, and they received high attention from collectors.
Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA) is a sports card and trading card retention assessment company based in the United States. It is divided into grades 1 to 10, and the higher the number, the better the condition.The card started with an initial bid of $480,000 and became a hot topic even before the auction began. The final winning price through the auction is $5.25 million, which is more than 6.8 billion won in Korean money. It’s so expensive that it’s listed in the Guinness World Records.It also recorded the highest price of Pokemon cards sold on the market.
The 1998 Pikachu Illustrator PSA 7 sold on eBay in February was the previous highest at $375,000, which was about 14 times higher than that, at $5.25 million.Meanwhile, according to poll firm Global Information, the global trading card game market is expected to grow to about $5.09 billion (about 6.61 trillion won) by 2028, up 46% from last year.In line with this trend, eBay in the U.S. has launched a service to create a card warehouse and store trading cards. eBay explained, “In 2021, trading card distribution in eBay has more than doubled compared to before COVID-19,” adding, “Now trading cards have become one of the main product categories.”
Chang Young Choi
US ASIA JOURNAL
