If you've got some old Pokémon cards in a drawer, you might want to take a look. Probably the result of a global lockdown that has forced millions of adults to kill time and try to earn a bit of money any way they can, 2020 is already a vintage year for the world's most lucrative licence, which celebrates its quarter-century this year.
Inspired by star YouTubers like American Logan Paul, everyone is selling their old cards in the hope of hitting the jackpot.
Between 2019 and 2020, according to Les Echos in February, the volume of Pokémon cards traded on eBay increased by 574%. And contrary to what capitalism teaches us about the relationship between supply and demand, this increase in volume has gone hand in hand with a stratospheric rise in prices.
In January, a lot of 103 cards dating from 1999 was valued at 750,000 dollars; the following month, a Firecracker went for 418,000 euros on eBay. A final folly? At the moment, eBay is offering an assortment of first edition cards for the modest sum of... 6 million dollars (4.98 million euros).
The craze surrounding the Pokémon cards market, the umpteenth collectibles market to be contaminated by the bitcoinisation of the world, is not entirely new.
But how do you assess their value? For sellers, there are two solutions: they can rely on the "argus" of cards on eBay and assess the value of each card using its serial number and the index of the PWCC auction house, which acts as a reference, or they can have their card assessed by a rating agency.
These companies provide a 'grading' of each card, from 1 to 10, according to a series of precise aesthetic criteria, which accurately assesses its state of wear and authenticates it.
Centring, colours, condition of corners, scratches, stains... the specifications are meticulous. A 1 card is "very poor while a 10+ card is "Collector" - the Grail of the collector. The same card, whether graded 1 or 10, can have its value multiplied by 10.
Tsunami of Pikachus
In the United States, grading is managed by Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA), Certified Guaranty Company (CGC) and Beckett Grading Services (BGS).
In France, Professional Cards Authenticator (PCA) has been doing this since 2016. Two years later, these certified cards were sold for the first time at Drouot. But demand for gradation is growing so fast that even the American behemoths can no longer keep up, Vice reported on 30 April.
Despite a great deal of overtime, the recruitment of dozens of employees and even investment in artificial intelligence solutions for the automatic appraisal of low-value cards, waiting times are getting inexorably longer: it now takes several months, and sometimes almost a year, to have the rarest cards appraised.
The monstrous profits of these companies aren't enough: they simply can't keep up with demand. And without these essential cogs in the wheel, the whole Pokémon card economy is on the rocks.
The sellers, reduced to sending their cards by post with no idea of when they'll get them back, become impatient, annoyed and demand accountability. Twenty-five years on, everyone wants to catch Pokémon - but children have grown up, and so have their priorities.
Korii
Thibault Prévost
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