How Trading Cards Became a $1B+ Asset Class

The market for trading cards exploded during the pandemic. A once-innocent hobby has been transformed by seven-figure valuations and fractional investment. How did this American pastime go so Wall Street?
#Sports #TradingCards #OutOfStock
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[@business]

Do you collect trading cards? Why or why not?

[@xkisskissx8187]

I do. But I collect what I consider to be.. Trend setters. Concept arts. 1st editions. I could name influencers with less than 100 views on KZbin and yet they have inspired everything we stand upon today. Their art lay unappreciated. Pokémon and others of kind have over shadowed the adult world, of this there is no doubt. Very interested to see where my investments will take me in the future. “Bloomberg. Trading Cards Are For Children. I Collect CCG.”

[@K4R3N]

No, because I'm not in 8th grade anymore. Grow TF up

[@mikeandbrenproductions9944]

Yes we do! We have all sorts! We do it for the love of the cards, and we love to share our opening experiences with others.

[@sachinbangaru737]

Ja played magic since the early 2000’s

[@loulip3043]

@@K4R3N its just like buying piece of art work

[@justinmocio4618]

I'm in the "I can't believe my mom threw that out" club

[@fadalegend]

Yep Hurts my heart everytime, I had first issues of superman, Spiderman and all the top marvel and DC comics all in great shape, she threw out my box of comics and most of my trading cards in the 90s😭😭😭😭😭

[@Shvetsario]

At the end of the day, it only has the value that people give it. Gullible people fall for these cheap printed pieces of paper, and thus there is an economy born out of it

[@vgrepairs]

​@@Shvetsario Greater Fool Theory.

[@FinancialShinanigan]

Adults are just now kids with money

[@thetrison]

This proves that human psychology is weird. We can make worthless things become priceless.

[@mdogzino]

What is your definition of worth?

[@timothy1949]

everything is demand and supply, nothing is weird. gold is just another metal. stocks of companies that are still making loses should be paper. fiat currency in fact is also worthless its just paper, the market determines how everything is priced at any given time.

[@infotfs2118]

Stop trying to be noble and sound like a fortune cookie.

[@googleuser9383]

Normal people: Bankers are degenerates Bankers: r/wsb are degenerates r/wsb: Cardcollectors are degenerates

[@jimbaker5110]

Not a bad comment. In a lot of cases you are correct. But in some instances products (such as gold, silver, silicon, nickel…etc) have actual utility. Meaning even if people didn’t care about these products they would still have value because they are needed for things like microchips, machines, or creating instruments that conduct electricity smoothly. It is important to understand the difference between the three main drivers of price - scarcity, utility and psychological want.

[@marcelc2820]

Inflation, speculation and funny money. That is how any hot garbage becomes an "asset class" in the eyes of the financially inept.

[@ascathon7069]

Also don't forget money laundry and drugs transaction.

[@googleuser9383]

Yoloing options is more promising than collectibles.

[@surenderyadav7738]

Give the masses enough cheap money and everything becomes scarce and expensive.

[@prospectnyc]

@2:41 This is a really nice establishing shot of the narrator/reporter. Props to your team for the nice video work!

[@jmeryllman]

People mock things they do not understand.

[@thomasdevries8628]

So basically card collecting became a mixture of gambling and trading...

[@getinfo6350]

well.. the thing is everything in life is a form of gambling... Just like when u apply for a new job, you are gambling that your new boss will be great to work with..

[@dompit9535]

Take another look at that Jordan/Kobe autograph card and tell me its gambling...

[@louisetondeur9130]

I use to take money from the bank for survival but after trading with her my financial status changed for real

[@ianrobert6073]

tried different form of trad. I used Copy trade, paid for signals, at a time they seems to be working but at the end I still couldn't manage the stress of dealing with losses

[@bartonjeffs9439]

I'm no longer waiting for the EDIL GRANT LOAN because I earn $ 26,700 every 10 days

[@ellajackson.2125]

Stock is crashing, bitcoin investment right now will be at every wise individual list in a month you are ecstatic with the decision you make today

[@francoadonis3802]

2021 online stock is just difficult and unbelievable, I'll rather invest my money on crypto

[@ameliathomas4756]

People are ignorant of profitability in bitcoin investment and that has been their major issue limiting their investment

[@100SKILL100]

I think this dude is confusing price with value. “This tulip is one of one, i’m telling you”

[@jimbaker5110]

Price and value are interchanged. Value is also a very general term that can have different meanings.

[@googleuser9383]

Sports Collectible Card: Internal Value = ZERO

[@jimbaker5110]

@@googleuser9383 Yes but psychological value is through the roof.

[@bubblesnz1059]

Nothing has value or everything has value

[@drtobiasfunke11]

Every bubble pops....eventually....nothing lasts forever

[@abrahamflores2566]

And then it inflates again

[@aiHappiness]

the hobby has been around for over 100 years and doesn't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon

[@wormsby74]

It's a fallacy to blame the 1994 baseball strike for the fall in demand of baseball cards, which actually more of a death nail. The demise of the market started in late 1990 and early 1991 which was during an economic recession and sellers flooded all the card shops during that time when buyers basically all but disappeared.

[@wormsby74]

@DoxxGod except eBay didn't start until 1995. Most card shop had already closed their doors before the mid-1990's. I worked at a card shop in 1990-91 and I remember how business went to total garbage by late 1991. The card market was done and the recession at least in SoCal was crushing at the time. The economy was kind of lame in the early 1990s, so by the time the strike came around, interest just wasn't there and stayed flat until this newer modern era came around. Vintage cards were really the only somewhat solid market in between, but yeah that primarily went mostly online after grading became more normalized within the industry.

[@jasonpark1556]

Tulipmania but modern. This is major speculation that someone else will buy it for more even when the cards provide no real value either to the normal people or institutions or government.

[@jasonpark1556]

For example gold is trusted by governments and banks, even though it doesn't have real "value" it has institutional and governmental backing

[@jasonpark1556]

Bitcoin,even though it's "funny money" it has real value as it can be used as currency and Blockchain technology has possibilities to democratize things such as payments credit utilization

[@Possu81]

@@jasonpark1556 none of those assets are particularly collectible e.g. gold coins

[@jasonpark1556]

@@Possu81 key word is gold,gold is an asset worldwide. every bank has some, mant governments recognize it as actual wealth,they even tax it.

[@googleuser9383]

@@Possu81 No collectible can be an asset, due to it not producing any value. There will always be buyers for gold - even if it is just electronics factories.

[@TheBuenoWorldDrone]

So great class. Like it. Take care & seeU. ^^

[@Albion2023]

I've always been into trading cards. Pokemon, Yu-gi-oh and now as of recently Dragon Ball Super. and i will say im enjoying Dragon ball Super much more than i am and ever enjoyed any other trading card game. not in terms of playing but in terms of collecting. i have and did play FIFA ultimate team since 09 when they first released it as paid DLC and it exploded and i played that hardcore till 2017 where it dropped off and became stale. which is where i picked up Dragon Ball Super.

[@Albion2023]

@@DoxxGod there is One Piece, Digimon, Final Fantasy, and a few others

[@dvllard822]

"Success is like being pregnant, everyone congratulates you but no one knows how many times you've been f*cked." Just stay consistent, you'll be successful, I promise you that.

[@111highgh]

That quote makes absolutely no sense.

[@arthurbutt4589]

That quote is hilarious and so true

[@mikeandbrenproductions9944]

We love this video!!!

[@googleuser9383]

Great to hear, Mike and Bren...

[@cheyenneharmon1022]

I have a Michael Jordan golf card and a Michael Jordan 1996 Championship Bulls card (this was after his 1st retirement).

[@jdzeeb]

super cool!

[@WallyTony]

I was lucky to be collecting way before the boom. I have millions now.

[@carlossolorzano9733]

This guy may or may not be joking, but I've known several people who have literally becomes millionaires from having the right cards in thier collections, Tom Brady cards that could be had for 1k 15 years ago are selling for 3 million dollars. People make fun of what they dont understand, crypto, cards, NFTs. But these are the folks having the last laugh, all the way to the bank!!!!

[@alexrg109]

Messi cards in 10 years @@carlossolorzano9733 😉

[@michaelwebb6536]

I used to enjoy the hobby along time ago, until all the greedy people got involved.

[@shastam9590]

4:57 thats orlando not chicago lol

[@fredadthedisfordelightful9394]

Always been cool 😎 😌 👌

[@sebastianarias5123]

Its a scam. Check the current bubble in video games.

[@roemertj]

Just a heads up, the shot at 4:58 is of the convention center in Orlando, Florida - not Chicago, Illinois.

[@googleuser9383]

I hate incorrect documentaries. It makes you wonder what else went wrong.

[@edzelmejia3233]

Nice card prices 👍

[@DarrenEstrada-ie9zy]

Ah, bisnis kartu perdagangan memang bikin kejutan ya. Dari main-main jadi aset bernilai lebih dari $1 miliar. Siapa sangka?!

[@SK-le1gm]

I have a lunchbox full of cards from 78-83. How do I find out how much it’s worth?

[@ChosenOne6666]

Throw them in the trash can.

[@the_Fisher_King]

I think there are websites like tcg trader or something

[@scarpfish]

I wish I could give you an easy answer to that, but condition is a big variable, and cards from that era have notorious centering issues. You can look up eBay completed auctions, but even then, results are going to be all over the place.

[@Mcdowells]

Hit up your local sports card store

[@subzero-ou6vg]

I got the 86 101 star Michael Jordan rookie card what should I do

[@zenvd04]

Trading cards still seem like a niche but can become even more relevant through partnerships with video game manufacturers, for example with EA for FIFA ultimate team, which effectively was made to mimic trading cards

[@yikana7535]

The bubble is real

[@megadunsparce5735]

LDAR Collectables!

[@crossfirepower414]

sentimental value

[@ZZForz]

5:05 aoki?

[@kenyup5424]

Yep it worth bunch of money, but it’s really hard to sell it tho

[@aiHappiness]

not really but it's a gamble auctioning it off

[@priyanka1858]

Influencer influence.

[@bhuvan1993]

In Us every thing seems to be a bubble

[@N8_DoubleYou]

Don't worry. Everything is tied to the dollar. You won't miss out on all the fun.

[@DarrenEstrada-ie9zy]

Ah, jadi trading cards sekarang jadi asset class yang bernilai miliaran dolar, ya? Siap-siap aja nih kolektor trading cards pada senang, pasti pada suka nih.

[@sachinbangaru737]

Then there me whose collects isn’t worth millions 😂

[@mankind8807]

Dudes never grow up lol, they just get larger

[@facomori3110]

when americans are bored they create speculative bubbles...

[@mathewm7063]

Bought a Jordan RC 9 Beckett for $700 aud and the set of 86 fleer ungraded for $120 aud lebron auto for $60 aud lebron national treasure 3 patch rookie for $80 and a dual upper deck Magic Johnson and Larry bird auto for $80 aud in 2008 not to mention all the Steve curry rookies, and a ton of Kobe patches for $30 aud, I was being tight not spending $170 on a Kobe auto and $500 on a MJ auto, regret it now, but who knew. I’m happy with my PC.

[@loulip3043]

I love it! I think its another way to make 💰...We live in capitalist society which means we always have to find ways to make money

[@googleuser9383]

If you bought as many packs as you needed to get every baseball card from a set. Then you store all those cards for 50 years. I doubt you'd break even in most cases. - Also it's a fad.

[@loulip3043]

@@googleuser9383 The golden rule to making money on card collectong/investment is to not buy packs of cards ita a waste of money..Buy raw cards at a low price have the appraised and sell at higher price..That is how you make 💰...Simple math & Simple Business ideology

[@online29pat]

Bro how did that guy say Giannis’ name hahaah

[@berylmejorada4997]

Hope my kpop photocard would be like this someday 🤣🤣

[@aryankushwaha1964]

Recession i am waiting

[@Thesuperfractor]

Trading card is the closest asset to Bitcoin U can put millions in one suitcase and bring it everywhere

[@loganthompson9368]

But it is nothing like bitcoin or crypto

[@loganthompson9368]

NFTs are much more similar

[@Thesuperfractor]

@@loganthompson9368 agree

[@stevenwashington917]

Thanks for the speedy shipping and great packaging. This card is headed to Dallas on the next plaine BGS bound., praying to the "Black Label Gods"! 💥💥💥💥💥 Wow. Lamelo Ball cards skyrocketed in value over the last few days! GOAT by 2030? Stock up while you can. Wow. Thanks 😎💪🤑😺🤗😂🤣😆

[@nicholasfrancis2627]

Say ur 10 without saying youre 10

[@stevenwashington917]

@@nicholasfrancis2627 Not sure exactly what you are trying to communicate, but it's a great day to stock up on Lamelo Prizm RCs. 🤑🤗😼😂🚬🤣🤣🐐

[@scarpfish]

@@stevenwashington917 You are what more knowledged people call a tool. 🛠

[@aryanprabhakar4410]

Is people going insane !! ,. Nah., I think so,. They're valuing something that worth zero literally zero I means what's the potential buyer in numbers!! Crazy ''

[@BayWebby1995]

You're having a bubble m8

[@mikecano7026]

I've been in the Cards and Comics Biz for about 23 years now and let me say this one thing. People are collecting cards and the demand is crazy, but the Asian market is what caused the mega boom since they have the most spare money to throw around. Everyone in the Comic side of things understands that Comics have always been more sought after until the Asian market came in to things. Just wait until they realize that even some low tier ASM books have a population under 200 in CGC 9.8. People think a PSA10 with POP 600 is low population....just wait until they realize comics from 1930-1999.

[@jordanhudson5075]

Please share with me mike lol I’d love to know more I’m in the sports side but just being priced out by everyone and everything these days

[@jimbaker5110]

How much does a Ghost Rider comic issue #1 (glow in the dark cover) from the 1990’s go for?

[@mikecano7026]

@@jordanhudson5075 hi Jordan, you can never be priced out in collecting. There is always something at every price point for everyone. You just need to do a bit of research and develope a better understanding. My advice to everyone for slightly expensive items is that if you truly like it then spending an extra $300 over your budget shouldn't hurt you, especially if the item is low population so the upside is far greater than thr downside (5 years plus there should be no downside).

[@mikecano7026]

@@jimbaker5110 a cgc 9.8 should cost you about 350 usd, but if you on on a budget you can probably get 3 cgc 9.6 for the price of 1 cgc 9.8. This is Ghost Rider 1 from 1990. White pages is a must for books after 1990.

[@vanesslifeygo]

Comics can be very hard to store and protect against damage/complete and invasive wreckage due to their size, in situations like when you want to move it from place to place, house to house. Since you deal with both comics and cards which one do you think is more likely to gain or at least hold its value in the next 10-20 years?

[@h2_]

Kinda weird having the Mythic Markets guy on here when he closed down his scam company about two months before this video came out.

[@asheru9254]

Clevers ways for money laundering

[@Gdfsandoz]

I bet some of the small business you visit on your daily routine launder cash. Pretty common practice. I personally haven't met anyone who uses cards to launder cash doesn't mean it doesn't happen but it's rare. I know more legit stores that launder cash than some dude trading cards....

[@D4nang_.1raw4n]

i have my ID card. let that sink!!

[@user-qf6dy6ys5p]

Is it true? i don't think so ♡

[@pedrolockup1543]

We’re definitely in a bubble!!! I don’t how big the bubble will grow but I definitely know that it will burst 💥

[@robertjohnson6663]

The card share company is such a scam, if you dont hold it you don't own it.

[@loulip3043]

The reason that the hobby has blown up in recent years is because the modern cards that come out packs are autographed and/or have memorabilia embedded into the card which makes these cards way more valuable than older cards..The designs and with technology they use is insane

[@jeffcann7233]

That Jordan PSA 10 is worth $300,000 now. It crashed.

[@damonarvid3548]

It went back up to 800k last month. Depends on the copy.

[@jeffcann7233]

@@damonarvid3548 that was a special circumstance with that card being rated as a top 5% by pwcc. Any random PSA 10 went for $700,000 for about a 4 week period in February.

[@damonarvid3548]

@@jeffcann7233 Do you know much about valuing rare/one-of-kind cards? serious question

[@damonarvid3548]

@@jeffcann7233 I was not questioning your knowledge, I have what seems to be a very rare card and looking for trusted advice.

[@jeffcann7233]

@@damonarvid3548 Sure. I can try to help you. What question did you have?

[@scottysteadman5063]

There’s a serious conflict of interest 95% negative comments but still watching & commenting! How can this worthless paper be worth any money! Sincerely missed the boat! Oh the narrative & how the goalpost keeps moving!!

[@scottmcfarlane7524]

Nah way behind ...NFT

[@sayfami3927]

OH AMERICA 🇺🇸😅😂🤣😂😂🙈😳🤷🏾‍♂️

[@TheGreatMandalore]

And afghans are getting blown up to smithereens while Americans are paying millions for a card. Yep, nothing wrong with the world.

[@rizzlyblues2866]

imagine when these lot start to understand NFTs and Blockchain

[@scarpfish]

I'd suspect many of these folks who got into cards in the last couple years have experience trading crypto, likely bad experience, so they took their FOMO elsewhere.

[@taconative334]

Difference is this is actually fun to do. You can open $5 packs and collect your favorite players and trade them at the stores and talk about them at the shops/shows. I didn’t have any fun doing nba NFTS, just felt like I was doing it for money, it took me 4 months to turn $10 into $130 with NFTS and it took me the same amount of time to turn $100 into $3000 believe it or not

[@rizzlyblues2866]

@@taconative334 hello buddy. that was just on the etherium network. SO much more is going on in the space that u need to stick around, be patient and it will pay off BIG. Cardano ADA

[@TheGreatMandalore]

I can't wait for the crash

[@jdzeeb]

why?

[@karanacharya7689]

This video makes me cringe.

[@aleksandr7284]

When those people figure out how to get NFTs- they’ll forget about those cards

[@scarpfish]

NFTs are already widely discussed on many sports card channels. You don't have to abandon one dumb venture to start another one.

[@Czechthisout24]

I’m speechless 😳 How does anyone perceive that these pieces of paper that are machine printed have any value? World has gone insane!

[@mankind8807]

Same thing could be said about today’s over inflated money, yet still you thirst for it…

[@scarpfish]

The thing with most anything is that if you can sell it, it has value to whomever bought it. That being said, when you see the media doing pieces like this, any fad's 'jump the shark' moment is imminent.

[@googleuser9383]

@@mankind8807 WRONG. The USD will always have value. Remember the DeutscheMark? It was recalled and replaced by the Euro. You had years to trade in your DM for Euros. Baseball cards on the other hand are not accepted by any state as currency. As long as the US doesn't go venezuela you are save

[@abrahamflores2566]

Whats the point of having millions of dollars if you can't spend it on things you want?. If I could I would pay $100k for a signed Kobe card because I wanted it when I am 90 years old.

[@vanesslifeygo]

lol same with cash now that the gold standard is gone. But yes I feel you in that gold is the first alt asset you should think of, alt to like stocks or cash in a savings acc that is.

[@johnl.7754]

Because of too much money in the economy has inflated all kinds of collectibles & investments.

[@Footprints1111]

I think the Trump card will prove to be the card with the highest value. 🇺🇸🥳

[@blackspider528]

I guess we didn't learn our lesson from The 90's comic book crash

[@changwufei5]

Gary Vee just entered the chat

[@business]

[@richardperez5075]

😂😂😂😂

[@Xergecuz]

I remember spending all my money on basketball cards in the early 90s, they're all worthless now, and the same thing is going to happen to these.

[@mankind8807]

Hold, to the moon!

[@BobSmith-cm5xs]

Only baseball cards hold up. LeBron is Chinese

[@bhuvan1993]

when capitalism starts doing weird stuff

[@fan.80s_90s]

Trump JPEG cards worth pennies.

[@Bitbatgaming]

Why spend thousands on things you will never use?

[@scarpfish]

In hopes that someone even more irrational will pay you more than you paid somewhere down the road.

[@taconative334]

Why buy art?

[@senseme7627]

Just like cryptos but at least this has some spirit

[@jamuojisan]

First

[@K4R3N]

Wannabe stock traders. Weren't smart enough to get the grades for real wall street

[@carlossolorzano9733]

You could say the same about the guys who bought into bitcoin, or NFTs. I bet they don't give a F about whether you think they are smart or not.

[@scarpfish]

Just two months later. This story didn't age well.

[@Achilles5937]

BUBBLE!! Inflated valuations just like the rest of the economy...real estate, stocks, bonds. Thank you, Fed

[@cayvem5712]

this is the dumbest market i have ever seen

[@joerogan9554]

Has coffeezilla seen this yet? So many scamers in one video

[@SECRETCINEMALOSANGELES]

the goldin guy is a scam