Why is the Pokemon Gen 1 card base set so expensive?

Pokemon cards have held their price well since the game launched in the US in December 1998. However, over the past year, even the common Base Set cards have skyrocketed at ridiculous prices. Casual fans of the game wonder why Pokemon Gen 1 cards cost so much in particular.

Why do Pokemon cards from the core set cost so much?

There are actually four different English editions of the Pokemon Card Game Core Set released in 1998-99:

The core set was also partially reissued in 2000 as part of core set 2.

As you can guess, 1st Edition and Shadowless cards have the most value as they had smaller runs. These early versions of Pokemon: The Trading Card Game had slightly different graphics and brighter colors.

While all Pokemon cards are getting high prices right now, the core sets tend to take the most money, going as high as $ 50.000 + for a sealed booster box. There are a few reasons for this:

They are rarer

The most logical reason why the Pokemon Card Core Set is the most valuable is that they are the oldest. When Core Set debuted, no one knew how long the Pokemon brand would be, and over the years people have thrown their cards away, played with them, or just put them somewhere. Less of them circulate every year, which makes them increasingly rare.

They are the most desirable

Pop culture is currently fueled almost exclusively by nostalgia. As such, the base set is the most desirable for moneyed adults looking to regain their youth. The Core Set features the original 151 Pokemon, which continue to be among the most popular. Plus, for those who aren't hardcore Pokemon fans, the Core Set is the logical entry point into the Pokemon card collection, which means they are continually in high demand.

They are collector's items

Pokemon cards have fallen prey to the same thing that retro games and other collectible card games have. This isn't a new story with Pokemon, but it has grown tremendously over the past year. Collectables retailers discover the latest trend and understand that there are highly desirable products that are no longer being produced, so they buy them all and sit on them, causing an artificial scarcity.

After a short time, they start pouring out their supplies for many, many times what they paid for them. We've seen scalping with PS5 and Xbox Series X, but demand and production will ultimately fix that problem as well. However, as the Pokemon Base Set is no longer produced, collectible dealers can continue their profitable schemes for years.

These are the types of people with lockers full of envelope boxes and retro consoles and games. He will never reduce them or wholesale them. Because they are adopting this pattern with so many different types of products, they can afford to let things settle for decades until they are back in vogue.