Pokémon Fans Are Redefining the Art of Card Collecting

With scalpers and low stock, a wave of collectors finds new joy in card-collecting

By Ana Diaz  |  October 24, 2025 | 4:00pm
Photo: Getty
Tabletop Features Pokémon
Pokémon Fans Are Redefining the Art of Card Collecting

Now is kind of lowkey highkey maybe the worst time to get into collecting Pokémon cards. 

The prevalence of scalpers, and The Pokémon Company’s insufficient response to said resellers, has rendered what arguably should be a casual children’s hobby inaccessible. Scalpers have been accused of buying up the stock for a wide range of Pokémon Trading Card Game products and ruining events like a special Pokémon-themed exhibit at an art museum. These days, wealthy collectors aren’t just after valuable out-of-print collectibles but chase new trendy cards that sell for upwards of $500. 

The Pokémon TCG has seemingly ceased to be a cheap way to buy fun Pokémon art and is now some sort of twisted scheme that recruits people looking to make easy money. 

As a lowly lover of Pikachu, I can relate to the hassle of getting cards. The last time I earnestly tried to buy a new expansion at launch, I waited in a digital queue of over a thousand people for hours online, only to have the official Pokémon merch website glitch and make my attempt useless.

Despite these issues, I’ve been learning that collecting Pokémon cards doesn’t have to suck. I’ve become inspired by Pokémon card collectors who are finding new ways to imagine what a collection can look like. Instead of focusing on ultra-rare cards and the latest hype, fans are assembling collections of easy-to-buy and often playful cards and showing them off on platforms like TikTok. 

Benji, a TikTok user who shares his Pokémon collections online, has become popular for his unique and playful approach to assembling collections. His first viral video documented his collection of what he described as “ugly” Pokémon cards. The recording showed crudely drawn art of Pokémon like Chansey and Swablu and was a far cry from the shiny, sparkling holographic cards people tend to like. 

“Some people chase the thrill of the hit but I’ve never found myself interested in that form of collecting,” he told Endless Mode via TikTok messages. 

A lot of the hype around Pokémon cards comes from their resale value. However, content creators have also cashed in on the hobby and amassed followings by opening loads of packs on livestreams. In these streams, viewers can experience the excitement of getting a rare hit second-hand and allow fans to engage with the hobby. However, Benji’s collection has resonated with an audience of people who want to see something different. 

In one of his videos, he shows a binder where the subject of each card looks like it needs to poop badly. Video footage of the cards shows a Wobbuffet that is sweating, as if bracing itself and holding in a bowel movement, and a strikingly unique Eevee card that has a messed up face that looks like a snout on a small dog. 

“I’ve heard stories where some of these people are opening cards or buying cards to flip a buck rather than actually caring about the hobby,” Benji said. “I’ve also heard some of these people don’t even like Pokémon or Pokémon cards, just want to make money. But I have gotten a lot of comments that say things like, ‘I’ve started to appreciate regular cards because of you and that makes me feel really good!’ I like to showcase a lot of regular cards or lesser known cards that people may not know.”

What Benji’s response gets at—and a large part of why I love collections like his—is the way a love for a particular Pokémon or artist can shine through in a particular collection. For example, I have a soft spot for a collector who goes by the handle Tatsugiri.lover on TikTok. The person collects one card and one card only: a full-art version of the sushi-inspired design Tatsugiri from the Twilight Masquerade expansion.

Priced at around $24 a piece, the full-art version of Tatsugiri isn’t exactly cheap, but I did have a newfound appreciation for the Pokémon after seeing it. For me as a viewer, I think this person’s love of Tatsugiri is infectious and way more interesting than a person showing off a binder that has all the go-to expensive cards like the Umbreon valued at more than $1,700 or a fancy Pikachu.  

Instead of going out and buying the hottest new product all the time, Benji looked at the cards he already had and thought about how he could make fun groupings of cards. He told Endless Mode that when he did buy cards, most of his cards all cost around $2 to $3 a piece at the time, even if recently he’s spent a bit more on newer cards. 

“Assembling collections and themes was initially secondary for me. I gathered cards and then made themes around what I owned,” Benji said. “Sometimes I’ll build off something I thought of but I generally look at what I already own and work off that. My favorite thing is probably that I’ve started noticing Pokémon I normally didn’t care about before I started collecting cards.”

In a sense, these kinds of collections feel freeing. My unemployed, freelance writer self can’t exactly go out and buy new cards right now. However, I can still find joy in digging up what I already have and find new joy in my collections. At  the end of the day, the fun doesn’t need to come from opening a pack to find a rare card, but sitting among a pile of cards on the floor and finding a single card that makes you smile. 

Ana Diaz is a freelance culture writer who covers the intersections between internet culture, fandom, and video games. Her work has been published at NPR, Wired, The Verge, and websites.

She loves Pikachu and you can follow her ramblings at @pokachee.bsky.social

 
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