I went to a kids' Pokémon event. I expected child's play, but got a trading floor.
Summarize this article with:
Edi, a 9-year-old Pokémon fan, told me a single card could be as valuable as a house. He was right. Lucia Vazquez for BI 2026-04-25T09:17:01.276Z Share Copy link Email Facebook WhatsApp X LinkedIn Bluesky Threads lighning bolt icon An icon in the shape of a lightning bolt.
Impact Link Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Log in. Pokémon cards have become valuable assets on the playground and in cafeterias. Preteen collectors aren't playing around: They view the cards as investments and a tool to build value. I caught up with kids at a recent trading event. Here's what I learned. AI-generated summary Summaries are generated by an AI model trained on Business Insider's articles. AI may make mistakes or provide inaccurate/incomplete information. We're unable to load that answer right now. Please try again. How do Pokémon cards gain value? How do kids learn trading strategies? How do apps help track card values? What are some rare Pokémon cards? How do Pokémon cards compare to stocks? My introduction to Pokémon was the cartoon, which premiered in the US when I was five. My brother watched and built a small collection of cards, only for them to be stolen, marking the end of his short-lived hobby. Loading audio narration... I hadn't really thought much about the pocket-sized monsters since then, aside from when Pokémon Go became an inescapable phenomenon in 2016. Kids take their binders everywhere — and not because they are interested in spontaneous games. Lucía Vázquez for BI Then, a few months ago, a couple of my colleagues with elementary school-aged kids said Pokémon was back, but it wasn't the game they remembered. Thanks to the internet and smartphones, today's kids treat their Pokémon collections like stock portfolios. Kids bragged, some inaccurately, about million-dollar cards, and parents coached their youngsters on how to make the best trades. I decided to see for myself and headed to the hottest club in New York for the under-16 set: Bleecker Trading. Every time Madeline publishes a story, you'll get an alert straight to your inbox! Stay connected to Madeline and get more of their work as it publishes. Sign up By clicking "Sign up", you agree to receive emails from Business Insider. In addition, you accept Insider's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. The financial centerOn a Thursday during spring break, the hobby shop on the Upper West Side was welcoming, with boxes of free pizza stacked near the door and a Pikachu balloon signaling that it was open for business.Business, indeed. During my afternoon at the Bleecker Trading, I watched as dozens of kids wheeled and dealed, spewed financial jargon — like appreciation and interest — that I didn't learn until I was twice their age, and negotiated with adults. At spaces like Bleecker Trading, kids and adults alike meet up to build their collections. Lucía Vázquez for BI Last year, Pokémon was the world's No. 1 toy product by sales — though perhaps it should be thought of more as a commodity and less as a plaything. Over the past year, Pokémon cards have outperformed both the Dow and the S&P 500, according to Card Ladder's Pokémon index, which tracks market performance on several resale platforms.Edi, a nine-year-old from Switzerland, was visiting his dad in New York and had begged to visit Bleecker Trading. When I walked in, he was in the middle of shaking hands with the shop owner, Matt Winkelried, to mark a successful deal. Edi understands how valuable cards can be."The best card costs more than a house," he told me. He's not wrong. In February, a rare Pikachu sold for $16.5 million, setting a record. Edi's own top card cost about $300 or $400, his dad said. Thanks to specialized apps and smartphones, kids are savvy collectors who track market value and trends. Lucía Vázquez for BI In a back corner, three teenagers were in the middle of a trade. One said he was happy to make a cash deal. Another said, with a bit of jealousy, that the other's grandma always buys him good cards. They were emphatic about the reason they collect: the money.They seemed a bit bemused by my amazement. Duh, they understood the basics of investing and how to read stock-like charts that track the values of specific cards. They prided themselves on trading fairly and following the rules (including sanitizing their hands before engaging, as demonstrated by Bleecker Trading staff). In fact, they seemed downright responsible with their money. With valuable assets comes responsibility. Parents are using the hobby to teach their kids financial literacy. Lucía Vázquez for BI A couple of tables over, RJ and Jasper, who were there with their dads, told me about how they keep some packs and boxes of cards unopened — a strategy Winkelried likened to a low-risk investment like bonds. It's tempting to rip through them, RJ said, so he keeps them under his bed in a bag. Out of sight, out of mind.I asked what he was saving for. "A rainy day," Jasper, who keeps track of the interest on various cards, told me. The kids, it turns out, may be all right.