A file photo shows Pokémon merchandise. Analogue Pokémon cards are an unlikely sensation for the Internet era. — Sarasota Herald-Tribune via AP
Mark Shininger is a like a lot of millennials who played with Pokémon cards during grade school. He traded the collectibles with his friends and competed with his brothers for the shiniest, most powerful characters – until eventually he tired of the hobby, stowed the cards neatly in boxes and grew up.
Then last year as the pandemic wore on, Shininger began hearing about vintage Pokémon card sales, sometimes reaching into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. So the 24-year-old mechanical engineer from Random Lake, Wisconsin, dug up his old collection of Pikachus and Charmanders. He logged the creatures into a spreadsheet and turned his childhood passion into a US$4,500 (RM18,816) side hustle.
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A file photo shows Pokémon merchandise. Analogue Pokémon cards are an unlikely sensation for the Internet era. — Sarasota Herald-Tribune via AP
YouTube personality Logan Paul wearing a pendant featuring a rare Charizard Pokemon card as he arrives to fight former world welterweight king Floyd Mayweather in an eight-round exhibition bout at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida. — AFP
A file photo of Pokemon trading cards on display on shelves at a local Target store in Los Angeles, California. Target suspended in-store sales of sports and Pokemon trading cards, citing safety concerns. While the US retailer didn't give a direct reason for the change in its announcement, the Minneapolis Star Tribune says it came after police in Brookfield, Wisconsin, reported that four men had attacked another man over cards on May 7. — AFP
A sign warning customers that Pokemon trading cards will no longer be sold until further notice is displayed at a local Target store in Los Angeles, California. — AFP
A sign warning customers that Pokemon trading cards will no longer be sold until further notice is displayed at a local Target store in Los Angeles, California. Target announced that it will temporarily stop selling trading cards of both the sports and Pokemon variety in stores due to safety concerns, following a recent violent incident at one of its locations. — AFP
