For over two decades, a woman known as Tante Linda has preserved her\nPokemon cards. Collected since 1999, when the Pokemon Trading Card Game\nbegan gaining wider recognition outside of Japan, the cards were\ncarefully maintained in binders. Decades later, the 67-year-old woman\nhas passed her collection on to a top collector in Surabaya, Steven\nNdut.<\/p>\n
While the exact purchase price was not disclosed, Steven estimates\nthe total value of the collection could reach Rp7.2 billion. Items once\ncollected merely as a hobby have, after decades of storage, transformed\ninto assets with values far exceeding the price of a children\u2019s\ngame.<\/p>\n
This story might sound like a tale of pure luck, but there is a\ndeeper phenomenon at play: how can Pokemon cards, once played by\nchildren, endure for decades, remain highly sought after, and command\nsuch high prices? The answer was found at a venue gathering Pokemon card\nenthusiasts.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, 5 September 2026, the JCC Senayan Hall was packed with\nvisitors for IdeaFest \u00d7 Collectcon. Among the various hobby and\ncollection communities, the Pokemon area was one of the busiest. Crowds\ngathered in front of booths, searching for specific cards, buying\nbooster packs, opening cards randomly, bartering, or simply browsing\ndisplayed collections.<\/p>\n
Attendees included children, teenagers, and adults. Some appeared\nwell-versed in the names of the cards and characters they were seeking,\nwhile others arrived with curiosity, browsing before making a purchase.\nAmidst the crowd, Pokemon cards demonstrated their current reality: no\nlonger merely game pieces, but part of a hobby with its own community,\nmarket, and economic value.<\/p>\n
At one booth, B Bros Vault, Mic Marcel stood with his team. He is not\nnew to Pokemon, having been familiar with the trading card trend since\nhis childhood. For him and his team, Pokemon cards have been a part of\ntheir lives for a long time.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur Pokemon card sales have been running for about six months. But\nthe collection itself has been around for a very long time, especially\nsince our team members have been playing the TCG since they were kids,\u201d\nMic told detikX.<\/p>\n
At the B Bros Vault table, buyers can find a variety of items. There\nare individual cards, cards that have been professionally graded and\nstored in special protectors, random packs to open, and products such as\nElite Trainer Boxes (ETB). They also sell maintenance supplies, such as\nslab guards, and plan to provide binders.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe sell raw cards, graded cards, and packs for \u2018gacha\u2019 style\nopenings,\u201d Mic said, pointing to his merchandise.<\/p>\n
For those unfamiliar with the world of Pokemon cards, the terminology\nmight seem complex, but the concept is simple. Some people want to buy\nspecific cards, some want to try their luck opening packs without\nknowing what they will get, and others want to store their cards as well\nas possible to maintain their condition.<\/p>\n
The value of Pokemon cards is often what surprises laypeople the\nmost. At B Bros Vault, for instance, \u2018raw\u2019 cards\u2014those that have not\nundergone the grading process\u2014can be found starting from around Rp50,000\nto Rp100,000. Conversely, some cards cost tens of millions of rupiah.\nGraded cards can even reach hundreds of millions of rupiah, with one\noffered collection priced at over Rp300 million. Meanwhile, booster\npacks are sold starting from approximately Rp25,000.<\/p>\n
This price range makes a Pokemon card stall resemble a miniature\nmarketplace. There are items that can be purchased with tens of\nthousands of rupiah, alongside items with prices equivalent to much\nlarger assets.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe prices range from business-level to billions,\u201d he remarked.\nHowever, Pokemon card pricing is not as simple as the principle of \u2018the\nrarer, the more expensive.\u2019 There is another crucial factor, according\nto Mic.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Pokemon, it is a different thing because there are so many\ncharacters and everyone\u2019s favourites are different. Often, a card might\nnot be that rare, but because so many people like it, the demand is\nhigh, which drives the price up.\u201d<\/p>\n
At Collectcon, most people purchasing from B Bros Vault were not\nthere to play. Cards originally designed as part of a game are now more\nfrequently taken home to be stored and collected.<\/p>\n
According to Mic, there has been no significant change in the age of\nfans; all ages can enjoy Pokemon. Some may be new to the franchise,\nwhile others grew up with it. Some may not even know exactly what they\nare buying; they arrive, browse, and then ask questions. Perhaps that is\nthe appeal. One does not need to understand the entire history of\nPokemon before buying a single pack. There is no need to know every\ncharacter name, every card series, or every collector\u2019s term. One can\nsimply start with a single small pack.<\/p>\n
The relatively affordable price of Indonesian packs serves as an\nentry point. According to Mic, such products are highly sought after at\nthese events because newcomers to the Pokemon world want to try\nsomething at an affordable price. Meanwhile, older packs become more\nexpensive over time.<\/p>\n
For some buyers, \u2018trying\u2019 can mean purchasing in significant\nquantities. \u201cRecently, someone bought Prismatic Evolution; one pack\ncosts Rp250,000. They suddenly bought\u2026\u201d<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/collecting-pokemon-preserving-memories-chasing-billions-1789282543", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }