Collecting Pokemon, Preserving Memories, Chasing Billions

For over two decades, a woman known as Tante Linda has preserved her Pokemon cards. Collected since 1999, when the Pokemon Trading Card Game began gaining wider recognition outside of Japan, the cards were carefully maintained in binders. Decades later, the 67-year-old woman has passed her collection on to a top collector in Surabaya, Steven Ndut.

While the exact purchase price was not disclosed, Steven estimates the total value of the collection could reach Rp7.2 billion. Items once collected merely as a hobby have, after decades of storage, transformed into assets with values far exceeding the price of a children’s game.

This story might sound like a tale of pure luck, but there is a deeper phenomenon at play: how can Pokemon cards, once played by children, endure for decades, remain highly sought after, and command such high prices? The answer was found at a venue gathering Pokemon card enthusiasts.

On Saturday, 5 September 2026, the JCC Senayan Hall was packed with visitors for IdeaFest × Collectcon. Among the various hobby and collection communities, the Pokemon area was one of the busiest. Crowds gathered in front of booths, searching for specific cards, buying booster packs, opening cards randomly, bartering, or simply browsing displayed collections.

Attendees included children, teenagers, and adults. Some appeared well-versed in the names of the cards and characters they were seeking, while others arrived with curiosity, browsing before making a purchase. Amidst the crowd, Pokemon cards demonstrated their current reality: no longer merely game pieces, but part of a hobby with its own community, market, and economic value.

At one booth, B Bros Vault, Mic Marcel stood with his team. He is not new to Pokemon, having been familiar with the trading card trend since his childhood. For him and his team, Pokemon cards have been a part of their lives for a long time.

“Our Pokemon card sales have been running for about six months. But the collection itself has been around for a very long time, especially since our team members have been playing the TCG since they were kids,” Mic told detikX.

At the B Bros Vault table, buyers can find a variety of items. There are individual cards, cards that have been professionally graded and stored in special protectors, random packs to open, and products such as Elite Trainer Boxes (ETB). They also sell maintenance supplies, such as slab guards, and plan to provide binders.

“We sell raw cards, graded cards, and packs for ‘gacha’ style openings,” Mic said, pointing to his merchandise.

For those unfamiliar with the world of Pokemon cards, the terminology might seem complex, but the concept is simple. Some people want to buy specific cards, some want to try their luck opening packs without knowing what they will get, and others want to store their cards as well as possible to maintain their condition.

The value of Pokemon cards is often what surprises laypeople the most. At B Bros Vault, for instance, ‘raw’ cards—those that have not undergone the grading process—can be found starting from around Rp50,000 to Rp100,000. Conversely, some cards cost tens of millions of rupiah. Graded cards can even reach hundreds of millions of rupiah, with one offered collection priced at over Rp300 million. Meanwhile, booster packs are sold starting from approximately Rp25,000.

This price range makes a Pokemon card stall resemble a miniature marketplace. There are items that can be purchased with tens of thousands of rupiah, alongside items with prices equivalent to much larger assets.

“The prices range from business-level to billions,” he remarked. However, Pokemon card pricing is not as simple as the principle of ‘the rarer, the more expensive.’ There is another crucial factor, according to Mic.

“In Pokemon, it is a different thing because there are so many characters and everyone’s favourites are different. Often, a card might not be that rare, but because so many people like it, the demand is high, which drives the price up.”

At Collectcon, most people purchasing from B Bros Vault were not there to play. Cards originally designed as part of a game are now more frequently taken home to be stored and collected.

According to Mic, there has been no significant change in the age of fans; all ages can enjoy Pokemon. Some may be new to the franchise, while others grew up with it. Some may not even know exactly what they are buying; they arrive, browse, and then ask questions. Perhaps that is the appeal. One does not need to understand the entire history of Pokemon before buying a single pack. There is no need to know every character name, every card series, or every collector’s term. One can simply start with a single small pack.

The relatively affordable price of Indonesian packs serves as an entry point. According to Mic, such products are highly sought after at these events because newcomers to the Pokemon world want to try something at an affordable price. Meanwhile, older packs become more expensive over time.

For some buyers, ‘trying’ can mean purchasing in significant quantities. “Recently, someone bought Prismatic Evolution; one pack costs Rp250,000. They suddenly bought…”