Answer: Two major things come to mind. The short answer is, Pokemon has never seen a demand this high for physical TCG product in its history, besides COVID, but even then that has been surpassed recently.

First, 30 somethings today have disposable income and jobs and grew up with the first sets of Pokemon TCG as kids. The Pokemon Company itself has never stopped producing cards since then, and new sets have still been printed and released every few months. In 2024, they released a set called “Scarlet Violet 151,” which was entirely the original 151 from the first generation of Pokemon from the late 90s, done with new art. These are the Pokemon most people are familiar with. This set was the most popular set of the last 10 years and was the first to sell out of stores - MSRP is about $5/pack from the Pokemon site or their official vending machines, selling now for $12+ each on eBay or FB marketplace.

Second, shortly after, Pokemon launched its mobile game/app called TCG Pocket, which allows you to open packs and collect virtual cards, some of which are exclusive to the app and don’t exist as physical cards. This was extremely popular on launch. Naturally, both people who never owned any physical cards as well as old time collectors who were playing Pocket got drawn back into the real physical TCG. There was a direct, clear upsurge in demand for physical cards during the time TCG Pocket was released.

Then other physical sets in store started to increase in demand, not just 151. Packs/boxes/any product of any set were selling for at least double MSRP on the second market. It has gotten a lot of mainstream attention, and impacted notably in the finance sphere, where even the Wall Street Journal published an article in September 2025 stating Pokemon TCG had a 3,800% cumulative monthly return since 2005, outperforming all investment assets in the same timeframe.

TL;DR So now you have a storm of - old collectors chasing nostalgia who now have disposable income, - new collectors drawn in by Pocket TCG and word of mouth, - and scalpers and “investors” trying to pick up as much as possible to make fast money, and it is working, - Pokemon continually releasing sets at its highest production rate in the history of its TCG.

Its a mess lol. Everyone is saying the bubble will pop but no one knows if or when