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A Deep Dive Into the Great Pokémon Card Crisis of 2021

Plushy Pikachu toys with Pokemon t-shirts on display at Pokemon Centre Shibuya.

The hottest investment right now isn’t cryptocurrency or NFTs, it’s Pokémon cards. The pandemic collectibles boom has skyrocketed Pokémon card prices, with individual cards selling for hundreds of thousands of dollars, and people swarming retail stores to get their hands on them. 

Jason Koebler, editor-in-chief of Motherboard and a Pokémon aficionado, takes us on a deep dive through the resurgence of everyone’s favorite cuddly pocket monsters. Everyone is looking to catch ‘em all one more time, and Koebler is no exception.

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CREDITS:

This episode was produced by Sam Eagan.

VICE News Reports is produced by Jesse Alejandro Cottrell, Sophie Kazis, Jen Kinney, Janice Llamoca, Julia Nutter, and Sayre Quevedo. Our senior producers are Ashley Cleek and Adizah Eghan. Our associate producers are Sam Eagan, and Adreanna Rodriguez. Sound Design and music composition by Steve Bone, Pran Bandi and Kyle Murdock.

Our executive producer and VP of VICE Audio is Kate Osborn. Janet Lee is Senior Production Manager for VICE Audio. Production coordination by Steph Brown. Special thanks to Jason Koebler, Jeffrey Mercado and Jon Stern.