{"id":601852,"date":"2026-09-16T06:32:20","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T06:32:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/601852\/"},"modified":"2026-09-16T06:32:20","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T06:32:20","slug":"pokemon-turns-30-but-the-cards-are-worth-more-than-ever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/601852\/","title":{"rendered":"Pok\u00e9mon turns 30 – but the cards are worth more than ever"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hundreds of Pok\u00e9mon fans across the country turned up for the latest limited-edition release, marking three decades of the franchise.<\/p>\n

What began as a video game in the late 1990s has grown into a global phenomenon, spanning trading cards, television shows, films, merchandise and mobile games.<\/p>\n

\"What<\/p>\n

What began as a video game in the late 1990s has grown into a global phenomenon. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

Even celebrities have joined the collecting craze, which has attracted people of all ages, and families now collect together.<\/p>\n

While Pok\u00e9mon cards were once primarily something children traded in the playground, some have become serious investments.<\/p>\n

“Little ones of like four or five-years-old are starting to collect and build their own wee binders, with their mum and dads,” Popstop employee Suede Taylor said. <\/p>\n

“So yeah, it’s definitely passing down to the next generation.”<\/p>\n

The popular trading cards have become so valuable, they\u2019re now catching the attention of thieves. (Source: Breakfast)<\/p>\n

Popstop founder Glen Walker said the returns on some cards could now rival traditional investments.<\/p>\n

“I’ve got this box that I\u2019ve got to buy for this amount… and sell it for double that instantly.”<\/p>\n

Some rare Pok\u00e9mon cards that once sold for just a few dollars can now be worth thousands \u2014 or even millions.<\/p>\n

Cardboard gold<\/p>\n

But with that value comes another problem: theft<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, around $6000 worth of Pok\u00e9mon cards were stolen from an Auckland shop<\/a>, while about $20,000 worth were stolen in Dunedin.<\/p>\n

\"Pokémon<\/p>\n

Pok\u00e9mon cards allegedly stolen from a store in Auckland’s Henderson. (Source: NZ Police) (Source: Supplied)<\/p>\n

For retailers, protecting the increasingly valuable stock has become a major concern.<\/p>\n

Hobby Lords chief executive Liam O’Neil said security measures have had to increase as the value of the cards has risen.<\/p>\n

“Security is now a lot higher than it used to be. We used to be a bit more blas\u00e9 about it.<\/p>\n

“But now we have to be very conscious of the fact that we have a lot of stock in terms of money here as well.”<\/p>\n

The concern extended beyond stores.<\/p>\n

\"For<\/p>\n

For Pok\u00e9mon fans, the goal remained the same after 30 years: Gotta catch ’em all. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

O’Neil said the company had worked with couriers to increase security around shipments, after concerns about valuable Pok\u00e9mon stock being targeted in transit.<\/p>\n

“We’ve already worked with our couriers who also brought extra people with the shipment to avoid anybody trying to carjack the shipment.”<\/p>\n

He said staff have also been victims of violence.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019ve had a staff member quite literally stabbed<\/a>. That happened in Newmarket about a year ago.”<\/p>\n

O’Neil said incidents involving Pok\u00e9mon cards are becoming increasingly frequent.<\/p>\n

“I’m hearing about it literally every three or four days \u2014 something may just happen.”<\/p>\n

He called for more support to protect retail workers.<\/p>\n

“If we’re wanting our retail industry to survive as a whole, we have to protect the workers who are taking abuse.”<\/p>\n

Still gotta catch ’em all<\/p>\n

But for the collectors lining up for today’s anniversary release, the thefts had not dampened the excitement.<\/p>\n

Extra staff and security guards were brought in at some stores to help manage the crowds.<\/p>\n

For Pok\u00e9mon fans, the goal remained the same after 30 years: Gotta catch ’em all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hundreds of Pok\u00e9mon fans across the country turned up for the latest limited-edition release, marking three decades of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":601853,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[2567,138,219,156,111,139,69,145],"class_list":["post-601852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-arts-and-culture","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=601852"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601852\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/601853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=601852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=601852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=601852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}