The other other other diversification: Trading Cards

As we discussed last week, there is a resurgence in collectibles investing, but if you're nerds like us, you've known this for years. From when I picked up my first pack of Donruss '84 Baseball cards to when I bought my first Magic: The Gathering decks in 1994, trading cards have been in and out of my life for years.

Trading cards by the numbers:

• Topps sold its sports card division to rival Fanatics for cash and stock some say is valued at $500 million when it lost MLB and MLBPA licensing to Fanatics.
• Fanatics has received a $10 billion valuation from Silver Lake.
• The US sports card market was valued at $4.7 billion in 2019 and is projected to shoot up to $62 billion by 2025.
• Magic: the Gathering parent company Wizards of the Coast reported their best year ever in 2020, reporting a profit if $581 million.
• The most expensive MTG cards have been sold for $27,000, known as Roy's set of Power Nine cards. But the most sought-after card, the Black Lotus, is worth $27,000 alone if it is a first edition, and it went for upwards of $70,000 at auction in 2018.
• Pokemon cards were first created in 1996 by Nintendo. They were designed to be played on top of a game board with an opponent. The objective was to defeat your opponent's pokemon before they could defeat yours. There are two types of cards: trainer cards and energy cards, that can produce various effects during gameplay. The ofiginal set had 151 different pokemon characters which included all 100 original starters from the Red/Blue video games lus 50 other pokemon not originally featured in the TV show or video games at the time (but would later be featured in the anime, manga, or video games).
• One thing to keep in mind with Pokemon cards is there are some really valuable cards out there, such as a Charizard card from 1999 that was valued at $150 back then and now has an estimated value of $2,000. According to Card COllector, Charizard cards are set to increase in value. that means that those having rare Charizard cards can expect to get a good return from them, should they choose to sell.

Trading cards are a great way to get investing with your kids, and they are fairly easy to find. As of the writing of this article, both MTG and Pokemon cards are readily available at Gamestop and other outlets. Target and Walmart add sports cards to that mix. Generally, you can gauge the value of a card based on rarity, condition, and popularity. MTG and Pokemon add Power or usefulness of a card, and also if you find a card printed in another language than English, snap it up.  Those cards outside their home markets command a premium. Above all, remember your 5-8% rule when investing with collectibles.