I genuinely believe we're still early af on TCGs.
After a few months of collecting, researching, ripping, talking to builders, store owners, creators, and collectors, I wrote down 40 reasons why I believe the TCG market is still underappreciated.
• Grading companies continue to face massive submission volumes, with turnaround times and backlogs remaining elevated (PSA, CGC, BGS)
• Crypto and non-crypto TCG gacha platforms are breaking ATHs in volume, user activity, and revenue
• Top gacha platforms are running out of stock fast and regularly need to source fresh inventory to keep up with demand
• Rare sealed products continue getting opened, reducing supply while increasing demand for graded singles
• Rising slab values increase the expected value of sealed products, supporting higher sealed prices over time
• More crypto-native businesses are integrating TCG gacha mechanics through existing APIs and infrastructure providers
• Gacha machines are bringing liquidity to previously illiquid slabs ("bricks") that often struggled to find buyers
• Innovative indie projects are building on top of gacha ecosystems, creating new demand loops and user acquisition channels
• Physical collectibles are onboarding an entirely new generation of crypto-native users into TCGs
• TCGs have become one of the strongest examples of real-world collectibles intersecting with crypto infrastructure
• TCG gachas now exist directly inside crypto wallets like Solflare, putting collectibles in front of thousands of users every single day
• High-end grails continue migrating from weak hands to long-term collectors, reducing available float
• Social media content around pack ripping, grading reveals, and gacha pulls is creating massive organic distribution, while more TCG creators go viral every month
• Google search interest for Pokemon, One Piece, and other TCGs has been exploding, signaling growing mainstream attention
• New collectors are entering the hobby faster than premium inventory is being created
• Many modern grails have population counts that are tiny relative to the size of the global collector base
• The growth of 24/7 digital marketplaces has made TCG price discovery far more efficient than in previous cycles
• Pokemon and One Piece continue expanding globally, bringing new collectors, players, and generations into the ecosystem every year
• Rare tournament prizes continue becoming more valuable, attracting more players who fuel demand for sealed product and singles
• TCG collecting is increasingly becoming a status symbol among crypto, gaming, and internet-native communities, similar to rare art or luxury watches
• The accessories around slabs and sealed products are getting more creative by the day, giving collectors more ways to display and flex their collections
• Capital that previously flowed into NFTs, memecoins, and digital collectibles is increasingly finding its way into physical TCG assets
• The best TCG platforms are evolving into entertainment businesses, not just marketplaces
• Crypto-native collectors are increasingly redeeming and holding slabs long-term, becoming emotionally attached to the IPs rather than purely speculating on price
• Pokemon and One Piece are among the largest entertainment IPs on the planet, giving their collectibles a cultural moat that most digital assets can never replicate
• More investors, family offices, and alternative asset funds are beginning to view collectibles as a legitimate asset class
• Tokenized collectibles are attracting builders, capital, and infrastructure that previously didn't exist in the hobby
• We're starting to see tokens, vaults, indexes, and investment funds emerge around collectible assets
• Fractional ownership and tokenization are making high-end collectibles accessible to a much larger audience
• You can now borrow against your Pokemon and One Piece slabs thanks to Solana DeFi. The line between collectibles, alternative assets, and onchain finance keeps getting blurrier
• Global liquidity can now flow into collectibles 24/7 through crypto rails instead of being limited by traditional marketplaces
• Crypto marketplaces are bringing better liquidity, distribution, custody, and price discovery to an industry that historically relied on fragmented marketplaces and private OTC deals
• As tokenization infrastructure improves, collectibles become easier to own, trade, collateralize, and integrate into broader financial ecosystems
• Crypto users are discovering that owning a grail physical collectible feels fundamentally different from owning a ticker symbol, creating stronger conviction and lower supply velocity
• Collectibles are one of the few asset classes where nostalgia, culture, entertainment, and investing all reinforce each other
• TCG data, pricing, and analytics tools are becoming significantly better, making the hobby more transparent and easier for new collectors to navigate
• Physical TCGs combine the emotional attachment of art, the scarcity of collectibles, and the investability of alternative assets into a single category
• The amount of capital entering the TCG ecosystem is growing faster than the supply of truly rare collectibles available for purchase
• The TCG market is becoming increasingly global, with buyers and sellers interacting across borders through digital and crypto-native platforms
• Local card shops are receiving increasing support from gacha platforms, creators, and curators through sponsorships, inventory purchases, community events, and collector onboarding