There’s a lot of money to be made in the Pokemon Trading Card Game, but the value of the rarest cards can vary by a significant amount, depending on the grade. A PSA 10 card can be worth a significant amount, but an 8 or 9 can see a heavy drop-off. Unfortunately, there are also a lot of scams going on at the moment, and Matthew “Mizkif” Rinaudo found that out the hard way. The Twitch streamer recently revealed that he got taken by a seller for $150,000, when the cards that arrived in the mail were clearly not what was advertised.
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“It turns out, either I must have went through the USPS post office and they threw my box around the whole time and played catch, or the cards themselves were never 10s, and they were all 9s to begin with. I lost a solid $150,000 in Pokemon cards, unboxing. Because I believed that they were 10s, when in reality, they were all 9s and 8s. Bro, I got scammed so hard… we didn’t even send them in. What’s the point?”
The topic came up during a discussion centering on Logan Paul, who recently spent $3.5 million on a sealed case that supposedly contained six booster boxes of 1st Edition, Base Set Pokemon cards. The case turned out to be filled with G.I. Joe cards instead, and Logan Paul has since gotten his money back. However, the situation highlighted just how prevalent these scams are getting.
Over the last two years, the Pokemon TCG has seen a significant increase in interest from the secondary market. Much of that interest has been fueled by streamers. With scams like these getting highlighted, it will be interesting to see what impact this has on the TCG market. The bubble might finally start to burst a little, and streamers might stop putting so much focus on them. At the very least, it could convince some casual fans to be a bit more cautious with their money!
Are you a fan of the Pokemon TCG? Have you ever been scammed by a Pokemon card seller? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!
[H/T: Dexerto]
