🧠 TODAY’S TOP MOVE
Believe it or not, Pokémon cards — yes, the same packs kids tore open in the early 2000s — have massively outperformed the stock market.
Since ~2004, certain rare cards and sealed boxes have delivered returns of 3,821%, compared to the S&P 500’s ~483%. That’s not just beating Wall Street — that’s crushing it.
👉 Source: The Economic Times
🗞️ THE SIGNAL
Why are grown adults bidding six figures for cardboard?
Scarcity & Nostalgia: First-edition runs, sealed boxes, and mint cards carry insane premiums.
Grading & Authenticity: PSA or Beckett grades can make (or break) values.
Retail Market Surge: More platforms, more collectors, more liquidity for the hottest items.
Examples? First-edition booster boxes that once sold for ~$100 are now trading hands at hundreds of thousands.
📊 WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU
For everyday investors:
✅ Pokémon cards prove that alternatives aren’t just Wall Street constructs.
⚠️ But remember: no dividends, no income, no regulation. You’re betting on sentiment + scarcity.
For advisors/fiduciaries:
✅ Clients may ask about collectibles as diversification — have a perspective.
⚠️ You’ll need to draw clear lines between “fun money” and fiduciary-grade alternatives.
⚖️ FIDUCIARY FOCUS
Volatility: Prices swing wildly with hype cycles — think meme stocks, but shinier.
Liquidity: Selling a sealed booster box isn’t like selling SPY shares.
Fraud risk: Counterfeits, fake grading, and misrepresented condition are rampant.
Translation: You’re not investing in a stock. You’re investing in nostalgia — with all the risks that come with it.
✅ THE BOTTOM LINE
Pokémon cards delivered monster returns. But past outperformance doesn’t make cardboard the new cornerstone of retirement portfolios.
They’re a speculative alt — fun for collectors, risky for investors, and dangerous if you confuse one for the other.
⚖️ THE FINAL WORD
Sometimes, the “best-performing asset” isn’t scalable, liquid, or replicable. Pokémon cards prove one thing: scarcity + nostalgia can beat Wall Street — but don’t bet your retirement on Pikachu.
~ Brian
⚡ WHAT’S NEXT
Tomorrow, we’ll swing back to the institutional side of alts — tracking how major platforms are preparing to add crypto and private equity into retirement menus.
📈 Forward this to your friend who still brags about their Charizard collection.
They may actually have outperformed you.