Explore every episode of the podcast Card Lounge Podcast

A FedEx truck outside PSA was hit for nearly $1M in customer slabs, and the FBI is reportedly involved. Jake and Rob break down why it looks like an inside job, why theft and scams are spiking across the hobby, and what it means for your collection.This episode is sponsored by Chance, Ketchum All Collectibles and Collectr.Also in this episode: Delta Reign first impressions, the RGB Mew, the Ohtani card selloff, the modern rebound, 30th Celebrations' November waves, Trick or Trade going from $20 to $80, the One Piece dip, Riftbound Radiance, and whether Jarchomp is wrong about 2027.

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Jarchomp bought a Pop 1 Garchomp for $1,400 and sold it for $130K weeks before Fanatics tightened its bidding rules and vintage Pokémon started correcting hard. He breaks down the $70K Gyarados he overpaid for, what he's selling now, and what's still underrated.Round 3 with Jarchomp Collectibles on the Card Lounge podcast. We get into:• The $70K Skyridge Gyarados he bought near the peak — and why he's keeping it• Why vendors never pay full comp, even on a $100K card• How Fanatics' new bidder rules hit vintage auction prices• Why the Gold Star Torchic sold for $2.7M at auction instead of privately• 16 cards to auction: ~$350K on a ~$100K cost basis• The Sword & Shield cards he thinks are still too cheap• Can the Pokémon market top 2026 next year?• Too many vendors? What 400-table shows mean for the hobby• Jarchomp responds to the course backlash• The ~$1M PSA truck heist — and why you should always check the cert

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A collector spent $60K on GameStop Pokémon packs, kept every card, and it's now worth $200K. Meanwhile a Crown Zenith Mew jumped from ~$600 to $3,000 in a few months. Is the market being pumped?Rob (Roboskillz) and Jake (TwiceBakedJake) break down Pokémon card market manipulation, how fake eBay sales get made, and why rip companies and big money are soaking up slabs. Plus: why the cheapest card in a set can be the rarest, the John Pokémon slab toss, the Boosters and Bangers $25K Lugia EX trade dispute, and whether CT scanning can really see what's inside your packs.

Pokémon card prices are breaking records: Prism Star cards that sell for $10 raw now go for $2,000 to $10,000+ in a PSA 10, and a Team Plasma Lugia-EX is listed near $4 million. Rob (Roboskillz) and Jake (TwiceBakedJake) debate whether this is real collector demand or market manipulation, and who ends up holding the bag.Jake's take: collectors are buying the label, not the card. Most of these cards are easy to find raw. The scarce part is the PSA 10. Rob's take: too many low-pop cards are spiking at once for it to be organic, so he's sending low-pop Black & White holos to auction as a live experiment.Sign up to Chance for Free Slabs from Us! https://chance.live/?referralCode=cardloungeArizona TCG: https://www.arizonatcg.com/Collectr App: https://app.getcollectr.com/Chance giveaway! Enter your Chance username below for free graded cards!https://forms.gle/aPeRC5cugB9fEy798

Elestrals creator Adrive joins the Card Lounge to break down the Pokémon market, why most new TCGs will fail, and what it really takes to build a trading card game from scratch. From selling a $50K sealed EX Deoxys box to overprinting 25,000 boxes of his own set, Adrive shares the mistakes, the wins, and the 1 of 10 serialized card that has never been pulled.We cover the Black Label Mega Gengar crash ($80K to $16K), whether The Pokémon Company controls supply on purpose, collector boosters in Lorcana, One Piece Pandaman gate, the hidden Mew debate, and how Elestrals serialized cards, divine packs, and the spirit deck system work. Plus an Elestrals booster box opening and Adrive's top Pokémon grails, including the Neo Discovery 1st Edition Yanma.LOUNGE5 for 5% Back w/ Arizona TCG! https://www.arizonatcg.com/Collectr App to Track Cards! https://app.getcollectr.com/A huge thanks to Adrive for coming on the pod!https://www.youtube.com/@Elestralshttps://www.shopelestrals.com/?ref=CardLounge

Pokémon cards are setting new records every week: a 1st Edition Base Set Charizard passed $1M, a $3M Art Academy Mudkip, and Level X, Gold Star and Legendary Collection reverse holo slabs jumping to six figures. Rob (Roboskillz) and Jake (TwiceBakedJake) debate the money laundering theories, lay out how a low-pop market manipulation play would actually work, and explain why "last sold" is misleading so many collectors.We also rip 30th Celebration packs (Gengar Prime Classic Collection pull), rank the Pikachu illustration rares, check whether scalpers are finally feeling it (Prismatic Evolutions and Ascended Heroes ETB prices), cover PSA's new grading minimum, and share what we'd buy and sell right now.
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The first Pokemon card ever released came out of a 1996 Japanese manga magazine — and almost nobody kept a copy. John from Cardbound joins us to break down CoroCoro issue 223, the glossy Ivy Pikachu and Jigglypuff, and the variant card that became the second-highest Pokemon card sale of all time.John spent two years buying up nearly every known copy of CoroCoro 223 when they were selling for $5 and $10 apiece. That obsession turned into the Cardbound documentary, a $400,000 gamble on a card that might have been worthless, and a $3.3 million sale. We get into all of it: how he found the books, why the marketing variation exists, what the wrong illustrator credit tells us about Pokemon's earliest days, and where the real hidden gems still are for collectors willing to dig past 2025.We also cover Buyee and the Japanese marketplaces most collectors never touch, why there is no PSA 10 Ivy Pikachu, the KFC cards that were actually the first English Pokemon cards, Wizards of the Coast demo packs and shadowless, the Keshi figures that were the first Pokemon toys, and John's 151 master set in twelve languages.

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Rob showed up to record this one with no voice after SF Collect a con, and we still don't have a single 30th Celebrations booster pack in hand the night before release. We break down why product is locked down tighter than any set launch in memory, why Natalie's early 30th Celebrations leak blew up the way it did (and why we think it's the smaller story), and dig into the real question: are collectors and dealers rigging six-figure Pokemon card sales to set price points?In this episode:

• Why GameStop, Best Buy, and Target lines are already forming for the September 16 release, and why we're heading to GameStop right after this recording
• How some TikTok and Whatnot sellers are getting 30th Celebrations product weeks before street date, and where the line between "leaked" and "stolen" actually sits
• The "one in 20 chance" scam some live-sale platforms use to sell a $30 chance instead of the card you think you're bidding on — banned on Whatnot, still running on TikTok
• Why a Gold Star Torchic sold for $2.5 million and a Level X Arceus sold for a quarter million days after the same card sold for $2,000 — and whether these prices are being manipulated
• Our top 5 predictions for the biggest 30th Celebrations chase cards by artwork and pull rate
• Is the hobby splitting into two separate markets: ultra-rare vintage chasers and everyone else buying modern for fun

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Pokémon content creator Alex Ketchum joins Card Lounge LIVE at Card Party to break down 7 years of content creation lessons going viral with "I was minding my own business," chasing Team Up as prices skyrocket, and why he still won't call Pokémon Worlds better than a small card show.Alex Ketchum (advertising by day, 500M+ views by night) sits down with Rob and Jake for a live Q&A covering how he got started as a faceless TikTok creator, the daily-posting habit that changed everything, his favorite Pokémon card of all time (Ancient Mew), his Magic: The Gathering side quest, and the story behind his most unhinged viral hit — a McDonald's Happy Meal breakdown that got McDonald's UK to mail him apples. Then the crowd takes over with questions on trading, standing out as a new creator, and dream TCG crossovers.

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Jake and Rob are back from Pokémon Worlds in San Francisco with a full recap, the good, the bad, and the lines to get into lines to get into lines. Plus: a Rayquaza Gold Star just became a $1,000,000 card, Pokémon teased a brand new TCG movie and the EX Star mechanic, and the guys go to war over Buzz Lightyear vs. Luffy.

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Every TCG out there is scrambling for the same thing: rarity. Yu-Gi-Oh, Riftbound, Union Arena, and Lorcana are all leaning on serialized cards to create chases but Pokemon just dropped the RGB Mew, and it didn't need a single number stamped on it to break the internet.Check out Slab Lab to Display Your Cards Like a Pro!https://amzn.to/4x0wz4mCheck out the Collectr App for all your collecting tracking needs! https://app.getcollectr.com/Please use the Youtube video description to enter the giveaway and to purchase a Card Lounge pack, thank you Spotify listeners!

Pokemon cards are officially caught in a money laundering crackdown and right as Japan tightens the rules, a mysterious new RED Mew card has surfaced with almost no verification. In this episode of Card Lounge, Rob and Jake break down what the crackdown actually says, unbox a $500 Ace Trainer mystery slab box live, dig into PSA vs Beckett grading trends (centering is the new #1 dealback), and debate why the $130K One Piece Event Finalist Luffy (only 52 copies exist) has outpaced cheaper versions of the same card 4-5x. Plus: a first look at Card Lounge's own 30th Anniversary mystery box, a Hobbit MTG collector box check-in, and a free Ace Trainer box giveaway!

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The trading card hobby just split: a $713K One Piece Luffy card broke Pokémon's own sale record, PSA and BGS both jumped grading prices to $80, and vintage Pokémon keeps climbing while modern singles crash. Jake and Rob break down what's actually happening in the market right now.On this episode of Card Lounge: Logan Paul's National Box Break and the first 1st edition Charizard pulled live in years, why niche collectors chasing cards like Squirtle or Kabuto can move the market, the "hobby split" between soaring vintage prices and a modern price dip, a $10K bounty on the mystery RGB Mew and the Cooper Flag rookie auto, the One Piece trophy card that sold for $713,000 and beat Pokémon's own $700K record, rumors of 300 new Pokémon coming in Wind and Waves, why PSA and BGS both hitting $80 for grading is flooding the raw singles market, the debate over the Gen Con Naruto chakra card's real value, and what a 1-of-52 event finalist Pointer Luffy card is actually worth.

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People are paying $1,000 for a Naruto energy card from a game that doesn't release until summer 2027.On this episode of Card Lounge, Jake and Robo break down the Gen Con chakra card, why the Naruto TCG plays almost exactly like Yu-Gi-Oh, and whether Bandai just built a Konami killer — plus why baking ten years of value into a card with no set 1 is exactly how people get burned.They also recap the National: why Pokemon and One Piece transactions were happening at double and triple the rate of sports cards, why 70% of all graded cards are now TCG when it used to be 90% sports, and what sports card recency bias gets wrong about basic supply and demand.Check out Kanto Shark for the rarest cards in the hobby!https://kantoshark.com/Check out the Collectr App for all your collecting tracking needs! https://app.getcollectr.com/

The card market is moving at record speed. On this episode of Card Lounge, Robo and Jake break down West Coast Card Show, why booster box prices are crashing within hours of release, and the story of a kid who tried to flip One Piece cards he'd bought three days earlier. They dig into PSA's stricter grading standards, why repackers are driving down prices on cheap illustration rares, the new Round One One Piece promo cards and the pack-searching controversy behind them, and why "buy the card, not the label" still matters when nines and nines are outselling tens. Plus: underrated grails (Alakazam EX, Gold Star Celebi), a Lorcana/Riftbound/Power World TCG market update, and why instant gratification is reshaping how collectors buy and sell.Check out the Collectr App for all your collecting tracking needs! https://app.getcollectr.com/

The Pokemon crash videos flooding your feed right now are wrong, and the people making them benefit when you panic sell. In this episode we break down why the "mini crash" is cherry-picked data, why sets like Phantasmal Flames and Ascended Heroes dropping is normal set-cycle behavior, and who's actually buying when fair weather fans dump their collections.We also cover the full Pokemon 30th Anniversary Celebrations leaks including every Pikachu illustration rare and all the leaked SIRs (Mewtwo, Mew, Sylveon, Gengar, Salamence, Greninja), the Charizard VMAX alt art that doubled a week after we covered it, the new first Pokemon card documentary and the $400,000 alpha Pikachu, and why Magic The Gathering adding signature cards is a break glass move.
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There's a version of this hobby running in the background that most collectors never see, and by the time you notice it, the play is already gone. In this episode, Roboskillz and TwicebakedJake open with real numbers: a card bought for $4,300 in February now valued at $12,500, and a $2,250 alt art Umbreon now sitting at $7,500, both in under a year. From there they break down the "hive mind" effect that makes undervalued Pokémon and One Piece TCG cards correct in days instead of months, why playability adds real value to a collectible, a pitch for the collecting platform this hobby doesn't have yet, and a deep dive into why the Charizard V-Max promo might be the most underpriced card in the entire Charizard UPC lineup. Plus: One Piece's naming problem that's quietly hurting long-term collectors, the Pokémon Worlds vs. Pokémon XP split for this year, and a pop-1 PSA 10 trophy card most people have never heard of.

GameStop is pre-ordering the Pokemon 30th anniversary UPC at $600, triple MSRP, and the ETB at 3-4x retail. Jake and Rob break down whether any of it is worth it: the new ETB configuration with only nine packs and five cards each, the 128-card main set plus 30 secret rares, and why the booster bundle is the best pack-to-cost ratio in the entire product lineup. They also cover the One Piece x LA Dodgers batting Luffy promo hitting $1,000, the Round One collab sellout, the upcoming Naruto TCG, and the crash vs. correction debate: why a 20-30% pullback in Pokemon prices is normal market behavior, not a crash, and what an actual crash looks like (Metazoo). Plus Lorcana tag teams and whether collabs are diluting promo card value.Check out the Collectr App for all your collecting tracking needs! https://app.getcollectr.com/

GameStop just posted its best operating quarter ever and collectibles beat video games for the first time. Jake and Rob break down the Q1 FY2026 numbers, why they couldn't buy a single Pokemon card across five Japan Pokemon Centers, why imported Japanese product is somehow cheaper in the US, the Jarchomp and Oyama vending course debate, and why the hobby still has years of room to run.Check out the Collectr App for all your collecting tracking needs! https://app.getcollectr.com/

Twitch IRL streamer Mr Keem joins the Card Lounge to break down the viral Target ghost chair moment, why he waited overnight for Pokemon, and how he hit top 150 sub count on all of Twitch chasing a single Charizard. We get into hunting product in the wild, the broken retail line system, his English Lugia master set, a brutal PSA take, and why Pokemon is the easiest icebreaker in any room.

PSA just made $80 the cheapest way to grade one card and the value tiers are frozen, so where does that leave the rest of us? Robo and Jake break down the PSA backlog, the $80 floor, the TAG and CGC fallout, the record $236K Black Label Bubble Mew and the beggar's quarrel behind it, the 30th Anniversary Umbreon and Espeon promos, the Jason Paige Gengar trade-up drama, and why big money and gamification keep this market on fire.Lounge with us every Wednesday.

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The 30th Anniversary Celebration set just dropped and we break down every reveal: the futuristic chrome rares, the 30-card Pikachu subset, the Classic Collection reprints, and the Magikarp illustration rare reprint that has the hobby fighting. Does a 30th-stamped reprint tank the original or stabilize it?Then we get into a market that doubled 116% in a year. Drew's bubble Mew sitting at $172K, the "beggar's quarrel" and rich man syndrome behind grail auctions, buyers sweeping entire showcases, repack companies starved for inventory, and the gamified wheel streams taking over TikTok and Whatnot. Plus the PSA value bulk hack everyone missed, which cheap cards to grade now, a $25 Armor Mewtwo that became $8,500, and a full Card Party recap.

Recorded live at Card Party 4, Jake and Rob sit down with Danny Phantump for a wide-ranging conversation on what it actually takes to run a Pokemon card business in 2025, when booster boxes are hitting $300+ at the gate.Danny breaks down how he's kept his online store at MSRP despite insane demand — including the anti-bot tricks he's used to outsmart scalpers and keep product in the hands of real collectors. He also gets into the brutal reality of allocation cuts, why he stopped doing pre-orders, and how the live selling and rip & ship boom changed everything about the hobby.Then the conversation shifts into Danny's most ambitious project yet: completing master sets for all 133 Pokemon TCG sets ever released. He's 35 sets in, trading old competitive trainer cards as bait, hunting EX era reverses and gold stars in person, and gunning to finish by end of year.Danny also opens up about his content pivot away from market talk, what Pokemon meant to him through a cancer diagnosis 10 years ago, and why staying true to yourself matters more than chasing the algorithm.Plus: live Q&A from the Card Party audience covering pull rates, EX era collecting, how to grow a following, and 30th anniversary predictions.

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Julien Maranda from BTSM (Black Tiger Sex Machine) returns to the Card Lounge Podcast to talk collecting, grading, and the current state of the TCG market. Julien breaks down his BGS 9.5 to PSA 10 crossover experiment with 200 cards, why he grades with Beckett over PSA, and what separates a true collector from an investor. The conversation covers the One Piece and Pokémon market boom, circular vendor-to-vendor sales, and whether everything going up is sustainable. Julien also shares his deep dive into graded manga — including his Romance Dawn first print that went from $2K to $70K+ — and why he thinks Logan Paul's manga play misses the point. Jake opens up about vaulting his Poncho Pikachu sealed boxes and selling parts of his collection to pay off his mortgage. Plus: the display dilemma, the Rule of Three collection strategy, Gear 5 Luffy rarity breakdown, and Julien's new educational channel Odd Wolf Hunts.
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Chaos Rising drops Friday and the chaos doesn't stop there. Jake and Rob crack open a Chaos Rising ETB early, break down why every grading company is struggling right now, and get into why PSA keeps growing despite being at its worst. Plus: booster box prices are out of control (Destined Rivals at $650?), the hobby is officially a no-skill game, and a mystery Pikachu PSA 10 product is in the works. Don't miss it.Use Code: LOUNGE15 for 15% Off on Courtyard!https://us.humanz.ai/courtyard/972925/1Check out the Collectr App for all your collecting tracking needs! https://app.getcollectr.com/

GameStop stuffed a $15 slab into a $150 power pack and now they want to buy eBay. Jake and Rob break down what GameStop's $9 billion cash pile actually means for the hobby, why TCG saved GameStop from going the way of Blockbuster, and how they're charging grandmas $300 to pre-order a Chaos Rising booster box. Plus: the PSA vault is more dangerous than you think, grading companies are rushing and making too many mistakes, and what happens to your cards if you die with them in the vault. GameStop, eBay, PSA nobody is safe from this episode.

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Cassius Marsh 7-year NFL veteran and founder of Cash Cards Unlimited joins Jake and Rob to talk about building one of the most recognizable brands in Magic: The Gathering while still playing professional football.Cassius covers the full origin story: growing up with barely enough money to buy a dozen Pokémon packs, discovering Magic at 11, having $20K in cards stolen out of his car in Seattle, and how a viral tweet accidentally launched his MTG influencer career. He breaks down how he stockpiled $250–300K in sealed product before Cash Cards ever opened, the business partner who stole from him in year one, and his long-term plan to compete with Card Kingdom and TCGPlayer online.We also get into the side of Magic most people never see — painted artist proofs, invisible whales with collections that dwarf anything in Pokémon, why Cassius plays a $50,000 card in his actual deck instead of grading it, and why the Premodern format is sending reserve list staples through the roof.Plus: the One Piece vs. Pokémon IP debate, why Yu-Gi-Oh destroyed itself trying to copy Magic, hiring advice from someone who has done it the hard way, and why Cassius has 200+ plants in his house and is building a greenhouse.Use code LOUNGE25 for $25 Off Your First $100 on Misprint!https://www.misprint.com/Check out the Collectr App for all your collecting needs!https://app.getcollectr.com/

Rob returns from Japan with a reality check: Pokemon cards are impossible to find even at the Pokemon Center. What he discovered explains why card prices are climbing globally and won't stop. In this episode, Jake and Rob break down how high-value PSA slabs are being used as a store of value and wealth transfer tool across Asia, why the McDonald's Pikachu PSA 10 is back over $100 despite 300,000 copies, the real reason high-end black label cards are climbing faster than everything else, and why Ascended Heroes expected value is $8 per pack at $5 MSRP. Plus: Rainbow Rare GX prices have tripled in 3 months, a collection appreciated $500K in 48 hours, and Jake's investing portfolio is up 80% in 4 months.

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What happens when your Pokémon collection is worth enough to pay off your mortgage — do you sell? Jake and Rob break down the real financial pressure collectors face as card values hit life-changing numbers, the single optimal investment play from 10 years ago that most people missed, and why sealed booster boxes aren't as safe as everyone thinks. Plus, Rob reveals his One Piece Treasure Cup second-place finish and a $40-50K prize haul, the vendor flipping tactics quietly inflating card prices, and how artists, accessory makers, and creators are turning the TCG boom into full-time businesses.

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The Pokémon TCG market has hit a plateau and Jake and Rob break down exactly what that means for buyers right now. They debate whether Destined Rivals at $600 is a smart buy, compare it to Brilliant Stars, and explain the "substitute good" effect driving sealed box prices across all eras. The conversation expands into the broader TCG explosion: Prismatic Evolutions doubling in price, the rise of niche TCGs like Cyberpunk and Palworld, McDonald's entering the trading card space with K-Pop Demon Hunter cards, and why cereal boxes with TCG cards might be next. They close with a bold take: even if The Pokémon Company shut down tomorrow, the hobby wouldn't just survive it would accelerate.Use code HELLOTCG for free shipping from SNKRDUNK!https://snkrdunk.com/en/Check out the Collectr App for all your collecting tracking needs! https://app.getcollectr.com/

Today Jake and Rob crack open Perfect Order packs live, debate whether the set is unfairly slept on vs. truly weak, and compare it to Twilight Masquerade and Paradox Rift. They break down low-pop PSA 10 cards disappearing from eBay, the GameStop card sniping scandal, PSA's conflict of interest as a card seller, and what the 30th Anniversary Celebration set needs to deliver to actually move the needle. Plus: First Partner Series 2 news, Yu-Gi-Oh serialized cards vs. Pokémon's collector base.

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$1 cards are now selling for thousands — and most collectors have no idea why. In this episode of the Card Lounge Podcast, Jake and Robo break down the math on 151 UPCs vs Celebrations UPCs and why the numbers don't add up. We compare Perfect Order and Chaos Rising to previous sets, reveal the PSA vs BGS vs CGC pop report data on the McDonald's Pikachu (the results are wild), and show off some of the most underrated cards in the hobby right now — including Jake's completed Pikachu & Friends collection and obscure Japanese exclusives most people walk right past. If you're collecting or investing in Pokémon cards, this one's for you.
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Jake and Rob debate whether Jake should drop $20K on the ultra-rare Chinese 1,510 Mew, break down the risk of buying before the 30th Anniversary Celebration Collection reveals whether it stays exclusive, and weigh PSA 10 vs. BGS 9.5 vs. raw options. BGS quietly tripled their GCR pricing overnight — we explain exactly what that means for Black Label supply and why prices on BGS 10s are about to climb. We also get into why selling Pokémon cards has never been easier, how PSA's grip on the hobby makes it nearly impossible to leave, and why a chopped Light Toxicity just sold for $2,400 as a "PSA 10." Plus, is the TCG hobby actually in a full renaissance — and are we still barely scratching the surface of where this thing goes?

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King Gary Pokemon sits down with Jake and Robo for one of the most important conversations in Pokémon TCG history. Gary helped bring Pokémon to America through Media Factory in 1998, personally graded 76 of the 126 PSA 10 First Edition Charizards in existence, and is largely responsible for PSA becoming the default grading company for Pokémon cards. We also get into the viral Pawn Stars segment (150M+ views), the origin of Collecticon, Pokémon Saves the World, Shadowless cards, and his upcoming return to Pawn Stars.If you've ever owned a graded Pokémon card, this man had a hand in making that possible.

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Hedge funds are buying Pokémon cards and PSA might be one scandal away from collapse. Jake and Robo break down the two biggest stories in the hobby right now: The Van Gogh Pikachu FundA Hong Kong firm just launched the world's first tokenized Pokémon card fund, targeting 25% of all PSA 10 Van Gogh Pikachus. That's $94M+ worth of a single card. We talk about what institutional money actually means for collectors, pop reports, and the market going forward.PSA's Conflict of Interest Problem.A collector sent in a lenticular Deoxys PSA 10 for regrading. PSA damaged it, offered $20K, then sold their own copy on eBay for $45K. We get into why PSA selling cards is a massive problem and why BGS is quietly winning right now.

Pokemon Day just dropped major news, and Jake and Robo break it all down from the Generation 10 reveal with Wind and Waves to the upcoming 30th Anniversary Celebrations Collection TCG set. The guys share their predictions for what cards could appear, including a possible Delta Species return and whether Game Freak will just slap a 30th stamp on a Base Set Charizard reprint. Beyond Pokemon, they cover the TCG competition heating up, Yu-Gi-Oh's serialized full art cards, Riftbound Regionals in Las Vegas, and why the entire hobby space is raising its game. Jake also shares real boots-on-the-ground market signals from the Las Vegas Card Show, including a story about a CD Promo Charizard that sold at auction for $4,400 the same day a buyer walked away from a $3,000 deal. If you want to understand where the vintage and modern Pokemon card market is heading in 2026, this episode breaks down the rarity vs. demand argument you need to hear.

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In today's episode of the Card Lounge Podcast, Robo & Jake covers their experience opening Ascended Heroes along with why supplies are dwindling to cause people to wiat in lines for new releases of TCG. Then we cover the crime rates for TCGs and our predictions for what will be announced for 2026 Pokemon Day.

In today's episode of the Card Lounge Podcast, Robo & Jake covers their experience opening Ascended Heroes along with why supplies are dwindling to cause people to wiat in lines for new releases of TCG. Then we cover the crime rates for TCGs and our predictions for what will be announced for 2026 Pokemon Day.

In this episode of the Card Lounge podcast, Jake and Robo break down the $16.5M Pikachu Illustrator sale and what it signals for the hobby as collectibles become a mainstream status symbol. They recap their trip to Colletopia in Vancouver, highlighting the “museum” room of grails (multiple Illustrators, Black Lotus, uncut sheets) and how often they’re now getting recognized by everyday collectors in public. The conversation then shifts to One Piece Nationals at Bandai Card Games Fest, where Robo finishes Top 100, praises the gameplay, and calls out Bandai’s merch/retail-line issues for competitors. They wrap by debating the sustainability of the current multi-year bull run, criticizing Pokémon’s product quality/odds versus newer TCGs, and sending support to PokéDean after a reported home robbery that stole his collection.

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In this Card Lounge episode, TwiceBakedJake and Robo break down the Ascended Heroes supply squeeze and why packs are spiking, then zoom out to how scarcity is pushing collectors into One Piece and Dragon Ball. They also debate the “collector vs investor” divide, talk Tag Team GX grail chasing, and share real market takes on where the hobby could be headed next.

In this episode, Robo & Jake break down what’s actually moving in the Pokémon market right now and what we think people are getting wrong about recent hype. We talk through how supply, promo distribution, and pricing dynamics are affecting what’s worth chasing versus what’s just noise. I|We also dig into grading what’s frustrating about the current process and how we're thinking about fees, value, and timing. Overall, it’s a practical, opinionated check-in on where the hobby’s at and how we're approaching it as collectors.Check out the Collectr App for all your collecting tracking needs! https://app.getcollectr.com/Check out Slab Lab Displays available on Amazon!https://linktw.in/tKlnSK

In this episode, we talk about why the card market is heating up in January and why the cards getting the most hype often aren’t the ones truly moving. We compare Pokémon vs One Piece, share real show stories, and explain why we’re focusing more on scarcity, low-pop sets, vintage, and underrated promos instead of chasing whatever the noise is pushing.

Card Lounge just hit the one-year mark, so we’re celebrating the only way we know how: giveaways and ripping open our Dream Packs to show what you can actually pull! After that, we get into the wild stuff happening in the hobby right now shops getting hit, people getting robbed, and the real safety mindset everyone needs at shows and stores. Then we talk leaks, why cards showing up way too early is a problem, and we go deep on the One Piece explosion: influencers jumping in, Bandai printing, and why some of these prices feel sketchy if you’re buying at the top. We wrap it up with a fun “January 2025 vs now” price check to see what really moved (and what didn’t).

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Jake and Rob sit down with Game Boi Drew to talk high-end Pokémon cards and the real realities behind the hobby. Drew shares his path back into Pokémon, what it’s like going full-time in the space, and why some modern sets are being overlooked. The crew also debates the Logan Paul Illustrator Pikachu auction, breaks down current market shifts (modern vs. vintage), and gets into Japan sourcing, grading, and where the hobby might be headed over the next couple years.

In this first 2026 episode of the Card Lounge Podcast, TwicebakedJake and Robo kick off the new year with personal and collector resolutions, then dive into the biggest forces shaping the trading card hobby right now: product scarcity, print capacity, and the pricing mechanics behind sealed and graded collectibles. The duo breaks down why downsizing and focus can matter more than “collecting everything,” debates the sustainability of One Piece TCG’s ultra-rare chase model, and reacts to Pokémon’s upcoming Ascended Heroes set framing hype against the reality of limited availability. They also unpack the long-term implications of Pokémon expanding printing operations, compare booster box and ETB pricing trends (including surprising market inefficiencies), and explore what the Pokémon 30th anniversary could look like if the brand leans into modern, nostalgia-driven full-art homages. The episode closes with a candid look at grading economics—pop reports, swirl premiums, and why automation and AI-style grading may be the only scalable future—before inviting listeners to drop their bold 2026 predictions for the hobby.

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Jake and Robo kick things off by talking through the nonstop vending grind and why smaller shows like Sin City feel way more fun than huge events like Collecticon. They get into where the Pokémon market’s at right now cooler, but not “crashing” plus some real talk on Chinese promo prices and whether it’s smart to chase big-ticket cards like the Chinese Mew, especially with Ascended Heroes looking awesome but supposedly getting tiny allocations. Then they go deep on Logan Paul’s Illustrator Pikachu heading to auction, why the whole Liquid Marketplace “fractional ownership” thing burned people, and how grading has turned into paying for the label more than the card while trust in the big graders keeps taking hits.

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Jake and Rob revisit the PSA grading/buyback controversy and argue the core issue is the conflict of interest and lack of clear communication, not just “9s turning into 10s.” They then break down Collector’s (PSA’s parent) acquisition of Beckett, debating whether BGS gets improved systems and grows or gets slowly deprioritized the way they think SGC has been since its acquisition. The episode closes with broader hobby implications (grading premiums, PSA 10 vs 9 value gaps, printing supply, upcoming set hype) and a holiday Q&A covering favorite SV-era cards, collecting philosophy, and where the market might head in 2026.

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In this episode of the Card Lounge Podcast, we break down major grading and trust issues shaking the card hobby from PSA buyback controversy and grading inconsistencies to rampant rip-and-ship scams and market manipulation. We also discuss the shift from Pokémon to One Piece, why One Piece prices are surging, how winners promos are being valued, and what collectors should actually be paying attention to right now. If you care about grading, market trends, and protecting yourself in the hobby, this episode is a must-watch.

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Jake and Rob break down Ascended Heroes, Mega-era card design, and why modern golds and stamps often feel lazy compared to older chase cards. They dive into scarcity, printing capacity, and the gambling reality of booster packs versus graded mystery products, touching on GameStop’s new role as a major buyer and “card bank.” The episode wraps with market talk (Van Gogh cool-down, blue-chip Pikachus) and how One Piece’s chase structure exposes what Pokémon is still missing in its modern sets.

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Robo and Jake sit down with Pokemon Hero from the TCG Table Podcast to talk about how he went from opening packs with his daughter to becoming a full-time-level vendor in the modern Pokémon scene. They dive into networking with other vendors, learning to grade, spotting fakes, and how to turn sealed product and mid-tier cards into high-end grails like Moonbreon and poncho Pikachu. The conversation breaks down real vendor strategy: when to take cash vs trades, how to think about percentages, and why certain cards (Mario Poncho, Lugia alt, Moonbreon) function as “utility knives” in the market. They wrap up with Japan card-hunting stories, One Piece TCG promos, serialized Nami, and a custom TAG-slab invite to appear on TCG Table Season 2.

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In this episode of the Card Lounge Podcast, Jake and Robo rip Phantasmal Flames, debate whether it’s “Obsidian Flames 2.0,” and ask if the Charizard chase and $300 booster boxes are really worth it. They break down Charizard UPC vs Mew 151 UPC, talk TCG tier lists for 2025 (Pokémon, One Piece, Lorcana, Flesh and Blood, Riftbound), and dive into Pokémon Pocket, digital-only packs, long-term collecting, and the future of the hobby.

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