Pokémon Market Update: Card Ladder Index Shows Strength 📈
The Pokémon market has given us a familiar—but still fascinating—pattern over the past few months, and the latest Card Ladder Index data tells a story collectors have seen before… with a few important twists.
The Christmas Cool-Off (A Very Normal Pattern)
Running into Christmas, the Pokémon Card Ladder Index flattened out. This happens almost every year. As the holidays approach, discretionary spending tightens, cash gets redirected to gifts, travel, and family commitments, and hobby purchases naturally slow.
Nothing alarming. Nothing unusual. Just seasonal behaviour.
The Turn Back Up 📊
What is interesting is what happened next.
As we moved into the new year, the line started to climb again. Quietly at first, then more convincingly. That post-Christmas reset has already given way to renewed momentum, with the index pushing higher rather than drifting sideways for an extended period.
Zooming Out: Pokémon Has Always Moved in Cycles
Historically, Pokémon prices move in cycles:
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Up
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Down
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Sideways
Usually over multi-year periods.
Pullbacks are part of the DNA of the hobby. Cooling phases happen. Sentiment shifts. That’s healthy.
But this cycle is different in one key way.
The Biggest Run We’ve Ever Seen
The past 18 months delivered the largest sustained increase the Pokémon market has ever recorded. And despite that significant growth, prices haven’t collapsed or unwound aggressively.
Instead, after a brief seasonal pause, the market is climbing again.
That raises the question every collector is asking:
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Do we get a proper crash?
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Does the market revert to the old “boom and bust” model?
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Or are we in a new era entirely?
Why This Cycle Feels Different
The collector base today is broader than ever:
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Childhood nostalgia buyers
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Long-term collectors
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Sealed collectors
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Slab collectors
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Investors and alternative-asset buyers
At the same time, supply—especially for vintage and iconic cards—is permanently capped. You can’t print more Base Set holos, Neo Shinings, or early Japanese promos.
Demand may cool at times, but it’s no longer disappearing the way it once did.
What Happens Next?
Will we see pullbacks? Absolutely.
Will we see quiet periods? Always.
But the real debate isn’t if prices fluctuate—it’s whether each cycle now establishes a higher floor than the last.
If the Card Ladder Index is any indication, Pokémon may be transitioning from extreme boom-and-bust cycles into a market that still moves, but does so with increasing long-term stability.
Final Thought
One thing is certain: Pokémon isn’t going anywhere.
The market is alive, evolving, and still attracting new collectors every single year. Whether you’re holding slabs, ripping packs, or sitting on sealed product, this is a space worth watching closely.
👀 What do you think happens next—another surge, a longer cool-off, or something in between?