- Pokémon's popularity has boosted trading cards as investments.
- One Piece cards have soared in demand, with rare cards selling for thousands.
- Yu-Gi-Oh! is set to celebrate its 30th anniversary, maintaining its strong presence in the collectibles market.
The power of Pokémon is drawing new collectors to card games as investment opportunities.
The franchise is dominating the collectible card market at the moment, and the spotlight is widening to include other trading card games.
Business Insider spoke to Elizabeth Gruene, the general manager of pop culture at Professional Sports Authenticators, or PSA, which authenticates and grades trading cards based on their condition. PSA got its start in grading sports cards, but a major flip in recent years has seen trading card games like Pokémon taking over the bulk of its business.
While rare Pokémon cards are selling for millions in some instances, its competitors are catching on as collectors look for their next up-and-coming investment. It's driven a spike in popularity in three brands that are already household names in pop culture.
"Many collectors are looking to diversify their collections or discover emerging categories before they reach the level of demand we're seeing with Pokémon," Gruene said.
From animated series that millennials grew up watching to a live-action Netflix show, these franchises are attracting both game players and investors alike to pick up a pack of their cards. Some of those cards have sold for thousands on eBay, Gruene said.
These are the trading card games that are popping off among collectors.
One Piece
Netflix released a live-action "One Piece" series in 2023.
Roger Kisby/Getty Images for Netflix
The "One Piece" trading card game, released in 2022, is inspired by the anime series that has been on screens since 1999. In the nearly four years since being on shelves, the card game has had a meteoric rise in popularity.
The number of One Piece cards that PSA has graded spiked around 700% over the last six months, Gruene said — a level of growth only comparable to that of Pokémon in 2022. PSA graded 144,000 One Piece cards in February alone, compared to about 10,000 for all of 2022.
Despite being new to the collectible trading card game scene, One Piece is already fetching high prices on the resale market. The Los Angeles Dodgers gave away a One Piece card featuring the show's protagonist, Monkey D. Luffy, in July 2025. It later sold on eBay for $15,000 in November, The Athletic reported.
Magic: The Gathering
A pristine condition Black Lotus card from Magic: The Gathering sold for $3 million in April 2024.
Boston Globe/Boston Globe via Getty Images
Magic: The Gathering is one of the oldest modern trading card games on the market. Its debut set, which was released in 1993, sparked a boom of card games in the 1990s. Although it's been popular among collectors and gamers for decades, its investment potential is a major driver in its current status with newbies.
Pokémon isn't the only franchise capable of fetching millions for a single card. A pristine condition Black Lotus card from Magic: The Gathering sold for $3 million in April 2024.
The renewed interest in Magic: The Gathering in recent years is partly due to releasing lines of more collectible cards and collaborations with other franchises like Marvel and Final Fantasy, Gruene told Business Insider.
Yu-Gi-Oh!
Yu-Gi-Oh! has been around for just as long as Pokémon.
picture alliance/picture alliance via Getty Images
The collectible world can't stop talking about Pokémon's 30th anniversary this year, but one of its biggest competitors is set to celebrate the same milestone in 2026.
Yu-Gi-Oh! exploded in popularity after the anime series released in 2000. Months later, the trading card game quickly became highly sought after. Since then, it has maintained a commanding presence in the collector scene and been the subject of new movies, TV spinoffs, and card packs.
"Nostalgia is a major driver of collectibles," Gruene said.
There has been chatter that some Yu-Gi-Oh! cards have sold for millions in private sales. One of its most expensive cards ever sold is a one-of-one card made for a Make-A-Wish recipient. The "Tyler the Great Warrior" card sold for around $300,000 on eBay in 2023.
Although you won't find a card that rare at your local Costco, that doesn't mean a pack from the store couldn't hold valuable finds. As more people catch on, these trading card games are getting cleared from their shelves.
"The whole world is starting to realize just how popular the franchises are," Gruene said.
The post 3 trading card games to collect if you're looking to diversify beyond Pokémon appeared first on Business Insider
