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Addiction Markets

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383 points toomuchtodo | 2 comments | 31 Oct 25 17:42 UTC | HN request time: 0.529s | source
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nekusar ◴[31 Oct 25 19:58 UTC] No.45776057[source]▶
People are also leaving out stuff like Pokemon, Yu Gi Oh, and Magic The Gathering.

All of them also introduce rarities (arbitrary exclusiveness), hidden cards in a pack, and extreme gambling gamification.

The only non-gambling MtG packs are the preconstructed commander decks. All 100 cards are published. But the packs and boxes? Pure gambling, especially for the chase rare cards.

And before anyone asks, yes, my username is based after this $2 card. https://edhrec.com/commanders/nekusar-the-mindrazer

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belkinpower ◴[31 Oct 25 20:05 UTC] No.45776126[source]▶
The Pokémon card mania in particular is deeply weird to me. I play Magic at a local card shop a few times a month and it’s always full of people playing Magic, D&D, or various board games. I don’t think I’ve seen a single person playing the Pokémon card game. So who’s buying the valuable singles? What’s keeping the market afloat? It’s bizarre.
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1. asdff ◴[31 Oct 25 23:05 UTC] No.45777692[source]▶
People in their 30s and 40s. It is the same thing with boomers and comic books. What was once in mass circulation in your childhood is now out of print and commanding real value among your nostalgic peers.
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2. belkinpower ◴[01 Nov 25 02:40 UTC] No.45778831[source]▶
Sure, that explains vintage cards. I’m more confused about the demand for new ones.