Those Pokemon Cards On Pawn Stars Are Now Worth A Ridiculous Amount Of Money
It literally doesn't pay to dismiss the buying power of fandom. In 2017, "Pokémon" trading card collector Gary Haase appeared on "Pawn Stars" — Season 14, Episode 18, "Poké Pawn" — intending to sell some of his rare valuables. All told, Haase believed his cards were worth $500,000. He credited approximately $50,000 of that total sum to a unique Charizard card, a genuine one-of-a-kind piece that scored a perfect 10 through Beckett Grading Services.
But Rick Harrison, the owner of Gold & Silver Pawn Shop, turned him away, even after an onsite evaluator confirmed the value of Haase's collection, albeit for around $400,000. Harrison reasoned that his inexperience with "Pokémon" negated any chance of his selling the collection. It turned out to be his loss, as Haase eventually sold his crown jewel elsewhere and, now, its estimated value is quite frankly ridiculous.
In 2020, Haase sold the 10-BGS Charizard to YouTuber Logan Paul for $150,000. That alone is triple the amount he expected to receive for the card in 2017, but that's not where this story stops. In 2021, Paul wore a diamond-encrusted 10-BGS Charizard card around his next before competing in a televised boxing match against Floyd Mayweather Jr. After winning, the online influencer took to Instagram, claiming that the card was his "$1,000,000 good luck charm." Before Paul's staggering self-evaluation, a similar card sold for $369,000 in 2020.
Pokémon practically prints its own money (and Rick Harrison still doesn't care)
While $50,000 feels extremely high for a few inches of painted cardboard, and a cool million for that same item should legally be considered a sin, it's important to note that the "Pokémon" franchise is the world's most lucrative. In 2023, Pikachu and his pals were valued at $100 billion — a staggering number that towers above the combined financial power of Marvel, "Star Wars," and DC. According to TechZim, 11% — or $10.3 billion — of that figure is thanks to trading cards. "Pokémon" might have only emerged in the 1990s, but the franchise makes bank on nostalgia. Unfortunately for Gary Haase, Rick Harrison isn't in the requisite demographic.
During a 2021 interview with Looper, "Pawn Star" personality Austin "Chumlee" Russell said that he attempted to make his boss understand the value of "Pokémon" but it simply didn't click. "Well, when we're talking that kind of money, it's got to make sense to Rick ... [and video games] just don't make sense to [him]," explained Russell. "Does Rick wish he would have bought [it?] Maybe he does. But it goes back to the big Charizard 'Pokémon' collection ... And now some of those cards are selling ... [for] a couple-100,000 apiece. And does Rick wish to go back in time and buy it? Sure, he does."
During the 2017 Season 14 episode, Harrison himself acknowledged that the trading cards' worth meant nothing in his hands because he simply didn't get them. To Russell's credit, he defended Harrison's decision, even though he understood the small fortune Haase's Charizard represented. While "Pawn Stars" missed the boat with "Pokémon," maybe Harrison can redeem himself with a smaller investment in something like "Yu-Gi-Oh."