Arizona families connect over Pokémon card collecting amid market surge

PHOENIX - Card shop owners in the Phoenix area are seeing a big boom in trading cards, especially Pokémon cards.

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Trading card shops are popping up across Arizona, creating a booming business for shop owners. But for parents watching their kids collect and trade, the real surprise is getting hooked right alongside them.

"Pokémon cards, I think, have been a big thing for the last 30 years. The last five, it's just been all the way to the sky," said Paul Zarhoulev, owner of Card Fellaz.

At Card Fellaz in Scottsdale, packs fly off shelves by the thousands.

"If it's a new release, it can be anywhere to $500 to $5,000," Zarhoulev said.

Play your cards right and you could be holding a small fortune.

"We recently had a card walk in that was right around $120,000 to $150,000," Zarhoulev said.

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However, high value also attracts counterfeits.

"We see it all the time," Zarhoulev said. "We have people that bring in cards, and they don't even know they're fraudulent because nowadays, they are so well-made that not just the novice collector runs into the problem where they have traded for something, and it ends up being fake."

Beyond the shop counter, it has become a full family affair.

"It's awesome. I think it's just cool because we can all do it together," Gretchen Seeck said.

"It feels amazing. It's so fun to have something that we all love so much," Missy Stern said.

For moms like Stern and Seeck, the hunt rekindles childhood nostalgia.

"I've always had collections my whole life of various different items. I love to acquire and the thrill of having a chase and going and finding it and finally getting it," Stern said.

"I was all sport cards, so I came with a pretty good collection of basketball cards," Seeck said.

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Stern's son, Eli, recently pulled a card worth over $5,000.

"The feeling of pulling one of those big cards it's just so incredible. You just have a sense of shock and you're like oh my god," Eli Stern said.

It is a hobby that teaches valuable life lessons too.

"They get to be super excited when they pull something fantastic. And they also get to learn the art of disappointment too if they rip a pack and they don't get anything. Also how to communicate with each other, how to make trades," said Seeck. "We have lots of incentives for school work and behavior that they can earn cards through that as well."

Whether it is for nostalgia or a chance at a big payday, the Pokémon craze does not seem to be slowing down any time soon.

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