Vintage Pokémon cards remain the crown jewel of the hobby. These are the earliest sets printed between 1999 and 2003 during the Wizards of the Coast (WotC) era, plus the first wave of early EX sets that many collectors also treat as vintage-adjacent.

If you collected trading cards in the 1990s or early 2000s, you probably remember walking into a hobby shop, picking up the newest issue of Beckett Magazine, and flipping straight to the price section for your favorite game. For a long time, Beckett was the authority on card values. If a card’s price went up in Beckett, collectors and shop owners noticed. It was the closest thing the hobby had to a universal standard.

So let’s walk through the real challenges, the pricing debate, the alternatives, and how to build a sustainable TCG business without becoming a scalper.

Whether you’re brand new to the world of TCG collecting or returning after years away, 2025 is one of the best times to jump back in. Trading card games like Pokémon TCG, Magic: The Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Disney Lorcana, and the One Piece Card Game are more popular than ever. The hobby now offers safer marketplaces, better entry points, and clear ways to track card value, even for beginners.