Theodore Williams, a sophomore at Palo Alto High School, remembers the exact moment when he and his father were opening a box of baseball cards and they pulled a Johnny Bench autograph. Only 76 of those cards existed in the world.

“It was a really special moment [pulling the Johnny Bench], because we’ve never pulled a card like that together, and when we did, we were both really excited,” Williams said. “I currently have it on my desk at home.”

For Williams, trading cards have always been a part of him and his father’s relationship. His father grew up collecting in the 1970s and 80s, after being hooked by a 1971 Tops Thurman Munson card a relative got for him. That love passed down.

“He’s loved it ever since so he got me into it,” Williams said.

In the United States alone, almost a third of teens and young adults have reported trading cards as a hobby in 2023 according to the U.S. census. From Pokémon to sports cards, and even Magic: The Gathering, there’s a card deck for everyone. In 2024, the global card trading market was valued at roughly $13 billion and is projected to surpass the $21 billion mark by 2034, according to Market Decipher. This number is only rising. But behind this fast-growing enterprise, the hobby starts the same way it always has: a parent, a child and a pack of cards. 

Today, Williams and his father share a collection. For them, the hobby is simple: open boxes, rip packs with his dad, go to card shows or shops and buy individual cards from there. He does not care what he gets…

“I just collect what I like, and it’s a lot of fun.” Williams said.

The fun also extends beyond the cards themselves. Collecting has allowed Williams to experience new social situations as well.

“[Trading cards have] definitely helped me branch out to new people because the trading card community is a really big one,” Williams said. “It’s definitely opened the door for me to interact with new people and do new things.”

Similarly, History teacher Stephen Foug started his childhood collection from a plastic bag of his older brother’s cards from the 1960s and 70s. A rookie-year Steve Garvey card hooked him instantly when he realized its worth.

“I remember looking it up, and I was like, ‘wow,’” Foug said. “I thought that was fantastic. Like, this piece of cardboard is worth like 50 bucks.”

His collection still sits in a box in his garage, serving as a quiet reminder of a simpler era in the community, before many collectors turned to the more material aspect of the hobby.

“I just liked looking at the players,” Foug said. “The values of them and everything I didn’t learn about until later.” The more business and value [they] talked about, the less I was interested.”

Most collectors, like Foug, are not in it for the money and trade cards for the love of the game.

“[In] this hobby — trading cards — you’re gonna lose money,” Williams said. “You’re never gonna make money. But sometimes there are instances where you can make money on some cards.”

However, for the collectors who are invested in making money, card collecting can be a lucrative hobby. JLS seventh grader and avid Pokémon card collector Kanish Chittor explains why.

“I collect Pokémon cards for their value,” Chittor said. “Investing in Pokémon cards is a worthwhile hobby, because many cards go up in value, while some go down. Many cards I own currently are worth hundreds of dollars.”

Chittor, who tracks card values using the online webspace TCGplayer, often discusses card values at school and during Pokémon club, offers advice for collectors looking to make money from their hobby.

“Buy a pack that’s not too recent, like 2-3 sets ago because the card value would have stabilized, and try trading up by investing in good cards and selling your cards,” Chittor said. “If you can’t afford some of the newer packs, try buying one of the packs after Evolving Skies. Unless you have a really high budget on buying cards, you shouldn’t buy the newest sets, because the cards usually drop by quite a bit.”

The simplicity of the hobby, however, is getting increasingly harder to hold on to. Rising prices and demand from people seeking to make a profit are pushing younger collectors out of the game.

“There’s been a ridiculous spike in pricing for some players, like Cooper Flagg,” Williams said. “His cards are through the roof, and it’s hard to get. And that’s for any [cards], Pokémon is hard to find anywhere now, and that’s been marked up extensively… It’s hard for people to collect when they’re getting priced out of the hobby.”

Greg Bates, a sports collectibles writer who has spent over 13 years covering the trading cards industry, echoes this concern.

“It’s not kid-friendly anymore,” Bates said. “You have to have some money.”

This is further exacerbated by the increasing presence of scalpers, individuals who buy large quantities of cards — such as Pokémon, Magic: The Gathering, or sports cards — at retail prices to resell at significantly higher prices.

“Scalpers are the main reason [Pokémon card] prices are going up,” Chittor said. “New Pokémon sets are bought instantly and sold at a much higher price. Recently, Pokémon Center released a $50 prismatic evolutions set, and resellers were selling it for $150. This is ruining the fun of younger collectors collecting Pokémon. … Many people I know have stopped collecting, simply because they can’t afford it.”

This pricing issue is worsened by the trading card grading system — the process by which collectors send their cards to a company that examines and evaluates their condition on a scale from one to 10 and seals them in a protective case, or “slab.” Receiving a high grade, such as a 10, can multiply a card’s value exponentially, while a low grade can ruin a card’s value completely. This process, however, is far from exact and can have unintentional bias.

“You could catch somebody [a grader] at the end of their shift who’s been working for eight hours … and they’re looking at this card, and they’re tired,” Bates said. “It’s all subjective. It’s all whoever’s looking at it that day.”

Despite these wavering grading standards, the stakes when it comes to grading are enormous. Bates points to the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle, one of the most iconic cards in the hobby; only three PSA 10s (or virtually perfect quality cards) exist. The owner of the one in the best condition has been offered $40 million before. A PSA 9, a nearly perfect quality of the same card, would sell for only $10 million. 

Those price gaps carry even more weight when looking at who controls the grading process. The market is dominated by one company: Professional Sports Authenticator, or PSA, which grades all types of cards from sports to entertainment (for example, Pokémon). Collectors Holdings, its parent company, recently acquired the second and third largest grading services, giving it control of roughly 80% of the market. Collectors Holdings also owns Card Ladder, a platform that tracks pricing data. This has brought in concerns of monopoly from many parties. Bates, in particular, sees a clear conflict of interest.

“When you’re running a company that grades the cards, but then you’re going to try to sell the cards, you’re obviously going to want the highest grade to get the highest money back,” Bates said. “The conflict of interest is certainly there.”

The concern has also reached higher up, with Congressman Pat Ryan calling on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate Collectors Holdings. 

“Even my four and six-year-old boys, who just started their collections, know this behavior is wrong,” Ryan said. “Kids, collectors, and local card stores, shouldn’t have to worry that the system is stacked against them, and the FTC needs to step in before this hobby is controlled by one powerful company.”

This issue extends to other parts of the industry. On the production side, Topps recently reacquired their NBA license and is set to reclaim the NFL license from Panini, giving it near total control over major sports card production. In other words, they’ve taken over the sports card market.

“It’s becoming a monopoly on the grading side, and it’s becoming a monopoly on the production side with Topps,” Bates said. “I would think, if the government starts looking into monopolies for grading, they would have to look into monopolies for the production companies as well.”

Despite the turbulence that threatens people’s access to trading, the heart of the hobby remains intact for many. Williams still sees himself collecting for years to come, and Foug still knows exactly where his Steve Garvey card is in perfect detail.

“I’m zoning out right now, just thinking about it,” Foug said.

For any student looking to jump in on the fun, Williams’s advice is simple.

“Collect what you like,” Williams said. “Don’t buy boxes instantly, because you’re just gonna lose money on that, and you’d rather spend money getting individual cards that you like.”

At the end of the day, the hobby will endure because of people like Williams, who genuinely love to collect.

“It’s good that there are still true collectors out there that are not collecting all for the money,” Bates said.