The Past
Collectible Trading Cards have come a long way from just a piece of paperboard, which is usually worthless, to become a million-dollar market if not billions. The first trading cards were actually baseball cards, which were printed in the 1860s also around the same time that baseball became a pro sport. At first, these cards were usually being sold in packets of candy or tobacco products. It was not until around the 1900s, along with the innovation in multi-colour printing, that the popularity of trading cards started to rise. Baseball cards were still the most popular at this time, and in 1950 Topps Chewing Gum started inserting trading cards into their products. This time, a variety of topics were introduced, such as TV and film stars, football, as well as the first baseball trading card set – one of the most popular sets of all time.
The Evolution
Along with the development in printing technology, higher and higher quality trading cards started appearing. Companies started selling trading card packages separately due to the recognition of the game by everyone around the globe. The 20th century must be the golden era for trading cards since most of the biggest manufacturers nowadays were founded during that period. For instance, Wizards of the Coast founded in 1990 released Magic: The Gathering later on in 1993. In 1996, Japan introduced the Pokémon Trading Card Game and was introduced in the US in 1998. My favourite trading card game Yu-Gi-Oh! (or Magic and Wizards) was launched by Konami in 1999 in Japan, and then in 2002 in North America.
The Present
Recently, during the pandemic time, many people found interest in trading cards again and it became extremely trendy at one period, boosting the price of trading cards in general by an absurd amount. When trading cards are officially graded – or ranked on their condition – with 1 being “poor” and 10 being “gem mint,” they have the most value. Beckett and PSA are the two most popular grading companies. Due to the enormous popularity of Pokémon cards, several businesses have run out of them. In the US, after a fight broke out in a parking lot over Pokémon cards, Target decided to stop carrying them for a while. Many influencers, Youtubers such as Logan Paul, also emerged in the trend by posting videos of themselves unpacking Pokémon cards and sharing their interest with their fans. People are always thrilled when someone can pull a rare card out of a pack.
The Future
I don’t know how the future will be like for trading cards, but I believe that they won’t ever disappear. Trading cards have been a huge part of my childhood and I am more than happy growing up seeing trading cards become more popular than ever. The movement of trading cards has also reached many other fields such as the music industry since many artists such as Post Malone also started showing their interest in Magic: The Gathering. I hope that trading cards will continue growing in the future because I feel like these products had a positive impact in my life, and will continue to have a positive impact on many people around the world.
The literal and graphical information presented on this site about Magic: The Gathering, including card images, the mana symbols, and Oracle text, is copyright Wizards of the Coast, LLC, a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. TCG Machines is not produced by, endorsed by, supported by, or affiliated with Wizards of the Coast.
