Being the king definitely has its benefits. A rich 30-year history, a massive IP, global collaborations, and unmatched mass appeal make Pokémon the safest blue-chip bet in the room. But because of the sheer size of Pokémon, I think we heavily underestimate just how many cards, packs, and boxes are actually out there. Just look at the TCGplayer data to see the massive circulating supply. And remember, that’s just one online marketplace—it doesn't even factor in eBay sales, big-box retail shelves, local game stores, or private trades.
Because of this astronomical supply, even with Special Illustration Rares or Hyper Rares, it leads savvy investors to ask a difficult question: is the Pokémon card I own really rare? Take the beloved "Moonbreon"—the Umbreon VMAX Alternate Art holy grail of the Sword & Shield era. A Near Mint raw copy currently commands $1,800+. You’d think this must be a heavily serialized card, right? You'd be wrong. Based on PSA population data alone, there are over 28,000 graded copies out there. That staggering number completely ignores BGS or CGC slabs, let alone the thousands of raw or sealed copies sitting in collections.
Using this famous modern holy grail as a baseline, you can start comparing it to other games on the market—like the One Piece TCG—and immediately see part of the reason for the explosive rise of the alternative market. When you understand how the heavyweights operate, you begin to clearly see the hidden value scaling up in the challengers.
One Piece is one of the most glaring examples of how it actually helps to be "small time" in the current TCG space. They are completely redefining the meaning of "rare" with their chase Manga rarity cards that feature incredibly punishing pull rates. While hard pull rates aren't exactly a new concept, when you combine them with a substantially lower total supply of cards and sets printed compared to the industry leaders, you end up with a drastically lower overall population.
We see this exact dynamic playing out with Riftbound , a promising up-and-comer showing classic signs of high-rarity, low-pop pulls for its top chases. The volume absolutely backs it up. With massive daily sales and the total supply dropping off a cliff as soon as a set releases, it proves the market is incredibly hungry for true rare cards. From an investment standpoint, it is undeniably more appealing to own a 1-of-3,000 card than a 1-of-30,000 card, and the cash flow perfectly reflects this reality.
In One Piece, it has become very common to have a $1,000+ chase card in almost every single set release. By comparison, the only recent Pokémon set that comfortably meets this qualification is Prismatic Evolutions , which is an absolute exception to the rule. This isn't because Pokémon lacks demand; in fact, compared to other modern TCGs, it has the highest demand in the world. The supply is what's holding the prices back. When fresh singles of a desirable chase card keep endlessly pouring onto the market, the price simply cannot hold and inevitably bleeds to lower support levels.
It’s much harder for this price bleed to happen in smaller TCGs when there is only a single-digit supply of cards on the open market, making buyers feel entirely justified in making multi-thousand-dollar purchases. With the recent announcement of Pokémon’s acquisition of higher-capacity printing facilities—expected to fully hit the market within a couple of years—this supply-and-demand gap will likely become even more apparent. Buyers are already aware of this, leading to more aggressive movement in TCGs like One Piece, Riftbound, and others. I will reiterate that Pokémon is king for a reason, backed by a history of solid printing and bulletproof nostalgia that must remain at the forefront when we talk about comparisons. But supply is a fundamental mechanic of the market , and the massive price movements we currently see driving the entire TCG space are a direct, undeniable result of it.