Logan Paul Argues Scarcity Matters More Than Spreadsheets
Logan Paul, the YouTuber and boxing champ who jumped into the trading card game world with his massive Pokemon card investments, has a bold take on what really drives prices. He says forget crunching numbers on spreadsheets. Scarcity is the real king when it comes to cards shooting up in value.[1]
Paul points to examples from the One Piece card game to back his point, but the logic fits Pokemon perfectly. Think about those alternate art cards or special promos that pop up in limited runs. They might have print runs as low as a Charizard hit from the early days. He highlights cards like a Luffy parallel that jumped 220 percent in three months, from 35 bucks to over 100. Or a Zoro card that went from 20 dollars to 80. Even sealed products like an Event Pack doubled plus in price, hitting 225 dollars when you could snag it for 40 or 45 not long ago.[1]
In Pokemon, this scarcity play is everywhere. Take the old Masaki Promo cards from Japan’s early days. Kids had to mail in basic Pokemon cards to get an evolved version back, like Alakazam or Gengar. Lots got damaged or lost in the mail, so mint copies are super rare today. A PSA 10 of those can fetch thousands because so few exist.[2]
Paul is saying spreadsheets track past sales and trends, but they miss the magic of true rarity. A card with a tiny print run or one tied to a quirky promo beats out mass-produced stuff every time. Those Gold Star cards from later sets had pull rates like today’s alternates, but way fewer boxes overall, turning them into chase cards worth a fortune.[2]
He warns not to overload your collection on any one thing. Spread it out, because even hot cards can dip short-term. But if scarcity hits, prices follow. For Pokemon hunters, this means eyeing those hidden gems with low pop reports over hyped reprints. Paul flipped the script: hunt the rare, not the data.[1][2]
