Popular YouTube creator Ludwig put his money where his mouth is by purchasing a box of first-editionPokemoncards for an experiment to see how much he could earn back after having each individual card graded and minted. Known for his popular Mogul Mail series onYouTube, it should come as no surprise that Ludwig isn’t a stranger to experiments and commentary on life decisions, and his latest video showcases how much of a risk this practice can be.
Released in 1999, the first edition ofPokemoncards hit the shelves of card stores across North America, selling quickly to children looking to complete the set and collectors hoping to score one of the rarest cards in the series. To this day, many people – every-day Joes and celebrities alike –have made a killing sellingPokemoncards, making more than enough to enjoy an early retirement.
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Posting to his TikTok of an audience of 1.8 million followers, Ludwig pondered the idea of purchasing a box of first-editionPokemoncards, having them graded, and then finding out the true worth on the market. After spending $20,000 on the Fossil box set alone, Ludwig put forward an additional $6,000 to have each card — 396 in total — professionally graded and returned to him. In the collector’s world,grading Pokemon cards is a prestigious activityin which card grabbers find out the true worth of each unit by an examiner, ranging from PSA-1 to PSA-10, with the latter being the highest grade possible. Tears, folds, scratches, and any other flaw will lower the card’s PSA rating, and a PSA-10 grade indicates a flawless, mint-condition card.
The risk that goes into spending a total of $26,000, as Ludwig did, is that one may not make their money back and in fact end up losing several hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars. Unfortunately for Ludwig, his purchase ended up in the negative value, costing the streamer a total of $6,911, making only $18,589. Had he managed to pull a1st Edition Holo Charizard cardin one of his packs, Ludwig could have stood to make between $250,000 to $500,000 for a mint-condition grade. Back in 2021, a copy of this elite unit went for $312,000 on an open auction, while current copies exist on sites like eBay and Amazon, plateauing at just under $600,000.
While the experiment cost Ludwig a good chunk of change, the video certainly did well with the algorithm on TikTok, earning the content creator over 252,000 views and close to 38,000 likes. Observers enjoyed the 54-second clip, but many were quick to point out Ludwig ripping up a $20 bill. “We all knew you lost money as soon as you thought ripping a $20 bill was a good idea,” wrote Stryph, while popular TikTok creator Joe Bartolozzi added, “I’m simply taping that 20 back together.” While the set is 24 years old, it’s amazing to think ofhow much Pokemon cards are currently worth, and how much more they could go for in the future.
