TCGrader Featured in USA Today: Are Your Pokémon Cards Worth Millions?
On Pokémon Day 2026 — the franchise's 30th anniversary — USA Today published a feature on Pokémon card authentication and value, and TCGrader's founder Simon Hancox was quoted alongside industry experts to discuss the state of collecting, what makes cards valuable, and why grading matters more than ever.
The article, "Are your Pokémon cards worth millions? Here's what to look for" by Kate Perez, explores how fans celebrating the 30th anniversary might be sitting on thousands of dollars in their old card collections without even knowing it.
Read the full USA Today article here
You Might Have Thousands of Dollars in Storage
As the article puts it: fans of Pokémon growing up might have thousands of dollars sitting in storage somewhere. With Pokémon Day falling on February 27th and anniversary hype building throughout the year, collectors and nostalgic fans alike are pulling out old binders, shoeboxes, and tins to see what they've got.
But before you can know what your cards are worth, you need to understand two things: authentication (is the card real?) and grading (what condition is it in?).
What Graders Actually Look At
The article breaks down the four key areas that professional graders assess:
- Centering — The balance of borders on the front and back of the card. The ratio of border to artwork determines how high the card scores.
- Surface — How clean the card is, including the holographic element, artwork, and text. Imperfections and clarity are examined.
- Edges — The perimeter of the card is checked for nicks, marks, or damage on both the front and back.
- Corners — All four corners are examined for symmetry, sharpness, white spots, or dings.
These are the exact same attributes that TCGrader's AI analyzes when you upload a photo of your card. Our AI has been trained on tens of thousands of professionally graded cards to score each of these sub-categories instantly — giving you a detailed pre-grade before you decide whether to send a card off for professional grading.
The Base Set Cards That Everyone's Looking For
The article highlights the original base set from the late 1990s as the most sought-after Pokémon cards. Base set cards can be identified by looking in the bottom right corner and spotting a number out of 102. First edition base set cards in pristine condition are where the real value sits — a first edition Charizard in top condition is a six-figure card.
Simon Hancox, TCGrader's director, shared his perspective in the article:
"Original Pokémon Charizard, Blastoise and Venusaur are always going to be the most expensive cards throughout everybody's collection."
Simon, who's been a fan and collector of Pokémon for decades, noted that the value of base set cards prompted people to go digging back through their collections starting in the early 2010s. Before that, kids — including Simon himself — would write their names on cards without a second thought about keeping them collectible.
The COVID Boom and What Comes Next
The Pokémon community experienced a massive boom during the COVID-19 pandemic, which skyrocketed card values across the board. But the market has also shifted in a significant way since then.
"Now in the industry, people are buying the products, keeping them sealed, and they're hoarding them. So, whether this phenomenon is going to be the same in 10 or 15 years, because everyone is now collecting them, it's hard to tell."
Simon expects the 30th anniversary to spark another spike in card value and cause fans to rummage through their old cards to see how much they're worth — similar to the early pandemic rush, but driven by nostalgia and anniversary releases rather than lockdown boredom.
Why Pre-Grading Matters
One of the key themes in the article is the importance of knowing what you have before you spend money on professional grading. Services like PSA, BGS, and CGC charge per card, and turnaround times can stretch to weeks or months. Submitting a card that comes back as a 5 or 6 means you've paid for a grade that doesn't meaningfully increase the card's value.
This is exactly why we built TCGrader — the AI pre-check before you submit to PSA. Upload a photo, get an instant breakdown of centering, corners, edges, and surface, and make an informed decision about which cards in your collection are actually worth the professional grading fee. The cards that score a 9 or higher? Those are the ones you send in.
TCGrader's Community Authentication
Beyond AI grading, the article also touches on the importance of card authentication — making sure your cards are genuine before investing in grading them. TCGrader's authentication community includes thousands of collectors, PSA graders, long-time hobbyists, and card shop owners who help verify Pokémon cards daily, completely free.
Our AI authentication system detects counterfeit Pokémon cards, proxy cards, and reprints by analyzing print quality, font accuracy, holographic patterns, card stock texture, and other authenticity markers specific to genuine Pokémon TCG cards.
Try It Yourself
Whether you're a day-one Kanto kid or someone who just found a stack of cards in the attic, now is the time to find out what you're sitting on.
- Grade your cards with AI — Free to get started, instant results
- Authenticate your cards — Community-powered verification at no cost
- Browse the marketplace — Buy and sell graded cards with secure Stripe payments