Decades old hobby regains popularity

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – The first Kentucky Card Collector Con had a variety of collectible cards available such as Pokemon, sports and magic. Card collecting is a hobby that’s been around for decades, but recently regained popularity because of the lockdowns from COVID-19.

“Card collecting experienced a major boom through COVID,” says event promoter Jarrod Greers. “People were sitting around stuck in their house and it seems to be the natural thing to do is to clean out whatever boxes you have sitting around in the basement or closet and lots of people found their old card collections, then remembered that they had a lot of fun doing it and when you’re cooped up in the house card collecting seems like something that makes sense to a lot of people.”

Lifelong collectors say the peak in interest from others hasn’t affected how easily they can find the cards they want, but they have noticed the increased demand in other ways.

“It’s been easier to find more people are familiar with it but the prices have definitely been way out of budget,” says Jennifer Davis, a Pokemon card collector.

Card collecting attracts people of all ages and is something that can bond generations of families.

“My brother started me off when I was a kid,” says Jonathan Arana, magic card collector. “I’ve taught my nieces and nephews and everybody else as they were growing up, like it’s spread around the entire family.”

Greers says he hopes this convention becomes annual, especially given the growing community and peaked interest.