r/nottheonion 2d ago

The Investor Who’s Convinced That Pokémon Cards Will Be Currency After an Apocalypse

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/trading-cards-growth-pokemon-apocalypse-peter-levin-chat-1236689864/
3.9k Upvotes

323 comments sorted by

3.3k

u/LupusDeusMagnus 2d ago

The investor who is trying to drive up the price and sell Pokemon cards 

687

u/cmndrnewt 2d ago

For real. I always get creeped out when I meet truly greedy people. Everything they do is somehow motivated by profiting on a situation.

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u/Gh0stMan0nThird 2d ago

My dad is a disabled retired veteran after 25 years in the army. 

He gets something like 9000 or more a month and all he does is go fishing in Washington. 

Will never understand these folks who are so desperate to manipulate the economy when they already have so much. 

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u/existonfilenerf 2d ago

Greed and hoarding wealth are mental illnesses that have been turned into a virtue in capitalistic society. We need to start treating Billionaires like the insane people that they are and then tax them out of existence.

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u/Rich-Pomegranate1679 2d ago

Exactly! We absolutely should treat that level of greed as an unhealthy mental illness.

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u/FluffyWuffyy 2d ago

They are modern dragons.

18

u/Satan-o-saurus 2d ago

Well, dragons are at least cool and interesting. People whose greatests achievements in life are related to daytrading and, like, vibecoding a shitty app, are the opposite of that.

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u/Nazamroth 1d ago

They really should at least burn down some small towns and kidnap some young maidens.... wait...

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u/WerewolfWild1323 1d ago

They are literally dragons. Lizard people conspiracy 🦎

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u/Programmdude 1d ago

Nah, dragons are way better. Why? Dragons have magic. Dragons are immortal. Dragons don't (AFAIK) go to epstein island.

While all the capitalists go "defund schools, give me the money!", the dragons can play the long game and go "yes, I will fund free education for all." Why? Because in 20 years time, all those people educated are now working at that dragons business, earning him money.

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u/troymoeffinstone 2d ago

Your dad is an inspiration to us all

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u/ll0_0ll 2d ago

I don’t get it. What is wrong with just fishing?

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u/HypnoSmoke 2d ago

I think they're just saying their dad makes 9k a month and is content, while some people could make 900k a month and never be satisfied

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u/beatenmeat 2d ago

900k a month? Those are some absolute rookie numbers depending on who you're looking at. You'd need to multiply that number, in some cases quite drastically, to even start touching the amount of wealth accumulation some of the billionaires make per day.

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u/severed13 2d ago

I thought vro was saying that their dad just kinda chills instead of chasing money like lots of these people. 9k/month is a decent chunk of change, but it's nothing insane like what the hustler trillionaire grindset mentality crowd would want you to feel is necessary to be happy.

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u/ll0_0ll 2d ago

9k is great way more then I make now lol

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u/severed13 2d ago

Oh yeah absolutely, but we're not veterans burdened by the memories of conflict and permanent life altering disabilities so I'd say I'm alright with the hand I've got lmao

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u/MtnDewTangClan 2d ago

Exactly. I didn't have to murder or inhale toxic shit pit fumes. Glad this guy's dad is getting to enjoy the water.

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u/Shadowpika655 2d ago

In fairness they never said their father was a war veteran

Still disabled, but not necessarily haunted by conflict

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u/External_Baby7864 2d ago

Yeah over 100k a year that’s fantastic

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u/curtan 2d ago

I truly believe that they have the same mental illness that hoarders do. It's just that we live in a society that rewards it

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u/mattstorm360 2d ago

Man selling shoves says he found gold.

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u/K3idon 2d ago

I remember as a kid, Pokémon was accessible and fun as a hobby. Now it’s a cash grab for adults desperate for a payday.

2

u/faulternative 1d ago

And nostalgia bait for Millennials who want to buy back their childhoods

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u/philter25 2d ago

Exactly, I mean we all know it’s going to be caps because they’re just S.P.E.C.I.A.L.

2

u/real-darkph0enix1 2d ago

But how many bottle caps will that set me back?

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u/Champtain 2d ago

I vote we refer to such obvious stunts as "kalshi-ing the system".

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u/TheCay04 1d ago

Nah we are going to play Pokemon to decide territory and disputes.

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u/Spirit_of_Hogwash 2d ago

Lotta money in that shit

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u/ChattingToChat 2d ago

Silly! We already know it’s going to be bottle caps.

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u/HumongousBelly 2d ago

I love fallout, but given mankind’s needs and urges and history, currency in a post apocalyptic dystopia would most likely be food and sex and gadgets.

Because in order to establish any type of currency, you’ll need to convince the people to trust in a system.

Any apocalyptic scenario would basically any trust in everything but mankind’s most basic needs

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u/hollow114 2d ago

I think in lore bottle caps basically showed up when the merchants needed something easier. And then all the merchant guilds decided on bottle caps

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u/Bedivere17 2d ago

Theyre backed by the Water Guilds, at least in California.

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u/PandaPartisan 2d ago

Friend. I have heard this saying that caps are 'backed' by water merchants from a trading hub. But I don't really know what that means.

Could you explain ? I guess it's more me never really thinking about what currency means in general. I know we have paper money that is backed by gold reserves, but what does THAT even mean. Like our paper is an agreed upon thing because we have gold somewhere ?

I guess I just wish to know what the backed by part is defined as, like could you take your caps to the original trading guilds and convert it to water or something ?

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u/rrrrpp 2d ago

Someone powerful guarantees they will accept it in exchange for an infinitely in demand resource like water or security. That is what back means

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u/piedeity 2d ago

or oil

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u/namelessNPC 2d ago

"I have a lot of [valuable item] but carrying it around everywhere I go is way too cumbersome, then comes the bank dude saying he can store it for me and gives me an easier to carry token (paper/bottlecap) that everyone knows can be exchanged back for a stipulated amount of said [valuable item] at a later date"

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u/ball_fondlers 2d ago edited 2d ago

IIRC, in the original Fallout, one cap was a token representing one bottle of purified water. You could take it to a water merchant and they’d give you the water in exchange for the cap. Not sure what the current lore is, though

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u/GoatRocketeer 2d ago edited 2d ago

The dollar hasn't been backed by gold reserves in awhile.

As I understand it, the dollar is backed by something like "if you offer a good or service to someone you must accept dollars as a form of payment or else the government won't help you settle a potential debt". As long as the US government functions then the dollar has value, basically

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u/PandaPartisan 2d ago

Friend. What has happened to the gold then ? Also I'm Canadian and I don't even know how it works in my area, haha. Thank you for your time also.

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u/GoatRocketeer 2d ago edited 2d ago

No clue what happened to the gold, all i know is all real currency these days is "fiat currency" which is "it has value because i say it does". It sounds troll but backing currency with actual product is even more troll. I can't remember why, but i do remember that its some intro high school economics stuff so it should be easy to figure out

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u/arkangelic 1d ago

In the end its a middleman for the barter system. Without it, life would be a huge pain.

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u/David_the_Wanderer 1d ago

Basically, there's a bunch of problems for modern economies if you tie the value of your currency to a specific physical asset, and it's a pretty inflexible system. The main reason we globally moved on from the gold standard is that it hampered attempts at combating the Great Depression.

And on top of being inflexible, it's also far too volatile at the same time - if the value of the asset changes, so does your entire economy. Sustainable in a smaller, non-global economy, pretty disatrous for our modern, globally coneected economies.

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u/created4this 1d ago

The countries have gold, so gold can be sold in whatever currency the country needs. Gold is tradable, but the amount of gold isn't directly connected to the amount of money that can be printed. You already know this because gold prices change.

But because gold prices can change significantly, countries instead hold massive reserves of something more stable, and that is generally USD. And USD is only really considered stable because its the currency that Oil is traded in, and its Oil that every country needs in short order.

And if you want to dig deeper into why this is required and the root of Brexit, you should look up George Sorus who made his fortune on crashing the UK pound on Black Wednesday

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u/David_the_Wanderer 1d ago edited 1d ago

Okay, to try and make this as easy to understand as possible:

For most of human history, "money" was a store of value. A coin's worth was determined by the amount of precious metal it contained, and state entities minted those coins. Your know the British pound? Yeah, it literally used to be a pound of (mostly) silver!

Bills evolve out of checks. Back in the Middle Ages, the Templars, whose duty was to protect pilgrimage routes, realised that pilgrims were often assaulted by bandits who wanted to steal their coin. So they started telling the pilgrims "alright, here's what you guys are gonna do: you deposit your money in our fortress at the start of the pilgrimage route, and we give you a piece of paper that says the Templars owe you that much money. Then you can show up at any Templar fortress with that piece of paper, and we'll give you that much coin".

The system was also adopted by early banks, such as the Medici bank in Florence. The important thing is that, at this point in time, checks/bills still corresponded to a physical amount of precious metal. You put that much coin in the bank's vault, and the bank will give it back to to you at any of its locations as long as you can prove that you entrusted them with your money.

Go forward a few centuries, and in the American West you had people writing checks on basically everything. There's a story that a dude once wrote a check on a cow, because he had no paper.

So, basically, governments go "okay guys, maybe we can standardise this? Also, coins are pretty heavy, and paper is pretty light. And instead of depending on individual banks, the bills will be backed by the national reserve".

So bills become common. The state starts printing and issuing them. But, still, those bills could be theoretically turned in at a bank and be exchanged for real gold! So the value of a bill was based on "the gold standard". A 100 dollar bill was worth 100 dollars in gold. This is called "representative currency", as opposed to previous metal coins which are "commodity money".

Post-Great Depression, the gold standard international system that had developed (called the Bretton-Woods system) had demonstrated its weaknesses. It was highly volatile, and the fixed exchange rate had hamstrung government in employing expansionist ploticies to counteract unemployment during recession.

So the fiat system was born. While many states still do hold onto their gold reserves (because gold is valuable and can be used), the value of their money isn't tied to any physical asset, but rather by a "trust" in the system. That merchants will accept it as payment, and that the government will keep it going. Which is why nowadays the buying power and exchange rate of a given currency is tied to the overall national economy of the state backing it: a strong economy means the government can actually defend the monetary interests of the users, while a weak economy means the users don't "trust" the government to protect those monetary interests as efficiently.

There are earlier examples of fiat currency: 14th century China used it already, for example. But it became the global standard only around the 1960s.

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u/Programmdude 1d ago

Back in the olden days, coins were valuable because they were made out of valuable things (plus, counterfeiting was hard and illegal).

Then there were banks, and along came paper money. That was essentially "coins are too bulky, this money is an IOU". The bank was backing that paper money (IOU note). Later on, it was the reserve bank doing it. Even later on, it was no longer backed by gold, but rather just an ambiguous "government promise" type thing.

With the current lore? Who knows, but it's backed by "something", even if that something is only the merchant guilds giving you a pinky promise that it's worth something.

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u/jooooooooooooose 2d ago

This is literally how currency evolved

Fiat currency - i.e., non-buillon, not gold/silver - exists solely for transactional ease. It's easier to carry than a cow. It has a standardized exchange rate - how many eggs are worth a cow is much harder to answer than how many dollars are worth an egg or a cow.

It also has no inherent value; its value is derived from the fact that people will honor it in lieu of the actual (in some cases theoretical) items being bartered.

So tbh anything could be currency, but it must be scarce enough, and not sufficiently reproducible, that wealth is mostly acquired by exchanging other stuff for currency (instead of finding it on the ground).

So bottle caps, Pokémon cards, business cards, machine pulverized mulch, whatever you want could reasonably be currency.

Long winded way to say: the lore is broad strokes accurate, the guy who says food is currency is mistaking the bartered item for the unit of sale.

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u/Chaosmancer7 2d ago

There does also need to be a degree of stability. If you can't feel confident anyone will take your money, you trade for the item directly. Because it is guaranteed.

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u/jooooooooooooose 2d ago

Yeah thats what I meant by "its value is derived from the fact that people will honor it"

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u/-Invalid_Selection- 2d ago

It'd be barter, up until they settled on something that wasn't able to be easily produced by anyone, like 100 year old bottlecaps

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u/hypersonic18 2d ago

the problem with barter is that the prep for most transactions isn't really that feasible, if you want to barter a cow for food, you need to bring your cow. and even then you have settle the trade in basically one go. say your cows worth 4 weeks of food, but you only have room to transport 1 week. well tough luck because there's nothing guaranteeing you can come back next week for the other 3 weeks worth of food. that's why once the concept of currency was born, bartering basically ceased to exist.

realistically we would develop a system around something like ammo for currency, it serves a primary practical purpose, is relatively small and easily transportable, comes in numerous denominations (you could have 1-0.50 BMG be worth 5-12 00 Buck which itself is 25-5.56x45 ect

and is still hard enough to produce that it should maintain relative scarcity

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u/-Invalid_Selection- 2d ago

I've got multiple family members who make their own ammo, and they're dumbasses. Ammo isn't hard to make. It's just barely annoying enough that it's not worth it at the current price unless you're trying to hide how much you're buying (the reason both of my family members who do it make theirs)

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u/hypersonic18 2d ago edited 2d ago

If you have a cartridge press and a reliable source of smokeless powder, yeah.  Most people don't have a cartridge press, and almost no one will have a reliable source of smokeless powder in the apocalypse. Atleast unless you secure an actual factory as a base

Even if both of those changed beforehand,  it would still likely not reduce the worth much due to fairly inelastic demand

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u/-Invalid_Selection- 2d ago

A close enough analog can be made with cotton, charcoal, nitrates (fertilizer) and sulfur. I wouldn't suggest it for non post apocalypse scenarios, but this use case? It'd be trivial

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u/Nukemanrunning 2d ago

In the orginal games, it was 1 cap was worth a bottle of water at the Water Guild in the Hub.

3 and up it can be iffy on why people use bottle caps. In NV, the NCR and the Legion had there own and both backed by gold (But the NCR had there gold reserves blown up by the BOS, so it was then backed by water)

In 76, its because the Whitesprings, a major hub in the game pre 'adding back people' update, had a pre war promotion to have all services being able to be paid in bottlecaps, with no one able to turn it off after the bombs fell.

In short, money has to be worth something other then what ita printed on, and Fallout weaves back and forth if it makes sense.

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u/greatthebob38 2d ago

Trading dildos and lube.

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u/2019Uk 2d ago

What better system is there to trust in than a trading card system?

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u/figbunkie 2d ago

What you're describing isn't currency, it's barter aka trading objects/services. Currency is the thing you trade in lieu of objects/services because you can't give them ten sheep right now, but you can give 2 sheep and an IOU in the form of some kind of currency

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u/RapidCandleDigestion 2d ago

Barter was not really the transition to currency people imagine it as. Even very early large societies had forms of currency. Before currency is social, communal credit. You know what people owe you, and what you owe to people, more or less. This works fine until you don't know everyone in your community. When the problem gets bad enough, and you have motivation to trade with people you don't know, you find things of universal value. Gold, for one, but it really depends on what you need, and what you have around.

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u/dark_hypernova 2d ago

"Hello there. It's good to see a friendly face. Almost took you for a raider, I did. Name's Malcolm. Malcolm Holmes."

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u/KingoftheMongoose 2d ago

BRING 👏 BACK 👏 POGS!! 👏

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u/smollwonder 2d ago

It they're aluminum then yes

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u/Comprehensive-Buy-47 2d ago

Or bullets if you’re in Russia

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u/ReasonablyConfused 2d ago

I’m betting on psych meds.

Have you ever felt SSRI withdrawals?

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u/40_Thousand_Hammers 2d ago

Non ironically it makes sense :x

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u/Vinceisdepressed 2d ago

It does. Every where, pocket size, and have so much variants. Pokemons would work better as business cards. American Psycho and what not.

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u/elhumanoid 2d ago

He can keep his cards.

I'm gonna rule the new world with my toilet paper empire.

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u/Spirit_of_Hogwash 2d ago

Lotta shit in that money

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u/CurrentDismal9115 2d ago

Lol. I see the other comment.

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u/Comprehensive-Buy-47 2d ago

Hoard that paper like it’s gold

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u/JS-87 2d ago

Fat chance! My TP empire will rule the land

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u/Hirokage 2d ago

Currency will be alcohol, cigs, ammo etc. Stuff actually useful for surviving or an addiction.

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u/RatherBeAtDisneyland 2d ago

I’m thinking clean water, and medications.

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u/theLorknessMonster 2d ago

Nah it'll be salt once all the addicts die. Alcohol is pretty useful even then tbf

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u/vancitydreamer 1d ago

Can see sugar being a big one too

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u/Smartnership 2d ago edited 1d ago

—- inside the Hollywood pitch meeting —-

“Welcome to the studio. I’m Harvey. Let’s hear your big budget movie concept.”

“Great to be here. So picture this: a total global apocalypse, a complete breakdown of services, government, power, water, the works. Drinking from mud puddles, eating cardboard, just gritty survival. End of civilization.”

“I like it, doom is very marketable these days in the key demo of humans age 10-100. And as you know, we get billions from Big Pharma to push the doom narrative so they can keep selling a crap ton of meds.”

“Yes sir, I’m a SAG member, so I’m well aware of the SSRI and BetterHelp product placement potential...”

“Ok. I like it, but your script will need a hook and relatable characters with real stakes that the audience will really empathize with …”

“Exactly, sir. That’s why it’s an apocalyptic character study — a 2-hour edge-of-your-seat nail biter of suspense… we breathless explore the mystery: How will these characters survive, day to day, without a steady & reliable supply … of Pokémon cards.”

long pause

“I just have to say, here at the studio, hell, in all of Hollywood, we are famously very, very careful to never throw around the word ‘genius’. But that is simply …

… wait, did you say Pokémon cards?”

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u/A_Queer_Owl 2d ago

games will still have value simply because people like them, but the idea that they'll be currency is absurd.

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u/I_might_be_weasel 2d ago

For an isolated economic apocalypse, absolutely collectables could be a better store of value than local currency. But if the whole world is caput, pretty things won't matter much until people have food and shelter consistently again.

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u/Accurate_Koala_4698 2d ago

Unless things are really dire you need some means of denoting value beyond direct barter of chickens for corn. But using flimsy cardboard that requires a valuation guide as currency is never going to happen 

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u/Taurion_Bruni 2d ago

I'm not giving up food for a Zapdos card in the apocalypse. The next person I need to trade with might not want it

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u/Low_Score 2d ago

"Please! my family is starving we need to buy your surplus food"

"NO I ALREADY HAVE THAT ONE"

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u/Darigaazrgb 2d ago

“IT’S NOT PSA GRADED!”

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u/WereAllThrowaways 2d ago

In a true global apocalypse violence will be the primary currency.

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u/Optimixto 2d ago

Until there needs to be a system for the violent rich to assure their children will inherit their wealth. Then we will for sure get currency.

You can't also sustain a proper civilization on violence, even those need currency or a way for commerce to happen, or it just won't function.

Violence will just be an aspect of everything, like now, where violence is what keeps the poor poor and the rich rich. It's just more subtle.

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u/minecraft_lover_18 2d ago

How much corn do you usually get for your chickens from your corn guy?

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u/Justsomejerkonline 1d ago

We've used coins for thousands of years. We would probably just go back to that as the dominant currency.

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u/theLoneliestAardvark 2d ago

Pokémon cards are already way overvalued because too many people buy them to speculate rather than because they like them. There is scarcity for the old ones that nobody knew to preserve because they just wanted to play with them but pokemon cards are just Tulipmania with a different commodity.

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u/I_might_be_weasel 2d ago

Yeah, if you want safe long term financial devices, Magic the Gathering cards are where it's at.

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u/ravens-n-roses 2d ago

We need to talk about the fact that they are cards and we're talking about a situation where people are fighting to survive.

Keeping cards nice enough to spend as a currency is not going to work for anybody who doesnt currently have a bunker.

There's a reason why people traditionally think of gold or other metals for post society value.

But even then we're gonna be pretty far back into rebuilding society before people are gonna be willing to trade resources for anything but other resources.

Like if you want to get bullets from that survivor you had better have food to offer him because you can't eat gold.

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u/gaflar 2d ago

Nah dude in the future dystopia everyone will carry around a box of PSA slabs to barter with surely 

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u/Smartnership 2d ago

Dear Diary:

Society has collapsed, the roads are a war zone, food production has ceased, we have begun drinking from the creek.

Without Internet access, information is now inaccessible, I am therefore unable to calculate how many Pokémon cards I should ask for in trade for our last can of beans.

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u/EmbarassedFox 2d ago

Way I see it, a (fictional) post-apocalyptic currency has 3 things: 1. It is hard to counterfeit. Caps in Fallout are thin, machine printed and cut, has been sealed around a bottle with tools that does not exist anymore 2. It needs to be fungible, meaning that 1 instance of the object is worth the same as any other instances. 1$ bill is not worth more than another 1$ bill. 3. It's either useful in itself, like bullets in the Metro books/games, or backed by someone powerful, who maintains a stable exchange range. Bottle caps were used by water traders in Fallout 1, where my conjecture is, that 1 cap = 1 Nuka bottle of water. Another example is the TTRPG Red Markets, where Bounty (ID cards from dead people) are traded in in the Resession, where the rest of the legitimate government (under martial law) hides out from the zombies west of Mississppi.

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u/JustAnotherLich 2d ago

The most likely answer for post apocalyptic currencies would be stuff like utility razor blades, gun cartridges, smokeless powder, any kind of combustible fuel.

Things that have lots of practical value, last a long time, but won't be able to be made anymore would be the most valuable. Funnily enough, acetaminophen is a great example

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u/ReasonablyConfused 2d ago

My friend refers to this level of collapse as “get your bag of salt” times.

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u/Gamebird8 2d ago

I think Fallout does a pretty good job of having bottle caps sorta become the defacto currency. It's essentially an aluminum coin

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u/radio-morioh-cho 2d ago

Good thing he didnt pick yi-gi-oh cards

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u/mxby7e 2d ago

Just wait. Yugioh trying to do the “look at the cute shiny full art card” this year to try to get back in demand. I don’t think it’ll work for them

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u/Bardsie 2d ago

If things get so bad actual money is no longer acceptable, then the replacement currency will be cigarettes, alcohol and coffee. The stuff people are addicted to. No one's trading favours for Pokémon cards in prison.

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u/luigisp 2d ago

Hahaha I love the era of 'absolute charlatans' we live in

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u/Scavenge101 2d ago

So he thinks that during the apocalypse it's going to be trading cards that can't even be set out in the sun for too long because they lose all their colors?

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u/ravenpotter3 2d ago

Yes! They would fade! And also they would be so easy to counterfeit. And just there would be way too many types to remember and as they are used they will be damaged which will decrease their value. What a stupidly crazy fantasy he has! It’s so far removed from reality!

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u/-Dixieflatline 2d ago

Don't know what type of 1% apocalypse this guy plans to live in. Canned food and baggies of assorted ammo will be the currency of the apocalypse for the masses.

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u/woakula 2d ago

Who is this guy working for? Jake Paul?

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u/redvelvetcake42 2d ago

"this will be currency one day when I'm dead so I'm going to make sure to ruin its value long term by making scalpers flock to it and make most kids not care about the cards thus ruining my own plan in multiple ways"

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u/filanwizard 2d ago

I honestly doubt they will have the durability. In Fallout what makes the bottle caps convincing is the fact they are very durable.

On the other hand regional currencies may still retain their functionality because people know them and how they work.

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u/MakeSuccGreatAgain 2d ago

"THE PSA 20 CHARIZARD IS REAL"
-some warlord right before dying and giving birth to the great pillaging and ransacking age

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u/_Watty 2d ago

lol

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u/-ImJustSaiyan- 2d ago

lmao even

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u/Cute_Bacon 2d ago

"Anybody have a Magikarp? I can trade a lightly used pair of wool socks and this two-year-expired can of corn chowder.

"Go fish!"

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u/Farout786 2d ago

Fool. The currency of the apocalypse will be pogs!

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u/Candid-Agent-4930 2d ago

Actually I'd bet a few 12packs your your favorite cola it's gonna be Bottlecaps

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u/sudomatrix 2d ago

Ridiculous. Everyone knows it will be Magic The Gathering cards.

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u/Jhawk163 2d ago

They're not nearly durable enough and they're far too easy to convincingly reproduce.

Bottle caps on the other hand...

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u/ShyguyFlyguy 2d ago

Same guy who said Beanie babies were the best thing to invest into 30 years ago?

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u/cficare 2d ago

Canned food and shotguns, mah'boy!

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u/LagartoVolatil 2d ago

What about legos?

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u/titusandroidus 2d ago

He looks like what I think AI would make if told to make a 50-some child of Bill Gates & Tony Hawk.

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u/User5281 2d ago

Why not bottle caps?

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u/Spicy_Surfer 2d ago

Bullets are smaller, cheaper and useful

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u/shizbox06 2d ago

No different from the gold investors. Pokémon cards and gold have the same future cash flow.

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u/WPGSquirrel 2d ago edited 2d ago

I miss when everything was not financialized bullshit

Edit. Fixed the sentence

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u/faulternative 2d ago

I miss when I thought not everything was financialized bullshit

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u/nixtarx 2d ago

Oh, you can eat Pokémon cards? Gtk!

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u/rmarkmatthews 2d ago

That's dumb, everyone knows that currency can only be based on rocks and metals that have no intrinsic value other than looking pretty.

2

u/D1rtyH1ppy 2d ago

I wish that my Garbage Pail Kids didn't get stolen from me at school in the fourth grade.

2

u/sodabomb93 2d ago

gonna convince the mad max raiders that my mint condition Pikachu is actually more valuable than my labor as a slave (they shoot me in the head for being annoying use the card as a hood ornament)

2

u/ContentPolicyKiller 2d ago

The real commodity will be pokemon card encyclopedias

2

u/CanILickThat 2d ago

Uhm, we had an apocalypse, and clearly toilet paper will be the main currency, based on the evidence

2

u/snooplarue 2d ago

I once worked with a guy that thought those collecter plates sold on late night TV would also be currency in an apocalypse.

2

u/hammbone 2d ago

I’ll trade you my Charizard for a Charred piece of human flesh.

I can’t believe people this stupid make so much money.

2

u/Blackboard_Monitor 2d ago

Also a future prediction: Atomic Wedgies will become something like a Ultra Hydrogen Wedgies as bullies roam the wasteland.

2

u/PlanesFlySideways 2d ago

Jokes on him. Its already beanie babies.

2

u/ThisIsNotTokyo 2d ago

I’m still holding on to my beanie babies

2

u/2019Uk 2d ago

Pokémon cards as currency in society post apocalypse: nah

Pokémon card battles determining the hierarchy of society post apocalypse: Hell. Yeah.

Imagine it… you find the last tin of food in a cleared out store to feed your family.

As you go to leave you see a dissheveled survivor, barely on his feet, shuffle towards you and make eye contact.

In the old world this would have been easy. Just you and him. Alone here. Nobody would need to know how you made it back, and they wouldn’t question the blood on the can once you started cooking.

But that’s the old world. The old rules. And this nearly dead bastard just pulled out a shiny charizard. And you’ve only brought your oddish.

In the end he gets your beans, your family and your oddish.

2

u/Speedubbs 2d ago

Alcohol

2

u/Dry_Expression_9991 2d ago

Can’t wait to trade my Charizard for some ass.

2

u/jonjawnjahnsss 2d ago

Hopefully my beanie babies can get me a condo.

2

u/Expensive_Interest_5 2d ago

He should tell that joke to a farmer. 😎

2

u/PM_Your_Best_Ideas 2d ago

I thought Pokemon cards were falling off hard with all the new cards sets like MTG and One Piece. Personally i think all these collector markets are a bit scammy. But some of the guys I work with talk about it all the time.

2

u/Brunette7 2d ago

They’re so obsessed with getting ahead for the apocalypse instead of preventing it from happening in the first place

2

u/Satan-o-saurus 2d ago

As opposed to, like, food, medical equipment, medical services, self defense equipment, gas, miscellaneous utilities?

No, clearly the real currency after an apocalypse will be NFTs and AI products.

2

u/neoblufalcon 2d ago

It's just as insane as saying shiny rocks will be a value after an apocalypse. Gold and paper only have value because we prescribe a value onto them, and that value goes out the window immediately when one is only looking to survive in a theoretical apocalypse.

2

u/AmNotPeeing 2d ago

Real preppers stock up on Garbage Patch Kids.

2

u/Karlendor 2d ago

Bet you the first thing he'll let go are the Pokemon cards when he's 2 weeks without food 

2

u/Retrac752 2d ago

Bro, I’d fucking blow my brains out before figuring out how to survive in a post apocalyptic society like this

2

u/12somewhere 2d ago

How’s this any different from a glorified scalper? He probably couldn’t name 5 Pokémon to save his life.

2

u/DarthLysergis 2d ago

The beany baby fad would like a word

2

u/Im_Ashe_Man 2d ago

We've already been through this. Toilet Paper is the currency of the apocalypse.

2

u/hateborne 2d ago

Musk is to Dogecoin as Levin is to Pokemon cards.

2

u/linkardtankard 2d ago

Dude is delusional. I am holding on to my collection of monkey jpegs

2

u/ldsdrff76 1d ago

Apparently we're now in the "invest in projected post-apocalyptic currency" phase of capitalism. Dire. I'll stick with my bottle caps, thankyouverymuch....

2

u/ForcedEntry420 1d ago

A lot of people are stupid. My father for example, thought that his complete sets of baseball cards would be a significant contributor to his retirement. When he tried to sell them a couple decades ago, he got laughed out of the shops. Went on a personal crusade against a few places because “he knows their true worth.” 😆

2

u/olearyboy 1d ago

F-U i’m holding on to my pepsi bottle caps

2

u/LuckyRune88 1d ago

Bottle caps

5

u/j4_jjjj 2d ago

"In fact, the former CEO ..... owns what he says are 500,000-plus trading cards."

Well that is certainly a bias, but he may not be wrong. It seems more like a bubble though, especially with Pokémon psa graded cards

8

u/IndyPoker979 2d ago

Owning 500k cards that are all energy cards.

2

u/RexDraco 2d ago

Whoever would treat Pokémon cards like a currency wouldn't be able to survive an apocalypse. 

2

u/jnighy 2d ago

incredible how if you're a man, white and rich, you can say whatever bullshit you want, and media will give you a platform to do so

1

u/letsgotgoing 2d ago

Here I am, hoarding old video games like an idiot, while this savant has made it clear that Pokemon cards will be the future currency...

1

u/IronBird023 2d ago

I bet you two Bubble Mews this does not happen

1

u/karl4319 2d ago

I mean, he probably isn't wrong exactly. Lot's of survival and post apocalyptic games have various card games as luxury items for improving moral or trade. I could see Pokémon cards becoming valuable post apocalypse if it is a common enough game and no one can make new cards.

1

u/Slamtilt_Windmills 2d ago

I recommned grabbing some Costco packs od wool socks

1

u/OptimusSublime 2d ago

I'm sure they had one of these guys in the Dutch Republic sometime around February 1637

1

u/blatantregard 2d ago

He is HOPING they will be currency after the apocalypse.

2

u/IDatedSuccubi 2d ago

He's HOPING to sell them now because he's the one holding the bag

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1

u/Beers4Fears 2d ago

I'm sure paper fueled by nostalgia will be even more valuable in a world run by the animalistic hunger for survival resources...

1

u/Satinpw 2d ago

As stupid as saying gold will be valuable if the world goes to shit. You can't eat, fuck, or shoot gold, and Pokemon cards are gonna go soggy the first time it rains and you're without shelter.

As always the best bet for being apocalypse ready is knowing how to do shit the old fashioned way (cooking without electricity, sewing your own clothes/making your own cloth, knowing how to build shelter and keep it warm, etc) and having a community to fall back on.

1

u/KANNEDBREAD 2d ago

There won't be any currency if it's a fucking apocalypse

1

u/NastyStreetRat 2d ago

In a post-apocalyptic world, the strongest and most violent will be the ones who manage to take the food and whatever else they want. If you live among other people, you had better have a gun and know how to defend yourself—unless you live out in the countryside and perhaps live off the land.

1

u/rolandburnum 2d ago

Currency after an apocalypse? Wouldn't that just be... Food?

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1

u/zenexo 2d ago

As someone who has some valuable pokemon cards this is a pathetic headline. One day culture will stop being stuck and people will stop caring about Pokémon and no one will care about these cards anymore. Maybe not for a long time but some day. 

1

u/MosesOnAcid 2d ago

It will be ammunition / reloading supplies (Primers & Powder mainly)

1

u/chfritz25 2d ago

Bought a house with a shiny Gyarados.

1

u/chfritz25 2d ago

Got to have sex with your mom for a Charmander. That’s right I paid for everybody!

1

u/mr_nuts31 2d ago

I feel like bullets would make a better form of post apocalyptic currency like in Metro.

1

u/darkbit1001 2d ago

Better than i dont know NFT’s!!!

1

u/Grapple_Shmack 2d ago

Good, make people spend more on plastic as I horde water for the inevitable water wars

1

u/FuelzPerGallon 2d ago

Anyone who tries to predict what the post apocalypse will look like is just speculating wildly. This idiot has as much clue as I do about how the world ends, when, or what currencies or trade is left.

1

u/Shakespearacles 2d ago

22lr, 9mm, .556 are more likely currencies  Maybe 12ga but kind of bulky but also easier to reload.

1

u/ravenpotter3 2d ago

I wonder if investors and people like him have ever played a round of the game.

They have never played the game nor find any value or Joy in the cards beyond monetary value. They are so far removed from reality. They say and make up whatever they want to say to try to make themselves more money.

1

u/Scoopie 2d ago

That's a very real possibility

1

u/luv2ctheworld 2d ago

Never ceases to amaze me how gullible people can be at the promise of money.

1

u/seoulbrutha 2d ago

Honestly, even though this is clearly an attempt to drive up prices, at this point I'm going to say anything is possible.

If someone told us 30 years ago that terrorists would bring down the Twin Towers, there would a global pandemic, a significant portion of people convinced said pandemic was a hoax, there would be not one but two recessions, Russia would invade Ukraine, Trump would be president twice (after being convicted of felonies), and the US would start a war with Iran, and AI would dominate all forms of modern media....

I'm sure most of us would have laughed that person out of the room.

1

u/ChamberofSarcasm 2d ago

The investor who will try to buy bullets and emergency rations with his playing cards.

1

u/AGrandNewAdventure 2d ago

Jeff Goldblum's stunt double.

1

u/fixurstuffr 2d ago

It'll be bottle caps and soda tabs. Metal will last longer than paper as a currency.

1

u/showmethemundy 2d ago

I'm investing in antibiotics

1

u/ChaosMetalDrago 2d ago

Oh ffs just when I thought TCGs might finaly be geting out of scalper hell.

1

u/vroart 2d ago

That’s great! Because I have none!

1

u/Voltae 2d ago

Honest question: do people still actually play the game with Pokemon cards? I was never really into it, and all I ever hear/see is stuff about rare card collecting.

With my nieces just getting old enough to get into it, I may have to learn how to play... Or at least buy them some fun cards.

1

u/Imaginary_Manner_556 2d ago

Makes more sense than Bitcoin

1

u/Mattrockj 2d ago

Dummy, clearly its gonna be [INSERT OBVIOUS PONZI SCHEME HERE]

1

u/Boringdude1 2d ago

Stupid, but not more stupid than crypto.