Pokémon cards can fetch hundreds. This card collector gives many of them away for free

Scottie Andrew, CNN

(CNN) — There are a ton of different ways to play Pokémon, nan über-popular Japanese franchise that follows pocket-sized monsters crossed trading cards, video games and movie and TV.

But nan main ngo of Pokémon, nary matter really you play, is distilled champion done its English-language slogan: “Gotta drawback ‘em all!”

… unless, of course, you’re giving them each away.

That’s nan strategy for Ross “Coop” Cooper, a prolific Pokémon paper collector from Virginia, who goes to paper conventions astir nan Mid-Atlantic and gives overmuch of his expansive postulation distant — for free — to chap fans of each ages.

“At nan extremity of nan day, we each person a hobby we really enjoy,” he told CNN. “I cognize it’s going to beryllium worthy more, nan experience, than getting a mates bucks successful my pocket.”

Coop, who runs nan YouTube transmission Coop’s Collection, films his interactions astatine paper conventions and captures nan genuine astonishment and joyousness among kids and adults alike erstwhile he gives them a card.

It goes for illustration this: When personification wanders up to his booth, Coop asks them for their favourite Pokémon. Oftentimes, he’ll whip retired his binder of cards he sets speech for gifting, find nan cleanable paper and nonstop it location pinch them for free. But if he’s retired of their favourite character, he’ll springiness them an unopened booster battalion and fto them support what’s inside.

He’ll sometimes moreover unfastened his lawsuit of Pokémon cards he plans to sell, immoderate of which tin fetch complete $100, if a kid aliases big gets excited astir a paper inside. The giftee is often truthful shocked by nan free card, they don’t cognize really to react.

Adults often effort to salary Coop anyhow if he tries to springiness them thing without a fee. But to Coop, they’re conscionable “kids astatine heart,” and a mini but meaningful enactment of kindness tin spell a agelong measurement for immoderate Poké-fan.

Making a Pokémon fan’s time intends much than catching ‘em all

Pokémon isn’t Coop’s time job, but it’s go an progressively meaningful portion of his life.

Coop was, for illustration galore children of nan ‘90s, a Poké-fan successful his youth, collecting cards and facing bosses successful nan early Pokémon video games. But erstwhile he reached mediate school, he fell retired of nan hobby.

It wasn’t until 2018, erstwhile his YouTube algorithm fed him a video of a celebrated personification opening up a caller battalion of Pokémon cards, that he rekindled his affection for nan Japanese paper game. But Pokémon was nary longer nan humble hobby of his ‘90s youth. There were countless caller Pokémon varieties and collections to discover, and nan franchise has boomed successful fame since nan paper crippled debuted successful 1996 –– per nan Pokémon Company, much than 64.8 cardinal cards person been produced, and they’re sold successful complete 93 countries.

As an big fan, Coop started retired opening cards unsocial astatine his room array but, eager to stock nan joyousness pinch chap fans, started filming his finds for his YouTube channel. It took him complete 5 years to scope 1,000 followers, he said –– until 1 of his short-form videos, taken from a longer POV video filmed astatine a paper trading normal earlier this year, went viral.

In it, he meets a kid who overpaid for a Charizard paper astatine different vendor’s booth. Having spent each his cash, nan boy is apt done buying cards for nan day. But he takes a radiance to 1 of Coop’s cards pinch an iridescent Alakazam, a mustachioed psychic Pokémon, and a precocious people of 9. It’s a paper Coop intended to sell, but without reasoning twice, Coop opens his show lawsuit and gifts nan kid nan paper for free.

“It’ll spell pinch your Steelix,” Coop says pinch a smile. (Steelix, a metallic snake-like Pokémon that evolved from nan rocky Pokémon Onix, is Coop’s favorite.)

That video has since garnered 16 cardinal views. Now, astatine 165,000-plus followers, kids who person seen that video from April admit Coop erstwhile they find his booth astatine paper conventions. One of his young fans (and repetition customers) moreover gave him a gift –– a colored image of Charizard, Blastoise and Venusaur.

Coop still sells cards connected eBay and astatine paper conventions –– he’s built a monolithic postulation since 2018, and he’s submitted galore cards for grading. (Graded cards are submitted to master paper graders who measure nan card’s information and rarity, past return it, sealed to sphere its quality, pinch a people betwixt 1 and 10, nan highest value.) But he cares little astir making money astatine nan conventions than brightening a kid’s time and increasing their collection.

In a peculiarly saccharine video, Coop meets a young woman who shyly confesses that she’s a instrumentality of Eevee, a celebrated Pokémon that looks for illustration a transverse betwixt a bunny and a cat. Coop can’t find her an Eevee, truthful he gifts her a aureate graded Pickachu card. The girl’s eyes widen –– it’s her first graded card, she says, and she gets truthful overwhelmed she has to move astir quickly to constitute herself.

Graded cards tin fetch a higher sum among paper sellers since their value has been assessed by a professional. That didn’t matter to Coop.

“It brings maine a batch of joy, too” he said. “It’s not difficult by immoderate intends to springiness worldly away.”

That wasn’t ever a celebrated mindset successful nan Pokémon paper collecting community, Coop said. With nan onset of Covid-19, galore erstwhile fans returned to nan hobby seeking “comfort and nostalgia,” which caused prices of collectibles and cards to “skyrocket.” It was disappointing to spot really galore sellers came retired “from nan woodwork trying to make a speedy subordinate connected this stuff” and utilization customers successful nan process, he said.

But nan vibe has shifted much toward generosity and ceremony since then, he said. At nan paper conventions he attends, pinch cards from Pokémon, “Yu-Gi-Oh!” and “Dragon Ball Super” successful tow, he’s recovered fans to beryllium overmuch much supportive of each different and increasing their collections. He’s seen different YouTubers and vendors springiness free cards to eager young fans, too.

And because he doesn’t return a immense dent from giving retired truthful galore cards –– he tin make a mates 100 bucks astatine conventions –– he’ll support doing it, moreover if he does popular unfastened his show lawsuit and springiness immoderate of those much valuable cards, too.

Coop remembers 1 boy eager to waste and acquisition cards pinch him who struggled to take betwixt 2 graded cards. Coop couldn’t resist, and nan boy ended up pinch 2 for one.

“This kid is conscionable successful it because he loves Pokémon, he loves nan creation of cards,” he said. “Who americium I to not fto him person both?”