Card Lounge Podcast

TwicebakedJake and Roboskillz

Card Lounge is a weekly Pokémon TCG podcast where hosts Jake and Rob break down new sets, market trends, and all things trading card collecting. Whether you’re a seasoned investor or a casual collector, Card Lounge delivers honest insights, strategies, and stories to help you level up your Pokémon card game.

@TwicebakedJake & @Roboskillz

Subscribe Listen in podnod RSS feed Show website

20 episodes
Updated Wednesday

Episodes20

Newest first

Wednesday · 1 hr 26 min
The Hobby Is Moving TOO Fast (Sellers Are Panicking) | Ep #80 | Card Lounge
The card market is moving at record speed. On this episode of Card Lounge, Robo and Jake break down West Coast Card Show, why booster box prices are crashing within hours of release, and the story of a kid who tried to flip One Piece cards he'd bought three days earlier. They dig into PSA's stricter grading standards, why repackers are driving down prices on cheap illustration rares, the new Round One One Piece promo cards and the pack-searching controversy behind them, and why "buy the card, not the label" still matters when nines and nines are outselling tens. Plus: underrated grails (Alakazam EX, Gold Star Celebi), a Lorcana/Riftbound/Power World TCG market update, and why instant gratification is reshaping how collectors buy and sell.Check out the Collectr App for all your collecting tracking needs! https://app.getcollectr.com/
July 22 · 1 hr 23 min
Is The Pokemon Crash FAKE & Endless 30th Leaks | Ep #79 | Card Lounge
The Pokemon crash videos flooding your feed right now are wrong, and the people making them benefit when you panic sell. In this episode we break down why the "mini crash" is cherry-picked data, why sets like Phantasmal Flames and Ascended Heroes dropping is normal set-cycle behavior, and who's actually buying when fair weather fans dump their collections.We also cover the full Pokemon 30th Anniversary Celebrations leaks including every Pikachu illustration rare and all the leaked SIRs (Mewtwo, Mew, Sylveon, Gengar, Salamence, Greninja), the Charizard VMAX alt art that doubled a week after we covered it, the new first Pokemon card documentary and the $400,000 alpha Pikachu, and why Magic The Gathering adding signature cards is a break glass move. Check out the Collectr App for all your collecting tracking needs! https://app.getcollectr.com/
July 15 · 1 hr 24 min
Insider Information Decides Who Gets Rich in The Pokémon Hobby | Ep #78
There's a version of this hobby running in the background that most collectors never see, and by the time you notice it, the play is already gone. In this episode, Roboskillz and TwicebakedJake open with real numbers: a card bought for $4,300 in February now valued at $12,500, and a $2,250 alt art Umbreon now sitting at $7,500, both in under a year. From there they break down the "hive mind" effect that makes undervalued Pokémon and One Piece TCG cards correct in days instead of months, why playability adds real value to a collectible, a pitch for the collecting platform this hobby doesn't have yet, and a deep dive into why the Charizard V-Max promo might be the most underpriced card in the entire Charizard UPC lineup. Plus: One Piece's naming problem that's quietly hurting long-term collectors, the Pokémon Worlds vs. Pokémon XP split for this year, and a pop-1 PSA 10 trophy card most people have never heard of.
July 9 · 1 hr 9 min
Are $600 UPC and $1,000 Luffy The New Normal | Ep #77 | Card Lounge
GameStop is pre-ordering the Pokemon 30th anniversary UPC at $600, triple MSRP, and the ETB at 3-4x retail. Jake and Rob break down whether any of it is worth it: the new ETB configuration with only nine packs and five cards each, the 128-card main set plus 30 secret rares, and why the booster bundle is the best pack-to-cost ratio in the entire product lineup. They also cover the One Piece x LA Dodgers batting Luffy promo hitting $1,000, the Round One collab sellout, the upcoming Naruto TCG, and the crash vs. correction debate: why a 20-30% pullback in Pokemon prices is normal market behavior, not a crash, and what an actual crash looks like (Metazoo). Plus Lorcana tag teams and whether collabs are diluting promo card value.Check out the Collectr App for all your collecting tracking needs! https://app.getcollectr.com/
July 1 · 1 hr 23 min
WTF Is Going On With the Hobby | Ep #76 | Card Lounge
GameStop just posted its best operating quarter ever and collectibles beat video games for the first time. Jake and Rob break down the Q1 FY2026 numbers, why they couldn't buy a single Pokemon card across five Japan Pokemon Centers, why imported Japanese product is somehow cheaper in the US, the Jarchomp and Oyama vending course debate, and why the hobby still has years of room to run.Check out the Collectr App for all your collecting tracking needs! https://app.getcollectr.com/
June 25 · 1 hr 15 min
People Are Camping Out All Night For Pokemon ft. MeesterKeem | Ep 75 | Card Lounge
Twitch IRL streamer Mr Keem joins the Card Lounge to break down the viral Target ghost chair moment, why he waited overnight for Pokemon, and how he hit top 150 sub count on all of Twitch chasing a single Charizard. We get into hunting product in the wild, the broken retail line system, his English Lugia master set, a brutal PSA take, and why Pokemon is the easiest icebreaker in any room.
June 17 · 1 hr 22 min
You Are Not Bidding Against Collectors Anymore | Ep #74 | Card Lounge
PSA just made $80 the cheapest way to grade one card and the value tiers are frozen, so where does that leave the rest of us? Robo and Jake break down the PSA backlog, the $80 floor, the TAG and CGC fallout, the record $236K Black Label Bubble Mew and the beggar's quarrel behind it, the 30th Anniversary Umbreon and Espeon promos, the Jason Paige Gengar trade-up drama, and why big money and gamification keep this market on fire.Lounge with us every Wednesday. Use Code: LOUNGE15 for 15% Off on Courtyard!https://us.humanz.ai/courtyard/972925/1Check out the Collectr App for all your collecting tracking needs! https://app.getcollectr.com/
June 10 · 1 hr 22 min
How a Bubble Mew Sold For $236k & 30th Anniversary Reaction | Ep #73 | Card Lounge
The 30th Anniversary Celebration set just dropped and we break down every reveal: the futuristic chrome rares, the 30-card Pikachu subset, the Classic Collection reprints, and the Magikarp illustration rare reprint that has the hobby fighting. Does a 30th-stamped reprint tank the original or stabilize it?Then we get into a market that doubled 116% in a year. Drew's bubble Mew sitting at $172K, the "beggar's quarrel" and rich man syndrome behind grail auctions, buyers sweeping entire showcases, repack companies starved for inventory, and the gamified wheel streams taking over TikTok and Whatnot. Plus the PSA value bulk hack everyone missed, which cheap cards to grade now, a $25 Armor Mewtwo that became $8,500, and a full Card Party recap.
June 3 · 1 hr 3 min
Card Lounge Live @ Card Party ft Danny Phantump | Ep 72 | Card Lounge
Recorded live at Card Party 4, Jake and Rob sit down with Danny Phantump for a wide-ranging conversation on what it actually takes to run a Pokemon card business in 2025, when booster boxes are hitting $300+ at the gate.Danny breaks down how he's kept his online store at MSRP despite insane demand — including the anti-bot tricks he's used to outsmart scalpers and keep product in the hands of real collectors. He also gets into the brutal reality of allocation cuts, why he stopped doing pre-orders, and how the live selling and rip & ship boom changed everything about the hobby.Then the conversation shifts into Danny's most ambitious project yet: completing master sets for all 133 Pokemon TCG sets ever released. He's 35 sets in, trading old competitive trainer cards as bait, hunting EX era reverses and gold stars in person, and gunning to finish by end of year.Danny also opens up about his content pivot away from market talk, what Pokemon meant to him through a cancer diagnosis 10 years ago, and why staying true to yourself matters more than chasing the algorithm.Plus: live Q&A from the Card Party audience covering pull rates, EX era collecting, how to grow a following, and 30th anniversary predictions. Check out the Collectr App for all your collecting tracking needs!https://app.getcollectr.com/
May 27 · 1 hr 47 min
Julien Joins Jake & Robo to Break Down the TCG Market Boom | Ep 71 | Card Lounge
Julien Maranda from BTSM (Black Tiger Sex Machine) returns to the Card Lounge Podcast to talk collecting, grading, and the current state of the TCG market. Julien breaks down his BGS 9.5 to PSA 10 crossover experiment with 200 cards, why he grades with Beckett over PSA, and what separates a true collector from an investor. The conversation covers the One Piece and Pokémon market boom, circular vendor-to-vendor sales, and whether everything going up is sustainable. Julien also shares his deep dive into graded manga — including his Romance Dawn first print that went from $2K to $70K+ — and why he thinks Logan Paul's manga play misses the point. Jake opens up about vaulting his Poncho Pikachu sealed boxes and selling parts of his collection to pay off his mortgage. Plus: the display dilemma, the Rule of Three collection strategy, Gear 5 Luffy rarity breakdown, and Julien's new educational channel Odd Wolf Hunts. Use Code: LOUNGE15 on Courtyard for 15% Off your first pull!https://us.humanz.ai/courtyard/972925/1Check out the Collectr App for all your collecting tracking needs! https://app.getcollectr.com/
May 20 · 1 hr 24 min
Chaos Rising in The Hobby & Hidden Pikachu Buyouts | Ep #70 | Card Lounge
Chaos Rising drops Friday and the chaos doesn't stop there. Jake and Rob crack open a Chaos Rising ETB early, break down why every grading company is struggling right now, and get into why PSA keeps growing despite being at its worst. Plus: booster box prices are out of control (Destined Rivals at $650?), the hobby is officially a no-skill game, and a mystery Pikachu PSA 10 product is in the works. Don't miss it.Use Code: LOUNGE15 for 15% Off on Courtyard!https://us.humanz.ai/courtyard/972925/1Check out the Collectr App for all your collecting tracking needs! https://app.getcollectr.com/
May 13 · 1 hr 34 min
GameStop Put a $15 Slab in a $150 Pack & Now They Want to Buy eBay | Ep 69 | Card Lounge
GameStop stuffed a $15 slab into a $150 power pack and now they want to buy eBay. Jake and Rob break down what GameStop's $9 billion cash pile actually means for the hobby, why TCG saved GameStop from going the way of Blockbuster, and how they're charging grandmas $300 to pre-order a Chaos Rising booster box. Plus: the PSA vault is more dangerous than you think, grading companies are rushing and making too many mistakes, and what happens to your cards if you die with them in the vault. GameStop, eBay, PSA nobody is safe from this episode. LOUNGE25 for $25 OFF Your First $100 on Misprint!https://www.misprint.com/Check out the Collectr App for all your collecting tracking needs! https://app.getcollectr.com/
May 6 · 1 hr 30 min
The NFL's Foil King: Cassius Marsh on Cards, Cash, and Building a Store | Ep #68 | Card Lounge
Cassius Marsh 7-year NFL veteran and founder of Cash Cards Unlimited joins Jake and Rob to talk about building one of the most recognizable brands in Magic: The Gathering while still playing professional football.Cassius covers the full origin story: growing up with barely enough money to buy a dozen Pokémon packs, discovering Magic at 11, having $20K in cards stolen out of his car in Seattle, and how a viral tweet accidentally launched his MTG influencer career. He breaks down how he stockpiled $250–300K in sealed product before Cash Cards ever opened, the business partner who stole from him in year one, and his long-term plan to compete with Card Kingdom and TCGPlayer online.We also get into the side of Magic most people never see — painted artist proofs, invisible whales with collections that dwarf anything in Pokémon, why Cassius plays a $50,000 card in his actual deck instead of grading it, and why the Premodern format is sending reserve list staples through the roof.Plus: the One Piece vs. Pokémon IP debate, why Yu-Gi-Oh destroyed itself trying to copy Magic, hiring advice from someone who has done it the hard way, and why Cassius has 200+ plants in his house and is building a greenhouse.Use code LOUNGE25 for $25 Off Your First $100 on Misprint!https://www.misprint.com/Check out the Collectr App for all your collecting needs!https://app.getcollectr.com/
April 29 · 1 hr 23 min
Are Rich People Using Pokemon Cards to Launder Money | Ep 67 | Card Lounge
Rob returns from Japan with a reality check: Pokemon cards are impossible to find even at the Pokemon Center. What he discovered explains why card prices are climbing globally and won't stop. In this episode, Jake and Rob break down how high-value PSA slabs are being used as a store of value and wealth transfer tool across Asia, why the McDonald's Pikachu PSA 10 is back over $100 despite 300,000 copies, the real reason high-end black label cards are climbing faster than everything else, and why Ascended Heroes expected value is $8 per pack at $5 MSRP. Plus: Rainbow Rare GX prices have tripled in 3 months, a collection appreciated $500K in 48 hours, and Jake's investing portfolio is up 80% in 4 months. Use Code: LOUNGE10 for 10% Off on Courtyard!https://us.humanz.ai/courtyard/972925/1Check out the Collectr App for all your collecting tracking needs! https://app.getcollectr.com/
April 22 · 1 hr 8 min
Your Collection Could Pay Off Your House, Would You Sell It? | Ep 66 | Card Lounge
What happens when your Pokémon collection is worth enough to pay off your mortgage — do you sell? Jake and Rob break down the real financial pressure collectors face as card values hit life-changing numbers, the single optimal investment play from 10 years ago that most people missed, and why sealed booster boxes aren't as safe as everyone thinks. Plus, Rob reveals his One Piece Treasure Cup second-place finish and a $40-50K prize haul, the vendor flipping tactics quietly inflating card prices, and how artists, accessory makers, and creators are turning the TCG boom into full-time businesses. Check out Courtyard.io for easy access to grail cards!https://courtyard.io/Check out the Collectr App for all your collecting tracking needs! https://app.getcollectr.com/
April 15 · 1 hr 19 min
Are $400 & $600 Booster Boxes Killing The Hobby? | Ep 65 | Card Lounge
The Pokémon TCG market has hit a plateau and Jake and Rob break down exactly what that means for buyers right now. They debate whether Destined Rivals at $600 is a smart buy, compare it to Brilliant Stars, and explain the "substitute good" effect driving sealed box prices across all eras. The conversation expands into the broader TCG explosion: Prismatic Evolutions doubling in price, the rise of niche TCGs like Cyberpunk and Palworld, McDonald's entering the trading card space with K-Pop Demon Hunter cards, and why cereal boxes with TCG cards might be next. They close with a bold take: even if The Pokémon Company shut down tomorrow, the hobby wouldn't just survive it would accelerate.Use code HELLOTCG for free shipping from SNKRDUNK!https://snkrdunk.com/en/Check out the Collectr App for all your collecting tracking needs! https://app.getcollectr.com/
April 8 · 1 hr 7 min
30th Celebration Set CONFIRMED & GameStop Is Cancelling Cards | Ep 64 | Card Lounge
Today Jake and Rob crack open Perfect Order packs live, debate whether the set is unfairly slept on vs. truly weak, and compare it to Twilight Masquerade and Paradox Rift. They break down low-pop PSA 10 cards disappearing from eBay, the GameStop card sniping scandal, PSA's conflict of interest as a card seller, and what the 30th Anniversary Celebration set needs to deliver to actually move the needle. Plus: First Partner Series 2 news, Yu-Gi-Oh serialized cards vs. Pokémon's collector base. Check out Kanto Shark for Pokemon grails & Consignment!https://kantoshark.com/Check out the Collectr App for all your collecting tracking needs! https://app.getcollectr.com/
April 1 · 1 hr 8 min
$1 Cards Are Now Selling For Thousands & We Can't Keep Up | Ep 63 | Card Lounge
$1 cards are now selling for thousands — and most collectors have no idea why. In this episode of the Card Lounge Podcast, Jake and Robo break down the math on 151 UPCs vs Celebrations UPCs and why the numbers don't add up. We compare Perfect Order and Chaos Rising to previous sets, reveal the PSA vs BGS vs CGC pop report data on the McDonald's Pikachu (the results are wild), and show off some of the most underrated cards in the hobby right now — including Jake's completed Pikachu & Friends collection and obscure Japanese exclusives most people walk right past. If you're collecting or investing in Pokémon cards, this one's for you. Check out the Collectr App for all your collecting tracking needs! https://app.getcollectr.com/
March 25 · 1 hr 18 min
The Hobby Is Growing WAY Faster Than Anyone Imagined | Ep #62 | Card Lounge
Jake and Rob debate whether Jake should drop $20K on the ultra-rare Chinese 1,510 Mew, break down the risk of buying before the 30th Anniversary Celebration Collection reveals whether it stays exclusive, and weigh PSA 10 vs. BGS 9.5 vs. raw options. BGS quietly tripled their GCR pricing overnight — we explain exactly what that means for Black Label supply and why prices on BGS 10s are about to climb. We also get into why selling Pokémon cards has never been easier, how PSA's grip on the hobby makes it nearly impossible to leave, and why a chopped Light Toxicity just sold for $2,400 as a "PSA 10." Plus, is the TCG hobby actually in a full renaissance — and are we still barely scratching the surface of where this thing goes? Check out the Collectr App for all your collecting tracking needs! https://app.getcollectr.com/ Read Omen by Julien Maranda!https://blacktigersexmachine.com/products/omen-manga-box-set
March 17 · 1 hr 27 min
He Graded 76 of the 126 PSA 10 1st Edition Charizards ft. Gary King Pokemon | Ep #61 | Card Lounge
King Gary Pokemon sits down with Jake and Robo for one of the most important conversations in Pokémon TCG history. Gary helped bring Pokémon to America through Media Factory in 1998, personally graded 76 of the 126 PSA 10 First Edition Charizards in existence, and is largely responsible for PSA becoming the default grading company for Pokémon cards. We also get into the viral Pawn Stars segment (150M+ views), the origin of Collecticon, Pokémon Saves the World, Shadowless cards, and his upcoming return to Pawn Stars.If you've ever owned a graded Pokémon card, this man had a hand in making that possible. Check out Double Holo for the best TCG marketplace!https://doubleholo.com/Check out the Collectr App for all your collecting tracking needs! https://app.getcollectr.com/