Pokémon trading cards are their own economy | The Vergecast

欢迎收听 VergeCast，这是宝可梦集换式卡牌游戏（Pokemon trading card game）的旗舰播客，由 David Amell 主持。在本期节目中，Amell 与 The Verge 的 Charles Pulliam Moore 一同探讨了宝可梦卡牌从一款收藏品游戏显著演变为一个成熟市场的过程，尤其是在最近发布的 30 周年纪念套装的背景下。 在深入主要讨论之前，播客呈现了 2026 年 9 月 29 日星期二的“The Verge 90 秒”。OpenAI 在其开发者大会（Dev Day）上宣布了“Dots”，一个 MetaMuse 的竞争对手，被描述为一款始终在线的人工智能助手。由 GPT-6 Astra 提供支持并驻留在云计算中，Dots 可以访问网络浏览器和超过 4,000 个支持的应用程序，并将在 Microsoft Teams 和 Slack 中提供，计划未来支持短信互动。接下来，Nothing 发布了其专业耳机 Nothing Headphone One Pro，定价 399 美元。这些头戴式耳机采用三驱动单元设计，支持 AuraCast，并设有一个专用的平面均衡器（EQ）开关，用于去除音频处理，旨在同时满足音乐欣赏和混音的需求。John Higgins 指出，其主动降噪功能是 Nothing 迄今为止最好的，尽管并非业界领先水平。最后，谷歌（Google）确认 Chrome OS 更新将于 2034 年停止，重心将转向 Google Book OS。尽管许多 Chromebook 预计将可升级，但这意味着 2026 年购买的设备可能无法获得 10 年的软件支持。 与 Charles Pulliam Moore 的主要讨论环节深入探讨了宝可梦卡牌市场的爆发式增长。Amell 指出，尽管在他年轻时卡牌很容易获得，但过去几年却出现了一个“疯狂的商品”市场。Moore 解释说，这在一定程度上反映了 90 年代最初的繁荣，但宝可梦品牌经久不衰的人气以及现代“奋斗文化”（hustle culture）进一步放大了这种现象。疫情（The pandemic）显著加剧了这种情况，因为居家隔离的人们转向了在线平台，推动了诸如卡牌开箱等内容，并吸引了更多人关注收藏。像 TikTok 这样的平台通过创造新的内容消费途径，并提高了人们对稀有卡牌潜在价值的认识，进一步加剧了这一点。 Moore 将当前宝可梦卡牌的热潮比作球鞋文化（sneakerhead culture），在这种文化中，人们排队购买产品，要么自用，要么转售获利。然而，卡牌市场则更简单，因为单张卡牌的稀有性就能带来可观的回报，而没有尺码或合身问题。“黄牛生态系统”（scalper ecosystem）是其中重要的一部分。Moore 描述了复杂的 Discord 服务器，这些服务器提供付费访问自动化“机器人”（bots）的服务，这些机器人能够“暴力破解”（brute-forcing）在线销售。这些机器人使用虚拟信用卡和虚假账户以绕过零售商的限制，大量囤积商品。这些 Discord 服务器还会提供商品上架的自动提醒（pings），通常是在凌晨 3 点等不寻常的时段，让转售商能够迅速启动他们的机器人并抢购多个订单。购得的产品随后以虚高的价格（建议零售价（MSRP）的两到三倍）转售给个人收藏家，或出售给卡牌店和卡牌展，始终以获取巨额利润为目的。Discord 服务器本身也作为企业运营，收取订阅费以提供对这些工具和信息的访问权限。 关于 30 周年纪念套装，其中值得注意的是重印了喷火龙（Charizard）、妙蛙花（Venusaur）和水箭龟（Blastoise）等经典卡牌，Moore 解释说，虽然之前的纪念套装也有类似的重印，但现在的关键区别在于猖獗的转售文化。宝可梦公司（The Pokemon Company）已尝试通过网站排队系统、积极的机器人检测以及大幅增加产量（过去一两年全球生产了 100 亿张卡牌）来缓解这一问题。尽管做出了这些努力，短缺现象依然存在。Moore 驳斥了黄牛的论点，即他们通过确保商品售罄来帮助任天堂（Nintendo），他指出，宝可梦作为一个“经久不衰且受欢迎的 IP”，不需要这样的帮助，并且成年黄牛导致儿童无法获得卡牌的这种观感是负面的。 对话还提到了在 Whatnot 等平台上的“撕开并寄送”（rip and ship）服务，Moore 将其描述为“TikTok、eBay 和 QVC 的邪恶结合体”（unholy cross between TikTok, eBay, and QVC）。在这里，主播们为购买了特定卡包“优先权”（dibs）的顾客现场开包，随后将卡牌寄送给买家。Moore 指出存在公然欺诈的案例，在这些案例中，主播操纵抽取结果以保留稀有卡牌，尽管此类事件并未完全损害该平台，因为“撕开并寄送”只是其整体商业模式中较小的一部分。 展望未来，Moore 认为宝可梦市场及其转售生态系统不太可能消失。宝可梦经久不衰的魅力，加上其“全场紧逼式”（full-court press）的 IP（游戏、电影、电视）以及卡牌的多种用途（收藏、玩耍、竞技、转售），使其比 Beanie Babies 或 Squishables 等昙花一现的收藏品潮流拥有更强的持久力。 VergeCast 由 Josh Kajas、Eric Gomez、Brandon Kiefer 和 Travis Larchuk 制作。节目也得到了亚马逊 Prime（Amazon Prime）的支持，他们宣传其 10 月 6 日和 7 日的 Prime 购物大促日（Prime Big Deal Days）；以及思科旗下的 Outshift（Outshift by Cisco），他们重点介绍了用于构建多智能体 AI 系统的“认知互联网”（Internet of Cognition）资源。

Welcome to the VergeCast, the flagship podcast of the Pokemon trading card game, hosted by David Amell. In this episode, Amell is joined by The Verge's Charles Pulliam Moore to discuss the dramatic evolution of Pokemon cards from a collectible game to a full-fledged market, especially in light of the recently released 30th-anniversary celebration set. Before diving into the main discussion, the podcast presents "90 Seconds on The Verge" for Tuesday, September 29th, 2026. OpenAI kicked off its Dev Day by announcing "Dots," a MetaMuse competitor described as an always-on AI assistant. Powered by GPT-6 Astra and residing in a cloud computer, Dots can access web browsers and over 4,000 supported apps, and will be available in Microsoft Teams and Slack, with future text message interaction planned. Next, Nothing unveiled its professional headphones, the Nothing Headphone One Pro, priced at $399. These over-ear headphones feature a triple-driver design, AuraCast support, and a dedicated flat EQ switch for audio processing removal, aiming to serve both music enjoyment and mixing. John Higgins notes the active noise cancellation is the best from Nothing so far, though not industry-leading. Finally, Google confirmed Chrome OS updates will cease in 2034 as attention shifts to Google Book OS. While many Chromebooks are expected to be upgradable, this means devices bought in 2026 might not receive 10 years of software support. The main segment with Charles Pulliam Moore delves into the explosion of the Pokemon card market. Amell notes that while cards were easily accessible in his youth, the last few years have seen an "insane commodity" market emerge. Moore explains that part of this mirrors the original boom in the 90s, but it's amplified by the enduring popularity of the Pokemon brand and modern "hustle culture." The pandemic significantly worsened the situation, as people confined at home turned to online platforms, boosting content like card unboxings and driving more attention to collecting. Platforms like TikTok further exacerbated this by creating new avenues for content consumption and driving awareness of the potential value of rare cards. Moore likens the current Pokemon card frenzy to sneakerhead culture, where people line up for product to either use or flip for profit. The card market, however, is simpler, as rarity of a single card can yield significant returns without size or fit issues. The "scalper ecosystem" is a major part of this. Moore describes sophisticated Discord servers that offer paid access to automated "bots" capable of "brute-forcing" online sales. These bots use virtual credit cards and fake accounts to bypass retailer limits, accumulating large quantities of product. These Discord servers also provide automated pings for product drops, often at odd hours like 3 AM, allowing resellers to quickly activate their bots and secure multiple orders. Acquired products are then flipped to individual collectors at inflated prices (double to triple MSRP) or sold to card shops and at card shows, always with the intention of making a significant profit. The Discord servers themselves function as businesses, charging subscription fees for access to these tools and information. Regarding the 30th-anniversary set, which notably reprinted classic cards like Charizard, Venusaur, and Blastoise, Moore explains that while previous anniversary sets had similar reprints, the key difference now is the rampant reselling culture. The Pokemon Company has tried to mitigate this with website queues, aggressive bot detection, and significantly increased production (10 billion cards globally in the past year or two). Despite these efforts, shortages persist. Moore dismisses the scalpers' argument that they help Nintendo by ensuring sell-outs, stating that Pokemon, as a "durable and popular piece of IP," doesn't need such assistance, and the optics of children being unable to access cards due to adult scalpers are negative. The conversation also touches on "rip and ship" services on platforms like Whatnot, which Moore describes as an "unholy cross between TikTok, eBay, and QVC." Here, streamers open card packs live for customers who have purchased "dibs" on specific packs, with the cards then shipped to the buyers. Moore notes instances of blatant scamming where streamers manipulate pulls to retain rare cards, though such incidents don't fully undermine the platform, as rip-and-ship is a smaller part of its overall commerce. Looking ahead, Moore believes the Pokemon market and its reselling ecosystem are unlikely to disappear. Pokemon's enduring appeal, combined with its "full-court press" IP (games, movies, TV) and the cards' multiple use cases (collecting, playing, competing, reselling), give it far more staying power than fleeting collectible fads like Beanie Babies or Squishables. The VergeCast is produced by Josh Kajas, Eric Gomez, Brandon Kiefer, and Travis Larchuk. Support for the show also comes from Amazon Prime, promoting their Prime Big Deal Days on October 6th and 7th, and Outshift by Cisco, highlighting their "Internet of Cognition" resource for building multi-agent AI systems.