[Part 2] Meet the Men Behind the Card Show: SNKRDUNK Interviews the CCA Team

8th October 2024 EDT FEATURES

[Part 2] Meet the Men Behind the Card Show: SNKRDUNK Interviews the CCA Team

We spoke to the CCA team to get the inside story on one of Southeast Asia's biggest card events as well as their own TCG experiences.

Cards Collectibles Asia (CCA) is almost here. To be held at Marina Square in Singapore from 11-13 October 2024, the event will rank among Southeast Asia’s largest TCG-related events and feature TCG and sports cards of a wide range of brands and various other collectibles.

Before the big day, we spoke with the team behind CCA to get an inside perspective on all the major details about CCA and their personal journeys within the TCG world.

Click here for Part 1 of the interview.

Who are your personal idols within the TCG sphere, whether regionally or globally?

Mark: I’ve always liked Antoine Griezmann, a footballer who collects cards but doesn’t really tell anyone about it—a closeted TCG geek like the rest of us. There are actually a few like that; there are also Mats Hummels and Niklas Süle, who collect Pokémon cards. We also once sold a card to Tosin, a Chelsea player who was then playing for Fulham, as well as Aaron Ramsdale when he was playing for Bournemouth. You get the chance to connect with these athletes, who you never assumed were collectors.

A lot of these football stars who are within our age range—early 30s onwards, their inner kids will come out, and though we don’t necessarily know that they collect, they’re actually quietly researching which Pokémon cards they want to buy. Once in a while, we’ll see a specific card on their Instagram pages and get excited about it because it’s like they’re just one of us. So those would be my idols as far as collectors are concerned.

Aaron: For me, it comes from an art standpoint because by trade, I’m an art director, and I like to look at the artists’ work—their illustrations, art styles, and stuff like that. So, Kōichi Ōyama was the one whose art I’ve always liked from the beginning because if you look at his artwork, it looks simple—just line drawings and irregular shapes—but that’s what I like because it stands out. If you look across all the other Pokémon cards, you hardly ever see artwork like that.

Mason: In the card-collecting world, there’s not really many that I look up to. It’s more of trying to understand them from a more market-based perspective.

Ryohei: Steve Aoki, a DJ who’s also an avid TCG collector who Mark and Mason met and partied with once.

Mark: Steve Aoki was a big thing. When he came to Singapore, we did manage to party backstage with him. So you really do connect with people who you’d assumed might look down on this hobby but are actually collectors themselves.

Do you have any personal favorite cards that you either own or are pursuing? If yes, which ones and from what franchises?

Mark: My favorite card that I own is the Richarlison 1 of 1 card. When this card was confirmed for release, I made up my mind to get it. It came in two forms—the 7 of 7 and the 1 of 1. I never thought I’d be holding this card as it’s the only one that exists in the world. Richarlison is one of my favorite players; he spent four years at Everton, my favorite team.

The football fan community in Singapore is very tight-knit; many of them know that I’m an Everton fan and collect Everton cards. So, when this card first appeared in Macau at an event last year, one of our customers and friends alerted me about this card, and I thought, “No, it can’t be THAT Richarlison card, right?” but it was, and I just paid however much it took to buy it. Even though it’s not the most expensive card in my collection, it’s my favorite card not only because of the story behind it but also because it’s my favorite player on a 1 of 1 card.

I collect Everton 1 of 1 cards; one of my dream cards is the Jordan Pickford 1 of 1 card. Another one actually just came out in China, but I missed it; it’s the autographed Leighton Baines 1 of 1. I bid about S$400 for it but was outbid; it sold for more than S$500.

There’s also one of several Pikachu Illustrator Pokémon TCG cards which I would really love to own. There’s already one card which most people already know about; however, there have never been any documented images of the rest of them on the Internet. I’ve seen one in real life; a guy from China showed it to me once. They’re mostly owned by private collectors. It’s a pipe dream, but I would love to own one someday.

My dream cards aren’t really that expensive; rather, they represent my own self-expression and personality—even more so if they have a story behind them.

Aaron: My favorite cards are also my dream cards, as I don’t own them yet. They’re the Mario and Luigi Pikachu promotional cards. Although they’re readily available on eBay, I haven’t committed to buying them yet. I grew up a Mario fan; my son grew up a Pokémon fan. So, having a card to bring both together is very special to me. How will I get it? I don’t know—but one day, maybe…

Ryohei: My dream card would be a baseball card, specifically any of Shohei Ohtani’s best cards.

Mark: I almost once bought one of Ryohei’s dream cards on eBay. It was about three and a half years ago. I was browsing eBay with my friends, and one of them said, “Hey, what do you think of this guy called Shohei Ohtani?” I said, “I know the guy’s really good, but he’s been suffering from injuries.” At the time, he was sidelined for the rest of the year. We found his rookie card: a Topps card featuring him pitching, which was being sold for US$3,000. Then we were like, “Nah, he won’t make it big”. Today? I think that card could’ve gone for US$300,000.

Another near-miss was a Kylian Mbappé 1 of 1 card, which surfaced in Thailand. The seller asked for US$4,000, but at the time, I wrote Mbappé off as a one-hit wonder…

Mason: My dream card is a football card that I’ve only ever seen pop up on eBay once in my life; it’s an autographed card of Nemanja Vidić and Rio Ferdinand. I grew up as a huge fan of those two; I still believe that they’re the best center-back pairing that the Premier League has ever seen. When I saw the card pop up but missed the bid on it, I was heartbroken; I’ve never seen it since.

One of my favorite cards that I own is an Aaron Wan-Bissaka card. I really like him as a player and as much as he’s been criticized during his time at United, he’s always put his head down, taken it all in stride, and never openly complained or whined about any of that on social media or anything like that; it’s a mentality that I’ve always admired amidst all the adversity he’s faced.

This one’s a big question, so you can answer it as a group: what would you collectively rank as your top 5 Pokémon TCG sets?

Mark: The PokéKyun Collection [CP3] is one of my favorite sets because it’s unique; it features different backgrounds and holofoil.

Mason: I really like Tag Bolt [SM9]; one of my favorite cards from it is the Latias & Latios GX card where they form a heart shape with their necks.

Mark: So we’ve got PokéKyun Collection [CP3], we’ve got Tag Bolt [SM9], so how about… Dream League [SM11b]? Yeah, Dream League [SM11b] is a good one. I remember when a PSA 10 Mimikyu card from Dream League cost S$1,500. I had about 30 in my room because as much as we tried to sell it, no one would buy them for some reason.

I think Pokémon Card 151 [SV2a] will continue to do well, and its booster packs are so much fun to open. Let’s add it. So now we need a fifth set… it has to be Eevee Heroes [S6a], right?

Mason: With all the alternate art cards, yes.

Mark: Yeah, I think those would be our top picks.

And what about your top 5 Pokémon TCG cards? For this, you can answer individually.

Mark: I really like the cards from the Munch series, especially the two main ones (Mimikyu and Pikachu). These cards are very difficult to find, especially the Mimikyu which was only given out at a museum. Also, I’ve always liked collaborations between art pieces like these and Pokémon.

I also like the ukiyo-e styled cards (Cramorant and Pikachu) as well as the Van Gogh-styled Pikachu with Grey Felt Hat which I thought was a nice touch. It’s somewhat common these days, but I still look for those. In general, I’m always looking for PSA 10s of this type of card.

Aaron: All of mine are from the same artist. The newest of my top 5 is the Mr. Mime card from Pokémon Card 151 [SV2a]. I don’t really look at sets—I mainly look at the artist or artwork. There’s actually another version of this (Exeggutor from the Unnumbered Promotional Cards) card, which is much rarer and more expensive (from the Tropical Mega Battle Promo). I would basically look for Kōichi Ōyama cards like my other three picks (Magikarp & Wailord GX, Ooyama’s Pikachu, and Pokémon Machine).

Mason: Off the top of my head, it’s probably any one of the Poncho-wearing Pikachu cards, the Latias & Latios GX card, I’d say… the Mario or Luigi Pikachu cards as well. And as much hype as Moonbreon (Umbreon VMAX from Eevee Heroes [S6a]) gets, I do believe that it really is one of the best cards ever released, especially in its Japanese print. The artwork is just gorgeous. And finally, I’ll go with the Special Art Rare (SAR) Mew ex card from Pokémon Card 151 [SV2a].

What have been the recent developments in the Japanese Pokémon TCG market?

Mark: Our company goes to Japan very often for business reasons as well as to acquire cards. What we believe caused the boom was when China entered the market. Once, when I went to acquire cards, I talked to some guys in Japan with whom I work. They said that they only used to deal with a few people from China, but now so many people from China come to Japan to buy cards. This drove up the prices because the stores now needed to buy cards at higher prices as well in order to serve the market.

Then the prices came down because everyone had the cards, and many were trying to sell them before realizing that no one wanted to buy them anymore, causing the prices to fall. I actually think that now is a good time to be a collector because cards and boxes aren’t that expensive. Even the high-end PSA 10s and alternate-art cards cost just S$100 to S$150. It’s also a good time to run a Pokémon TCG business right now, as we have more customers since prices are low.

Aaron: In addition, there was a noticeable drop in card quality starting with Clay Burst [SV2D] and Snow Hazard [SV2P] because they started to print cards really rapidly. Also, in Clay Burst [SV2D], they launched Iono at about S$5,000, driven by hype—and this hype was attributed to FOMO. So, many who were not even collectors just wanted in on it because they knew of the card’s immense value and thus realized that there was a chance to pull it.

Mason: I would say that the market is definitely at a low point right now; however, it’s a healthy type of low because more collectors are able to get into the market. Pokémon has always been a staple of the card-collecting market—it’s one of those things that everyone falls back onto whether adult or kid; as the next generation grows up and kids become adults, they’ll probably be the ones revisiting the cards of their childhood and going after those cards which they could never afford before. So I do believe that in the coming years—perhaps 10 years from now—these cards will be a lot more sought-after and will probably be more expensive than they currently are.

Aaron: The children of today—let’s say 6- to 12-year-olds—will want to go after the cards featuring their favorite Pokémon from their own childhoods—probably Pokémon from the newer generations.

Mason: I think we’ll probably see an increase in the prices of cards of Pokémon from Gens 7-9 and beyond as the kids grow up, just like how we grew up with the Pokémon from Gens 1-4 and now collect the ones we love from back then.

What’s next for you after CCA?

Mark: We’re trying to make CCA an annual thing and also have a mini-show every year. More importantly, we’re trying to show off our subculture first to the region, then to the rest of the world at some point. I do have experience going to other card shows around the world; they’re quite standardized at the moment, which means that you go in, look at cards, and leave. So what we’re trying to do is turn CCA into more of an event—not only for visitors to look at TCG and sports cards but also to enjoy various additional happenings.

When running our store, we meet people from different fields such as teachers, lawyers, doctors—they would probably never meet anywhere else, but because they have a shared love for these little pieces of cardboard, they come into the store and start mingling with each other. That’s something I think is very encouraging for us in general, and it’s what we’re trying to emulate in our shows.

Aaron: We’re also looking at things that aren’t really show-related. Who knows—we could even make a film about it or create our own merchandise for it. There are a lot of possibilities, and I think that going beyond being just a card show is the key thing for us. It will be an eye-opener for everyone who comes by because usually, card shows aren’t held in shopping malls. It’ll be interesting and exciting to see how people beyond the community look at cards and collectibles. It’s all linked—we’re just trying to see what else beyond the show itself can be made part of this ecosystem.

Ryohei: Since this October’s show is our very first main event, we know that we will get lots of feedback on it. The important thing is that we put that feedback into practice for next year’s edition. Because we want to expand our business and show overseas, we will be looking into running CCA somewhere else in Southeast Asia as well.

Mason: Going forward, we’d like to bring the artists behind the cards to future shows and have them sketch or sign items for visitors so that the visitors can bring home something unique. Of course, we’re also looking into more events, programs, and activities to be brought into future shows.

Do you have a final message to our readers and viewers?

Aaron: There will be quite a number of things to look forward to at CCA. First and foremost, we do have a giveaway. To enter, visit our website, register for the giveaway, and receive a S$1,000 JTB travel voucher. There are also 20 slots for free CGC card grading, and there’s also Grade Saver Pro merchandise to be given out. We’ve also added three card-related items to the giveaway. One is an Unlimited Base Set box, one is a Dream League [SM11b] box, and the third is a Topps Merlin Hobby Box 2023-24.

As for the on-ground program, there will be an event known as Fast Game. It’s a contest in which the objective is to be the fastest to open a card pack. There’s never been an official title of “fastest breaker in Singapore”; that’s where Fast Game comes in. We’re working with the Singapore Book of Records to make it official; for future shows we’re thinking of working with Guinness World Records for it.

Julie’s will be collaborating with CCA to produce a card for the event; the card will feature products from Julie’s. I do think it’s pretty cool for a brand like Julie’s to come in and recognize what the community wants and cater to it in a way that also promotes its own products. There’ll be two of these exclusive limited-edition cards; there are just 500 copies of each. By spending at least S$50 at any booth, you’ll receive a voucher which you can redeem at the Julie’s booth to get one of the cards.

We’re also producing our very own CCA card; it’ll be available after the show. Think of it as a community art card. It’ll start with a blank canvas; we’ll then invite the community to then draw anything they want (SFW only, of course) on the card. This means that some people might see their addition on an actual event-exclusive card.

Then there’s the main attraction known as Crown Jewels. It’ll showcase eight rare and valuable cards with unique backstories such as the Mario Pikachu card, the Lionel Messi 1 of 1 sticker card, the Charles Leclerc 1 of 1 card, and a prize card from a Flesh and Blood tournament which was won by a Singaporean player.

Mark: There’ll also be a Flesh and Blood learn-to-play session as well as a booth selling cards at which if you purchase at least S$100 worth of products, you’ll receive a promotional card which to date has only been given out at major global card shows. Finally, there’ll be appearances by streamers; it’s an opportunity to meet them in person instead of just watching them on the screen.

Mason: On behalf of all of us, I want to thank you for coming to the show. We look forward to seeing you at this show, and all the possible future shows that we’re planning to do. Thank you so much for supporting us, and we hope to see you there.

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