H
ow much would you pay for a Lugia first edition Neo Genesis card? What about a first edition Charizard or a Super Secret Battle No 1 Trainer card? These are the sorts of questions that the founders of Card Galaxy, a UK-based collectibles collective with a focus on Pokémon trading cards, think about. They’re part of a growing community of adults who are still very much entrenched in the world of toys and trading cards, and who have, incidentally, started making quite a lot of money from their hobby.
According to the live selling platform Whatnot, adult collectors have helped to grow the toy and collectibles market into a £1 billion industry and the number of UK toy sellers on the platform grew by 40 per cent in 2024 alone. You need look no further than the recent craze for Labubus, small plush toy accessories, one of which recently sold for £110,000 at auction. Right now, a seller on eBay even has a “Holy grail 1998 Pikachu Illustrator Card” going for a cool $4 million.
The 1998 Pikachu Illustrator Card, currently with a price of $4 million on eBay
The founders of Card Galaxy have turned their slice of this world into a well oiled machine. Card Galaxy was started five years ago by Joe Sherman and Aqib Malik, both 32, two friends born and raised in London who met at Soas, University of London. The two bonded over their shared love of Pokémon and played and traded cards throughout their time studying. Though they both went on to work in tax and financial services at large firms, in their free time they continued trading cards, soon turning it into a small side business. Before long, their reach had grown and Sherman and Malik were able to expand their operation enough to drop down to four days a week at their day jobs. After two years, the pair made Card Galaxy their full-time career. “When I handed my notice in at my previous job [at EY] no one could grasp or understand what I was doing, which I don’t blame them for because it sounds crazy,” Sherman says.
