Benzinga | Oct 20, 2020 03:57PM EDT

EXCLUSIVE: $375K 1st Edition Pokemon Card Box Record Set By Trader Chris Camillo

Prominent social arb investor Chris Camillo of dumbmoney.tv has finalized a $375,000 purchase related to a 1st Edition Pok?mon box set, which sets a Pok?mon card record by a substantial margin. The record transaction is likely to significantly raise the market for Pok?mon cards.

What Happened: Camillo told Benzinga the purchase is "appreciably higher than any other Pok?mon purchase in history." The purchase comes from JaketheCryptoKing, NekozTek and Luke Wagman. The sale is being done via the three sellers entity cryptoluxury.io.

Camillo talked to over 30 dealers and collectors about purchasing a box of Pok?mon cards. He also interacted with more than 20 digitally. Ultimately, Camillo put in offers on seven boxes.

Camillo believes there are only 40 to 70 unopened boxes of 1999 1st Edition Pok?mon cards and a small handful of owners willing to part with the boxes. The price is going up and he believes scarcity will catch up.

The transaction will be live-streamed Tuesday, Oct. 27 at 12 p.m. ET on the DumbMoneyLive YouTube. At that time, Camillo and the sellers will also announce the "historic way to break this box."

The purchase by Camillo is being done for his recently formed Camillo Family Foundation, which is dedicated to pediatric causes. All of the proceeds from the box break will go to the foundation. Camillo will not be keeping any of the cards himself.

Growth Of Pok?mon Cards: The value of vintage Pok?mon cards has risen significantly in 2020 with the 1999 1st Edition set seen as the ultimate prize.

Popular YouTuber Logan Paul set the record this year with a $198,000 purchase of a sealed box of 1st Edition Pok?mon cards. This was significantly higher than the prior record of $78,000, which was set in February. Paul was advised on his purchase by JaketheCryptoKing.

Rapper Logic bought a 1999 1st Edition Holographic Charizard graded PSA 10 for $220,000 earlier this month.

Camillo believes his record $375,000 purchase price will be eclipsed shortly with many others, including celebrities, trying to purchase boxes at the same time he made his contacts.

Heritage Auctions will also auction off a sealed box later this month and Camillo believes it will go for a high amount.

Camillo believes he is "catching early wave" with investing in the card collecting market.

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Connecting Investors And Collectors: One of the reasons Camillo made the purchase is he would like to bridge the "world of investing to world of collecting."

He hopes the box break "brings together [the] Pok?mon community and investing community."

To Camillo's knowledge, he's the "first investor to purchase a set" of Pok?mon cards. He believes Gen Z and millennials will get more involved in invest in collectibles and the stock market.

About Camillo: Camillo is known for creating a new class of investment analysis termed Social Arbitrage by identifying the investment opportunities behind social trends and cultural shifts observed across Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.

Camillo's investment strategy and success caught the eye of world-renowned author and trading expert Jack D. Schwager, who features Camillo in his new book, "Unknown Market Wizards: The Best Traders You've Never Heard Of."

The trader/YouTuber claims over $17 million in trading profits this year.

Ways To Invest: DumbMoneyTV recently revealed a trade in the growth of sports cards and collectors wanting to get the cards graded to show the condition and true value of the cards.

Collectors Universe Inc (NASDAQ:CLCT) is the owner of PSA, one of the top grading services for sports cards. Camillo calls Collectors Universe the only pure-play investible company for the growth in the sector. Despite a big move by the stock this year, Camillo believes there is more upside.

"Collectors Universe is the only game in town," said Camillo.

Camillo highlighted Collectors Universe expanding their capacity and having a full backlog that he believes will last the next six to nine months.

He believes the company could venture into other areas like analytics down the road as they have the relationships and data on collectors.

Sites like Rally Road also offer fractional ownership of sports cards and collectible assets. Rally Road offered an IPO of a 1st Edition set of Pok?mon cards for $125,000. Shares of the offering can be bought and sold beginning Oct. 20.

Camillo is an investor in Rally Road and has also invested in individuals offerings from the company. He calls the PSA 10 set of Pok?mon 1st Edition cards "the deal of the century" and won't be surprised if the value goes up by more than 50%.

Photo credit: Jarek Tuszyski, via Wikimedia Commons