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Israelis on the quest to catch them all are finding something as rare as a Pikachu from 1999: come-as-you-are, politics-free third spaces and community. Plus, with the dollar in flux, rare cards aren't the worst investment

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Cardhouse in south Tel Aviv, a popular hang for Pokémon collectors. Credit: Itai Ron
Israelis on the quest to catch them all are finding something as rare as a Pikachu from 1999: come-as-you-are, politics-free third spaces and community. Plus, with the dollar in flux, rare cards aren't the worst investment
10:48 AM • May 08 2026 IDT
In 2020, when people across the world were holed up in their homes due to the COVID pandemic, many millennials started squirreling through their attics and storerooms. They uncovered troves of Pokémon cards: childhood collections from the 1990s and early 2000s, featuring Nintendo's beloved Japanese franchise of evolving monsters.
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