"From Pokémon to One Piece and Yu-Gi-Oh!"—Hashed and Shard Lab to Host Collectible Con in Korea

[Financial News] Hashed and its subsidiary Shard Lab will host Collectible Con in South Korea.
According to the virtual asset industry on the 14th, Hashed and Shard Lab will host Collectible Con with The Concept Labs, a subsidiary of Thailand's Charoen Pokphand Group (CP Group), from the 2nd to the 3rd of next month at Seoul Stage X Seongsu Chabot in Seongdong-gu, Seoul.
Collectible Con is an event where collectors can view and trade various collectibles, including trading card games (TCGs), in person and interact with one another. About 50 vendors will participate in this event, showcasing TCG cards from Pokémon, One Piece, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and Magic: The Gathering, as well as sports cards, designer toys, animation merchandise, and artworks. Collectors from Korea and abroad, overseas brands, distributors, artists, and creators are also expected to attend.
Visitors will be able to examine and trade rare single cards, unopened vintage products, graded cards, and limited-edition items at the venue. Various hands-on programs will also be offered, including live pack openings, card appraisal and authentication services, and a trading area where attendees can exchange collectibles directly.
A total of eight panel discussions and lectures will be held with vendors, appraisal specialists, brands, and community representatives. The sessions will cover the latest trends in the collectibles market, card appraisal, storage and trading, and the future of collector communities.
Seoul was selected as the venue for the second edition because Korea's collectibles market is growing rapidly and the country is emerging as a major market in Asia. In fact, Korea ranked third worldwide among countries by trading card sales on eBay Inc. in the first quarter of this year, up from 10th place in 2024.
Collectibles trading in Korea is also expanding rapidly. According to the secondhand trading platform Karrot, transactions involving Pokémon cards and One Piece cards increased by 1,114% and 10,605%, respectively, from June through August compared with the same period a year earlier. On the limited-edition trading platform KREAM, the value of trading card transactions from January through July this year rose approximately 208-fold year over year.
"Korea's collectibles market has grown rapidly, but collectors have mainly interacted online, limiting opportunities for them to meet in person," said Tamonrat Chusak, co-founder of The Concept Labs. "Through this event, we want to give collectors the opportunity to meet face-to-face, explore a variety of collectibles, and experience trading them directly."
Collectible Con was first held in Bangkok, Thailand, last May. According to the organizers, 4,000 people attended the event.

[email protected] Lim Sang-hyeok Reporter