Pokemon Card collecting has skyrocketed in popularity, with players rushing through supermarkets to purchase cards that might be in the booster packs lining the walls. This has caused a lot of controversies, to the point where stores like Target have stopped selling the cards altogether. However, the Pokemon TCG fanbase has found itself in a bit of controversy once again, this time, their ire is directed at one of the most popular people in the community, collector Gary Haase over comments he made about the signature of Mitsushiro Atira. 

For those who are unfamiliar Gary Haase is the man with the biggest collection of Pokemon cards in the world. With a collection being worth about $10 Million. Haase is someone who’s revered by the collector community, being a staple of events, and is also known to be very reluctant to sell his collection, with the most recent sale being one of his prized Charizard cards to YouTuber Logan Paul, who wore the card on a chain to a boxing match against Floyd Mayweather.

Now, Gary Haase is under fire for a comment he made regarding one of his Charizard cards, specifically one with the signature of the artist behind the card Mitsuhiro Atira. Atira is the artist behind an overwhelming handful of the Pokemon cards that found their way into the hands of players when the Trading Card games blew up in the early ’90s. Atira is someone who many of the Pokemon fanbase adore, as his drawings have been ingrained into the minds of players for ages, as well as the fact that he is also the one behind the original Charizard drawing. 

The comment Haase made was found on a podcast he did in regards to Finance, instead of pokemon. In which Gary Haase makes a comment about a card with the signature from Atira on the protective casing of the card, rather than the card itself. “In this case, the Signature means very little. Never would you have him sign that card because it’s extremely special.” 

The clip was posted onto Twitter from used @FrostedCaribou who stated, “This is the last straw I’ve never seen someone be so blatantly disrespectful This person has the nerve to call themselves “King Pokémon,” and is continuously idolized by this community.”

Many people joined in on criticizing the collector, stating that he’s focusing on the value of the card rather than the significance of the card.Other players have come to Haase’s Aid in the conversation reiterating that the comment was taken out of context, as the podcast is about Finance, and not the Card Game itself. Another user by the name of @DrLavaYT posted this about the issue.

“I watched this full interview recently and also spoke to him on Zoom for 2 hours. Here he was talking about the card’s financial value. He’s met Arita many times and has great respect for him, and the card. He’s a collector since ‘97 and also runs an autism charity with his wife.” 

While this wasn’t enough to quell the fans about Gary Haase’s comment about Atira’s signature, the entire debacle opens up a larger conversation about Pokemon card collecting as a whole, with the game becoming less of a card game and more of a physical cryptocurrency. Many state that people like Haase are ruining the game by focusing on the monetary value of the cards. Turning Pokemon from a trading card game into a way to make money. 

Haase responded to the post on Instagram, however, his response has since been deleted. Nintendo Life was able to save what Haase had said about the comments left about him on Twitter.

“Since there’s been several messages about the Arita comment. That comment was taken out of context which is a trend these days. I was only referring to that one card. I have a dozen Arita autos with 5 or 6 including great sketches which I love. According to the text, I inflated the market though I’ve only sold 3 cards out of my collection in 5 years. I’ve bought hundreds though. I guess by making the hobby more popular that equates to inflating the market. This girl for some reason is being very petty and nasty on social media but this isn’t about her. We weren’t all brought up the same. We don’t know what trials these haters went through as kids. Best to let them work their own hate out. I’d rather this be about us. What can we do to shed light on others? How can we lift them up? 99% of our community is positive, charitable, and loving. Don’t let the 1% affect, as RealBreakingNate would say, your positive vibes.”

This all stems back to the issue of popularity from collecting Pokemon cards, with its upstart in popularity turning the trading card game into a way for players to make a quick buck. However, it doesn’t seem like this craze in cards is going to end anytime soon, and until then people will always be under fire for their cards.