BTS’ Jungkook’s photocard, which cost 35 thousand reais

Photocards, small cards with photos of artists, are one of the biggest crazes in K-pop these days. These popular collectibles can be found in a variety of places, such as accompanying lightsticks, inside albums (the most common), in special releases, or even being distributed at official events.

However, anyone who thinks that photocards have existed since the emergence of K-pop is mistaken. In fact, they were only created during the second generation, in 2010, thanks to Girls’ Generation, a memorable girl group from SM Entertainment.

That year, the group was preparing to release their second full-length album, “Oh!”, when the idea came up to include individual cards with photos of each of the nine members, accompanied by autographs and some messages, with the aim of drawing more public attention to the sale of physical media. The idea could not have been more successful, and today these photocards can be considered rarities.

With the huge success of Girls’ Generation’s first photocards, other groups and soloists also began to adopt the practice of including the items in their releases, becoming a mandatory item in K-pop today, and highly sought after by fans.

This is because people have started collecting these items, and to complete their collection, fans have to exchange or buy cards from other fans, either in person or online. However, if you think the prices are low, you are very wrong.

Valuable photocards

Because there is such a wide variety, the values ​​of each photocard can also vary. In addition, certain versions have a different production number, making them rare items and, consequently, more expensive.

Jungkookthe youngest member of BTS, for example, is one of the idols whose photocards were sold for the highest prices recorded by fans. One of them was the photocard distributed at the “Butterful Night Lucky Draw” fan event, which is considered one of the most expensive ever sold, having been sold at an auction for US$ 3,213.00 (around 18 thousand reais at the current exchange rate), after 120 bids.

However, in 2023, another photocard of Jungkook came to break this record. The item, which is a selfie of the blue-haired idol, which was sent as a gift with orders on the FLO platform, was sold in September of the same year on Poca Market, a sales app in South Korea, for an impressive $6,370 dollars, equivalent to exactly R$35,924.25 at the current exchange rate, as reported by the Koreaboo portal.

It is worth noting that, in this application, the prices of each item are reflected according to the purchase and market demand, and may vary each month. For this reason, in October, the value for the same photocard fell to US$ 1,240, before rising again to US$ 3,880, and settling at around US$ 1,160 in November 2023.