Why K-pop fans are going wild over stars’ photocards (2024)

Band tees are passé in the world of K-pop, where merchandising is done on a whole other level. One particularly popular type of merch? Wallet-sized photocards, which are making a killing among K-pop fans.

The latest trend in trading cards are pint-sized photos of K-pop stars that are usually found in albums or come as bonuses in merchandise packaging.

With multiple variants of the same album, there are often hundreds of photocards associated with a single music release, which fans often organise in dedicated binders, store in their phones or put on display.

For example, if you buy an NCT 2020 album, there will be a handful of photocards featuring some of the 23 members inside. If you buy a BTS lightstick, known as an Army Bomb, there will be photocards of each of the seven members included.

If a fan isn’t lucky enough to get their favourite members’ photocard in an album, they can take to social media sites or various forums dedicated to photocard trading and selling.

Online, fans will find templates for individual K-pop stars that compile all photocards they are featured on, helping collectors in their search. They are regularly updated by the creators as new releases come out.

The trend is typically dated back to Girls’ Generation’s 2010 album “Oh!”.

Heather Crabb, a 34-year-old K-pop fan in the US state of North Carolina, primarily collects photocards featuring female K-pop groups and owns some of the cards from the “Oh!” album.

“The first printing had a different design, with a white border around the outside of the card, and for some members, the photo on the card itself was different from the second, borderless version,” said Crabb.

“Those are also very rare and were replaced with group photocards in later editions of the album. The white border cards tended to sell for around US$60 to US$100 in 2012, and the ones that you can still find floating around these days sell for almost as much, if not more.”

The most Crabb has ever spent on a photocard was US$165 for one featuring T-ara’s Jiyeon which came with the band’s 2014 Season’s Greetings Calendar. That same week, she saw the same card sell for US$300.

While many fans collect photocards from many artists, Nicole Tacos, a 26-year-old fan in San Diego, California, only hunts for a specific group of stars, partially because it would be overwhelming to focus on many artists or try to get sets of photocards for any K-pop groups as a whole.

Currently, Tacos is collecting cards featuring Atee*z’s Yunho, Stray Kids’ Bang Chan, Seventeen’s S.Coups, and NCT’s Yuta.

“What keeps me collecting is the satisfying feeling of seeing your favourite member from each era of their career. It’s a type of memorabilia for me. Music is a huge part of my life and K-pop was a very significant part of a milestone in my life.”

Lex Armstrong, a 28-year-old Canadian fan, has more than 1,000 photocards. Armstrong pre-orders albums to get the cards she wants. “I keep collecting because I enjoy the community I’ve found with sellers and enjoy hunting down rare cards.”

As a massage therapist and student, Armstrong undertook a costly – but worthwhile – endeavour to track down a full set of NCT and SuperM member Taeyong’s photocards, but now that shehas them all, she’s able to focus on getting future releases, which are a lot more affordable.

For Kimberly Gutierrez, a 19-year-old BTS fan in California, the dedication, time and money spent on acquiring photocards are a representation of what K-pop has done for her since she discovered BTS while experiencing depression.

“It was the best decision I ever made,” Gutierrez said. “They saved my life. I was going to commit suicide but listening to BTS made me happy and want to keep living. I have never been happier than I am now with collecting photocards and listening to K-pop.”

Amber Ali, a 24-year-old from Texas, is nicknamed the “Monsta X Photocardologist” by friends, and currently owns 375 photocards. Ali has been collecting for several years, and has some advice for new collectors after once accidentally buying a rare card for US$213 because of a misunderstanding.

“A lot of new fans have started collecting and I just want to give some advice. Never panic buy something for a ridiculous price. Just have patience, because people will always be selling the items you’re looking for. Something you can afford will come by soon enough.

“Also, collecting should be fun. If you’re stressing over anything, take a step back. Collecting should be happy and fun, not stressful and expensive.”

Terrica Mathis, a 29-year-old in Austin, Texas, began collecting in July 2020 and already has about 200 photocards. Mathis quickly learned about the intensity of the world, and often buys or sells cards on secondary selling sites such as Depop or Japanese e-retailer Mercari, or on social media sites including Twitter and Instagram.

“I know there are people who collect baseball and basketball trading cards, but I believe K-pop fans have found a way to put their own twist on buying and trading cards,” said Mathis.

“From the decorative binders, to the way fans connect with each other, collecting photocards has become a huge part of K-pop fandom culture. Collecting has its own rules, etiquette, and even its own language. It is really cool to see the process of buying and trading, and sharing your collection with others.”

For example, Mathis – an NCT fan whose most prized photocards are a set of NCT Dream cards from their “We Young” album – explained that “WTS” means “willing to sell” and“QYOP” means “quote your own price”.

She said there were professional sellers who hunted photocards, especially autographed or rarer ones, from South Korean sellers and sold them to international fans. They also act as middle men and have sizeable followings.

Other fans also shared that “member pricing”, or re-sellers amping up the prices of certain cards based on the popularity of a certain member of a group in comparison to how much they’re selling other members’ cards for, is increasingly a common frustration for photocard collectors.

“The inflation of prices is getting a little ridiculous to the point where members of certain groups are speaking out about it and even going as far as sharing their photocard pictures on social media for those who cannot afford them,” Mathis said.

Lesley Kahinga, a 21-year-old American collector, likes buying albums to get photocards and she only keeps those featuring her biases (K-pop fandom lingo for her favourite K-pop stars).

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Kahinga is now being more selective about spending money. Although herfavourite card is one featuring Taeyong with blue hair from a SuperM album, she’s reconsidering her spending habits and thinks others might be as well.

“I get my photocards from albums and have bought some on eBbay. My rare Taeyong card, for example, is from [SuperM’s] first mini album and if I wanted to pull another I would have to purchase 20 to 30 albums instead of just buying one online.”

Margaret Harton, a 33-year-old fan who travels back and forth between California and Jakarta in Indonesia, has a fun rule for how much she’ll spend, which helps her feel better about her expensive hobby, which she funds with her job in fashion.

“I try not to go past US$88.So far the most I have paid was US$80 plus shipping, whichcame to precisely US$88. And why 88? Eight is a lucky number in Chinese, so doubling that is like double the luck.”