CNN
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There are many different ways to play Pokémon, the wildly popular Japanese franchise that follows pocket monsters across trading cards, video games, movies, and TV shows.
But Pokémon’s core mission, no matter how you play, is best summed up by its English slogan: “Gotta catch ’em all!”
…unless, of course, you give them all away.
That’s the strategy of Ross “Cooper” Cooper, a prolific Pokémon card collector from Virginia who travels to card conventions across the Mid-Atlantic and gives away much of his vast collection – for free – to other fans of all ages.
“At the end of the day, we all have a hobby that we really enjoy,” he told CNN. “I know the experience will be worth more than a few dollars in my pocket.”
Coop, who runs the YouTube channel Coop’s Collection, films his interactions at card conventions and captures the genuine surprise and joy of children and adults alike when he hands them a card.
Here’s how it works: When someone visits his booth, Coop will ask them what their favorite Pokémon is. Often, he’ll pull out his card binder that he’s been saving up for giving, find the perfect card, and send it home for free. But if he doesn’t have their favorite character anymore, he’ll give them an unopened booster pack and let them keep what’s in it.
He even opens his case of Pokémon cards he plans to sell, some of which can fetch over $100, if a child or adult gets excited about a card inside. The recipient is often so shocked by the free card that they don’t know how to react.
Adults often try to pay Coop if he tries to give them something for free. But to Coop, they’re just “kids at heart,” and a small, meaningful act of kindness can go a long way for any Pokémon fan.
Pokémon isn’t Coop’s day job, but it’s become an increasingly important part of his life.
Like many ’90s kids, Coop was a Pokémon fan in his youth, collecting cards and battling bosses in the early Pokémon video games. But by the time he reached middle school, he had given up on the hobby.
It wasn’t until 2018, when his YouTube algorithm showed him a video of a popular user opening a new pack of Pokémon cards, that he rekindled his affection for the Japanese card game. But Pokémon was no longer the humble pastime of his ’90s youth. There were countless new varieties and collections of Pokémon to discover, and the franchise had boomed in popularity since the card game launched in 1996—according to the Pokémon Company, more than 64.8 billion cards have been produced and they are sold in more than 93 countries.
As an adult fan, Coop started opening cards alone at his kitchen table, but, eager to share his joy with other fans, he began filming his finds for his YouTube channel. It took him more than five years to reach 1,000 subscribers, he says — until one of his short videos, culled from a longer POV video filmed at a card-trading convention earlier this year, went viral.
In this book, he meets a child who paid too much for a Charizard card at another vendor’s booth. Having spent all his money, the boy is probably done buying cards for the day. But he falls in love with one of Coop’s cards with an iridescent Alakazam, a mustachioed psychic Pokémon, and a high score of 9. It’s a card that Coop intended to sell, but without thinking twice, Coop opens his display case and offers the card to the child for free.
“It’ll go with your Steelix,” Coop said with a smile. (Steelix, a metallic snake-like Pokémon that evolved from the rock Pokémon Onix, is Coop’s favorite.)
That video has since been viewed 16 million times. Today, with over 165,000 subscribers, kids who have seen April’s video recognize Coop when they come across her booth at card conventions. One of her young fans (and regular customers) even gave him a gift –– a colorful picture of Charizard, Blastoise, and Venusaur.
Coop still sells cards on eBay and at card conventions—he’s built up a massive collection since 2018, and he’s submitted many cards for grading. (Graded cards are submitted to professional card graders who assess the card’s condition and rarity, then return it, sealed to preserve its quality, with a grade between 1 and 10, whichever is higher.) But he’s less concerned with making money at conventions than he is with brightening a child’s day and helping them grow. their collection.
Courtesy of the Coop Collection
Coop says he’d be happy to downsize his own collection if it means brightening his fans’ day.
In one particularly touching video, Cooper meets a young girl who shyly admits that she’s a fan of Eevee, a popular Pokémon that looks like a cross between a rabbit and a cat. Cooper can’t find her an Eevee, so he gives her a gold-rated Pickachu card. The girl’s eyes widen—it’s her first rated card, she says—and she’s so upset that she has to turn around quickly to collect herself.
Graded cards can fetch more from card sellers because their quality has been assessed by a professional. But that didn’t matter to Coop.
“It also gives me a lot of joy,” he said. “It’s not hard to give things away.”
That mindset hasn’t always been popular in the Pokémon card collecting community, Coop said. With the onset of COVID-19, many former fans have returned to the hobby in search of “comfort and nostalgia,” which has sent prices for collectibles and cards “skyrocketing.” It’s been disappointing to see how many sellers have come “out of the woodwork to try to make a quick buck on this stuff” and exploit customers in the process, he said.
But since then, the mood has been more one of generosity and celebration, he says. At the card conventions he attends, with cards from Pokémon, “Yu-Gi-Oh!” and “Dragon Ball Super,” he’s seen fans become much more supportive of each other and growing their collections. He’s also seen other YouTubers and vendors give away free cards to eager young fans.
And since he doesn’t lose much money giving away so many cards (he can make a few hundred dollars at conventions), he’ll continue to do so, even as he opens his display case and gives away some of those more valuable cards as well.
Coop remembers a boy who was eager to trade cards with him and was having trouble choosing between two ranked cards. Coop couldn’t resist and the boy ended up with two cards for one.
“This kid is just here because he loves Pokémon, he loves card art,” he said. “Who am I not to let him have both?”