EVEN if you’re a KPop newbie or someone who isn’t really into KPop, you may have probably seen or heard a friend gushing over her recent “album pulls” or showing off her “poca collection” online.
You also might have seen people walking on the streets or riding the train with photos of KPop idols dangling from their bags inside a fancy decorated card holder.
This Kpop merchandise that fans collect is called a photocard — a card bearing a KPop artist’s photo or selfie.
Fans often go crazy in collecting these items as these contain exclusive images of Korean artists that aren’t posted on any other platform.
Moreover, photocards are also sold and traded on social media networks like Facebook and Twitter, as well as e-commerce sites like Shopee, Lazada, and Carousel.
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While the rates of these merchandise vary depending on the demand, type, and other factors, prices could range from as low as P20 to over P100,000.
A recent episode of a Philippine news magazine show featured a KPop fan who got severely addicted to collecting KPop merchandise like albums and photocards that she was compelled to steal from her grandmother to finance her obsession.
According to the report, the fan looted over P2 million pesos from her grandmother’s business and bought high-priced photocards amounting to P50,000.
Because of this, some people developed the notion that all photocards cost the same amount, resulting in claims of photocard thefts targeting KPop fans.
But contrary to public perception, not all photocards can be sold for six digits and above. More often than not, these are priced much lower and are traded among fandoms who share the same love and adoration for their KPop favorites.
Photocards — what are they?
Often inserted in albums, fan kits, and other merchandise as a freebie, photocards are papers with printed photos of KPop idols and artists.
The South Korean girl group Girls’ Generation was the first to include photocards in its 2010 album called Oh. Following the trendsetters, other idols and groups started to also put photocards in their albums to entice fans into buying physical copies.
What makes collecting photocards exciting and grueling at the same time is the fact that fans will only know the photocard they’ve received once they open the albums. And since PCs are inserted randomly into the albums, those who stan KPop groups have lesser chances of acquiring a photocard that features their favorite member or bias.
For instance, a BLACKPINK fan has a 25 percent chance of getting a PC of her bias since it is only a four-member group. Meanwhile, SEVENTEEN fans only have at least a 7.6 percent possibility of pulling their desired photocards.
Even when fans buy four albums at the same time, there is no guarantee that they will get four different BLACKPINK photocards as they are more likely to obtain duplicate ones.
Photo courtesy: Jae Isiderio
Photocard types
While most photocards can be found in albums, companies of various KPop groups and artists also give away these items during fan meetings and other activities.
Fans can also get PCs from almost every single piece of merchandise that these companies sell.
New official hoodie? Here’s a photocard. New magazine? Here’s a photocard. New tumbler? Here’s a photocard. Even masks, pins, calendars, water bottles, and keychains have photocards accompanying them.
Meanwhile, there are also photocards that can be acquired for a limited time only. This refers to POBs or pre-order benefit photocards that can only be collected when fans would avail themselves of pre-ordered albums and merchandise.
Different distributors also offer different photocards, which makes these items more in-demand to KPop fanatics.
Photocard BNS
It is undoubtedly thrilling to collect photocards in the same way anime fans collected every single piece of Pokemon cards that have been released since the early 2000s.
Since it is expensive to buy multiple sealed albums just to collect PCs, photocard buy-and-sell (BNS) became popular among KPop fans who aim to complete their poca collection.
The prices of these photocards often depend on the chances of pulling a particular PC in an album. Normal photocards often cost around P50 to P200 and are also dependent on which group member is featured in the card.
Aside from this, photocards will have a higher market value once a fandom coins a term to name a photocard.
For instance, a photocard of EXO member D.O. or Doh Kyung-soo became one of the most coveted PCs among EXO-Ls as it features the member’s forehead. This card was given the name “Kyungsoo forehead PC.”
This photocard has a market value of around P800 to P5,000.
Rare photocards
Since photocards can be exclusively obtained from official KPop merchandise, soft copies of these PCs cannot be easily downloaded, reprinted, and redistributed.
There are also rare photocards that were printed in a limited amount. These have higher market values compared to other PCs.
However, it is important to understand that not all photocards can be bought and sold at this high price. Items under this price range are scarce and unique.
Some PCs are priceless
Nonetheless, for most KPop fans, photocards possess a higher value.
This is because these items are, most of the time, incomparable to cash as they provide a genuine sense of joviality and comfort from their biases.
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