Most Expensive K-Pop Photocards

8 Of The Most Expensive K-Pop Photocards Ever Sold

In this article, I’ve listed out the most expensive K-pop photocards ever sold including rare photocards of HYPHEN, BTS, TXT and other groups.

Ever since the K-Pop culture crossed the international borders, it began to gain so much popularity worldwide and I’m sure there are now K-Pop fans living in every nook and corner of the world!

K-Pop music culture is fast spreading and there are so many K-Pop Idols who are truly loved and adored by their fans.

But let’s be honest here, most fans have at least one of these Idols as their biases, right?

Well, if any of you fans have a particular K-Pop Idol bias, then maybe you should lay your hands on one of these photocards!

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What are K-Pop photocards and why are they so expensive?

If you have heard of the words K-Pop “papels” or “pocas”, then you should know that they are simply referring to photocards. 

These photocards are photos of an Idol on a card. Yes, it’s as simple as that, but well, there is no stopping a K-Pop fan when they have an Idol bias and wish to get the photocard of them to either start off or add to their already existing collection. 

Getting into a few more details, these photocards are the exclusive photos of K-Pop Idols that usually come as a free gift along with every purchase of any album. 

One of the main reasons this was done was as a marketing tactic to increase the sale of the albums because each album has only one photocard of any one Idol in a particular band.

So the likelihood of the fan getting their bias Idol’s photocard is limited and therefore, the fan may keep purchasing many albums till they get their bias Idol’s photocard.

And in turn, they will also have the whole collection of the photocards of all the members of their favorite band.

If you are wondering what’s so great about these photocards, let’s just talk about how important Pokémon cards are to lovers of anime and sport celebrity photocards are to sports lovers, this works in the same way.

So since this is a great way companies can up their sales, they also up the prices of their products and albums, since the fans are willing to pay any price to get their bias Idol’s photocard.

At present, as the K-Pop industry is booming, these photocards are considered as collector’s items and are often sold even separately for a hefty price.

Most Expensive K-Pop Photocards Ever Sold

1. Kim Jung-eun

Band: LOONA

Photocard sold for: US$ 249.35

most expensive photocard bts
Source: Instagram @ yumizorbit

Kim Jung-eun, more commonly known by her stage name Kim Lip, had a photocard of her sold at 250 dollars! 

Yes, really pricey right? This photocard was of her photo of Kim Lip from the Max and Match album.

Kim Lip is a 23 year old South Korean singer, who is one among the twelve members of the girl band LOONA, who made their debut in 2016 and are still active till date. 

They were formed under the company Blockberry Creative. Kim Lip also belongs to the ODD EYE CIRCLE, the second sub-unit of LOONA. 

Apart from singing in the group, she has also released her first single album titled ‘Kim Lip’ in 2017.

2. Choi San

Band: ATEEZ

Photocard sold for: US$ 265

most expensive enhypen photocards
Source: Instagram @ sansang.clr

Choi San or as he’s better known as San, had a photocard of him taken in Treasure EP.2: Zero to One album, that debuted and thereafter peaked as the top 6th on the Gaon Album Chart and it got sold for a whopping 265 dollars!

Choi San is a 23 year old South Korean singer and is the lead vocalist of the band ATEEZ. San is also well-known for his superb dancing skills. 

He is one among the eight members of the band and they made their debut in 2018 under the company KQ entertainment. 

Along with his band, they have been nominated for and have won many awards. 

They are also the promotional ambassadors for the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, to help promote Korean culture and tourism in other foreign countries.

3. Jeon Hee-jin

Band: LOONA

Photocard sold for: US$ 320

most rare kpop photocards
Source: Instagram @ damiinsomnia_trades

Well-known as HeeJin, she had a photograph of hers from the LOONA 1/3’s albums sold as a photocard for 320 dollars!

Born in South Korea as Jeon Hee-Jin, she is a 21 year old member of the popular girl band LOONA, who made their debut in 2016. 

She was revealed as the very first member of the group. HeeJin also belongs to the band’s first sub-unit called LOONA 1/3. 

In September of 2016, HeeJin made her debut along with her band and later that year in October, she also released her solo single album called ‘HeeJin’. 

She has also been seen collaborating with other famous singers like HyunJin, HaSeul, Kim Lip, JinSoul and Yves.

4. Jeon Jung-kook

Band: BTS

Photocard sold for: US$ 269.89

rare bts photocards list
Source: Instagram @ jiesyaleesnochu

I’m pretty sure that Jungkook is a very familiar name in the K-Pop industry. A photograph of Jungkook taken in the ‘Blood, Sweat and Tears’ official broadcast became a photocard and was sold for 269.89 dollars.

Jeon Jung-kook, who goes by his stage name Jungkook, is a 24 year old singer, dancer and songwriter from South Korea. 

He belongs to the world-renowned boy band that has earned tremendous international fame over the years and it is none other than the all-boy band, BTS or Bangtan Boys, who made their debut in 2013 under the company Bit Hit Entertainment. 

He is known to be the youngest member of the band. In addition to singing in the group, Jungkook also released three of his own solo tracks namely ‘Begin’ (2016), ‘Euphoria’ (2018) and ‘My Time’ (2020), all charting on the Gaon Digital Chart in South Korea.

5. Jennie Kim

Band: BLACKPINK

Photocard sold for: US$ 250

most expensive nct photocard
Source: Instagram @ kihyuncafes

One among the favourite Idols of the Blinks, is Jennie. Her photocard from HERA, the Korean beauty brand that Jennie is the brand ambassador for, sold for 250 dollars!

Jennie Kim, who goes by her stage name Jennie, is a 26 year old singer and rapper born in South Korea. 

She is one among the four members of the world-famous all-girl band BLACKPINK. The group made their debut in 2016 and is still very active in the K-Pop industry. 

The group is formed under the company YG Entertainment. Apart from making music along with her group, Jennie also made her debut as a solo artist with her single ‘Solo’ in 2018. 

Jennie is also known to be the brand ambassador of many brands including HERA, the Korean beauty brand; Samsung, the mobile brand; Lotte Confectionery and many more.

6. Lee Yu-bin

Band: MINX

Photocard sold for: US$ 242.85

most expensive twice photocards
Source: Instagram @ girlsgen.trade

Dami, as Lee Yu-bin is commonly known, had her photocard taken from the ‘Love Shake’ broadcast and was sold for 242.85 dollars and guess what, it was also signed by Dami!

The 25 year old is a multi-talented personality and is a singer, rapper and one of the lead dancers of the five-member K-Pop group MINX,.

They made their debut in 2014 and were active for two years until 2016, when the group disbanded. MINX was formed under the company Happyface Entertainment.

The company stated that they would re-debut along with two other members and call the band Dreamcatcher. 

In 2017, they made a re-debut as a seven member band and now go as Dreamcatcher.

7. Choi Ye-rim

Band: LOONA

Photocard sold for: US$ 250

rare txt photocards
Source: Instagram @ seulgibear_trades

Choi Ye-rim, commonly known by her stage name Choerry, had a photocard of hers sold at 250 dollars and it was of a photo of hers taken from the Max and Match album.

The 21 year old Choerry was the 8th member to be revealed as a member of the girl group LOONA and also is a part of its sub-unit ODD EYE CIRCLE. 

In 2017, Choerry made her debut as a member of the girl group and in the same year she also released her solo album ‘Choerry’ just a few days after her group debut.

Choerry along with some of her other band mates starred in the third season of Woomanna, a romance and drama series.

8. Chou Tzu-yu

Band: TWICE

Photocard sold for: US$ 318

most expensive kpop album
Source: Instagram @ dahyunlovemail

Chou Tzu-yu is often called Tzuyu, as it is her stage name. Her photocard was sold at 318 dollars, which was a photograph of her taken at the Superstar JYP Nation event.

Tzuyu is a 23 year old born in Taiwan and is a K-Pop Idol and singer belonging to the world-famous girl band TWICE. 

The group made their debut in 2015 under the company JYP Entertainment and is still very active till date.

Tzuyu had been one among the nine successful participants of the Korean survival reality TV show ‘Sixteen’ that aired in 2015, who finally came together to form the girl band TWICE thereafter.

The final takeaway

Well, while some of us may find it super crazy as to how these photocards even sell at such high prices, there are die-hard fans of these Idols who love and cherish these photocards and keep them as a collector’s item.

There are many times these photocards are sold, resold and traded amongst the fans themselves. 

So if you are one of the fans who are looking out for a photocard of your bias Idol, then I hope you do get lucky enough to find the one you’ve always been looking for!

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