The thing is, as I said, as a player Pokemon TCG is actually the most budget-friendly option. The most expensive competitive deck is $100. A lot of comp decks are like $40. The issue is the art card market, which has nothing to do with people who play the game lol.
Art cards in pokemon don't have any special powers, they're the same as some regular card but they have cool art, the art collectors have their own completely deranged thing going on with the cards and they largely don't play the game
Sorry, yeah, I understood that. I think I'm just coming from a place where I'd like to see kids be able to just go to their LGS or comic shop or where ever and just BUY packs and have the joy of that gacha surprise of opening cards and collecting. Most kids don't have $40 to drop in a lump sum.