- June 8, 2026
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It wasn’t long ago that Josh Stacy knew little about Pokémon.
His main line of business is used automobiles. But after his seven-year-old son Silas Stacy became interested in the mobile game “Pokémon Go,” it opened up a new market — and father-son bonding opportunity.
For a little over the past two months, rows of Pokémon trading cards and card packages have joined the products for sale at his automobile business Trade Guru, which he established after moving to Sarasota in 2018. Trade Guru sells a variety of vehicles from a lot on high-traffic spot of U.S. 41, at 5041 S. Tamiami Trail.
“I'm in the car business,” he says. “I love to buy, sell, and trade, that's what I do. And so we went to a card show, and I thought I'm on the wrong side of the table — I want to be on that side of the table.”
It’s a project he and Silas are managing together, and one he also plans to involve the community in, hosting games and tournaments.
Pokémon Go cards are, of course, an extensions of the famous Japanese brand, estimated as the world’s highest-grossing media franchise. Launched in 1996 through a pair of games for the Game Boy, the franchise also includes other video games, animated series, films and the trading card game.
According to the latest figures from The Pokémon Co., which manages the franchise, more than 85 billion cards have been produced over the last 30 years, with about 10 billion produced in 2025 alone.
Stacy has always been what he describes as “somewhat of an investor,” with experience in assets like Bitcoin and exchange-traded funds.
“I started doing research and seeing, Pokémon actually has long-term potential for investing,” he says.
The inventory the father-son duo has currently acquired, Josh Stacy estimates, is now at thousands of cards and hundreds of sealed products.
“I sell depreciating assets in cars, and I got into Pokémon and thought, 'Wow, a lot of times, these products are appreciating, collectibles, and it was kind of a cool thing to think that you can buy something today and it'll be worth more next year,” adds Stacy.
He says the hope is he and his son can go on to obtain cards wholesale from a distributor. He also says he's open to ideas about creating deals that combine the cards with car purchases.
“So far people just have thought it's kind of cool. There hasn't been any crossover sales, where people come for cars," he says.
However, with over 1,000 different Pokémon species in the index, the venture wasn't something he could jump directly into without research.
“It’s a lot of learning when you come in fresh, and you know mainly who Charizard is, and that's about it," he says.
Due to his experience with the game, Silas brought a lot of knowledge of the Pokémon, including the individual species' special powers and what each one evolves into.
"Pokémon Go, I think it's the best game to learn about Pokémon," the younger Silas says. "It has all the Pokémon, so it's really, really fun."
“It's not every day you can find a hobby that you can interact with a seven year old, so it's been fun,” Josh says. 
The father and son pursue the business in addition to other commitments. Josh coaches Little League, and he says the family is involved with their church. They also homeschool their children, including his daughter.
Josh is also a seminary student working on a master's degree in divinity, with the end goal of being a full-time pastor. He describes the business of Trade Guru as being based on Christian values and avoiding the deceptive practices sometimes associated with used car dealers.
Despite the hectic schedules Josh says working with the cards has been a new way for him to spend time with his son.
“We've always been besties, so this has been cool, but he pretty much just followed me around his whole life," he says. "He's always come to work with me and stuff, but this definitely increased more of our fellowship together."
In addition to the fun side, there is a practical purpose, too: Josh says he thought the business would be a great entry-level point for Silas to learn marketing, trading and assessing value so he can take over the business one day when he's older.
In his teenage years, Silas, says Josh, could "maybe even develop this into something bigger than I could.”
Where it goes from here, Josh says, is still unfolding.
“I don't have to make rent at the end of the month by selling so many cars, and so it's nice to just have this kind of in the background and see where the Lord takes it,” he says. “We're grounded in our faith and everything we do, and so we firmly believe that this will go where He wants it to go.”
