Why do K-Pop fans collect photocards?

K-Pop fuses an onslaught of bright visuals, synchronised dance moves and every genre of music you can think of to capture the imagination of millions of music fans worldwide.

One of the biggest phenomena to come out of K-Pop is the collectable culture. Primarily, photocards bolster the prices and sales of physical albums.

Photocards are collectable pieces of card, typically sourced from physical K-pop in the feature albums. The cards have selfies (or as some fans call them, ‘selcas’) of individual members of K-pop groups known as “idols”.

 Fans say that collecting photocards brings them a sense of community and satisfaction.

 Scope

As the momentum for collecting photocards grows, there are more sources for said cards. Fans make their own photocards, and other companies use photocards to endorse their products. K-Pop news outlet AllKpop reported that a child had sent their mother to three different pizza chains in South Korea in pursuit of collecting photocards when they make an order.

 These collectible items have manifested in different ways. K-Pop group New Jeans, in partnership with Coca-Cola launched limited edition cans and bottles for fans to collect. Another K-Pop group, BTS, partnered with Hy Coffee to release drinks with individual members’ photos on the bottle design, encouraging fans to collect all the members with bottles. Both LG and Samsung, both Korean-based tech companies, launched “BTS edition” phones with limited edition alarm sounds, graphics, and images of the group.

 While other corporations use these techniques to promote their own products, K-Pop groups and their management companies use similar approaches to promote their own content. Photocards are typically sourced from physical K-Pop albums. The draw is typically random, encouraging fans to buy more albums so that they can complete their collection.

 Years ago, this would be limited to one photocard per album. As a culture of collecting these cards grew and demand increased, albums started to introduce a greater selection of photocards, meaning that there were more for fans to collect with each release.

 The UK’s Official Chart Company identifies a card included in album packaging as a “permitted free gift”, meaning that their sales contribute to chart success. Having multiple versions of the same album where more photocards are available is also permitted on the chart, making the inclusion of photocards a great formula to chart success.

 

Not only do photocards benefit the groups and their companies, but fans as well. Communities of photocard collectors and traders are large both in-person and online. On Instagram, the #wts (want to sell) has 1.4m posts, while #wtsbts (want to sell BTS photocards) has almost one million posts. On the other hand, #wtb (want to buy) has 413K posts.

 Reddit’s kpopcollections community has 18.3k members that discuss photocard trading and advice for “presenting” collectables.

 Asking this Reddit community why they collect photocards, one described photocards as “antidepressants in paper form” and that they have made many good friends because of their hobby. They also see photocards as a way of celebrating their favourite artists.

 Photocards are not just limited to the K-Pop industry. Business Insider spoke to a woman who makes her own photocards of male heads of states, including Donald Trump’s mugshot and Kim Jong Un. Photocard collectors on Reddit likened them to collecting Pokemon cards or baseball cards. On TikTok, one user made their own photocards of footballers including Kylian Mbappe during the 2022 World Cup in a video that gained 1.4m views.

 

The photocard economy

K-Pop fans have established imaginative ways to use their photocards. Many put their extensive collections into binders, or decorate them using stickers. People on Etsy sell binders designed for photocards, with pockets that match the size of a typical card. If you search for “photocard binder”, over a thousand results are found, many of which have thousands, if not tens of thousands of reviews, meaning a lot of people are purchasing them.

Some shops that sell K-Pop albums in the UK also sell stickers and decorations designed to be used on photocards. Even large online retailers like Temu and Amazon sell photocard paraphernalia on their websites.

People also sell the photocards they have collected online. People do this through the #wts or #wtb hashtags on Instagram before, and others sell them on sites like Ebay. A quick search on Ebay will show you that most of these cards sell for around £7-8, but others may go up to £30.

Lisa, a retail assistant who collects photocards as a hobby, spent over £100 on albums in order to get the photocard that she wanted.

She said: “Every time I open a new [album], it's exciting and makes me always want to buy more.”

What Photocards Mean to Fans

While the importance of photocards to K-Pop groups, their businesses and third party businesses who can make profit from related products is evident, the fan culture around photocards offers an inventive way to make friends.

When Reddit’s K-Pop collecting community were asked about what collecting photocards meant to them, many people noted that the community and friendships they have made from trading photocards helps make K-Pop even more enjoyable to them.

One user said: “I think it’s the whole process. From opening an album, being excited about random [photocard] pulls, to trading with others. Trading is so fun!”

Lisa described her photocards as being precious to her.

She said: “Some of my photocards are particularly precious to me either because I’ve had them for a long time and they remind me of a particular moment in my life, or it was a photocard that I wanted and that I pulled in my album; I was looking for a specific photo card on the internet, finally found it and bought it; I spent too much money on it.”

K-Pop fans often use the cards as a form of accessory. They can make a keyring out of them, or put them in their phone case or wallet.

Llum, a student, inventively put a photocard of NCT member Doyoung in a card holder with her travel pass. It has become quite popular for K-Pop fans to put photo cards in their card holders, after fans made memes on TikTok. People post videos of them using contactless payments with their cardholder, saying that it is like their favourite idol, or “bias”, is paying for them.

One Reddit user said: “The one I keep in my phone case of my bias is kind of a good luck charm.

“Looking at it while feeling down helps me remember good memories or good songs associated with the group.”

Another user also called their photocards good luck charms.

They said: “I’m autistic with really bad anxiety. I tell myself they’re my good luck charms when I go out.”

Ultimately, the photocard phenomenon existed in industries before K-Pop, especially in sport. This industry has evolved the concept of collectables into an approach to marketing while bringing together a community of collectors and opportunities for friendships.