If you walk into Andre Fernandez’s art class and look at some of the artwork that covers his walls, you’ll be able to see the colorful portraits hung on his walls such as his wide variety of pokemon portraits including famous Pokemon like Mewtwo, Snorlax, Meowth, and the Eeveelutions. This only reveals the tip of the iceberg for his deep passion for Pokemon cards and sports cards. 

Fernandez, who has been working at Alisal for over 8 years, teaches students how to express themselves with art. While many simply know him because of his art class and his amazing vibrant art projects that highlight Hispanic culture, He first showed interest in Pokemon cards when he was a young kid, but soon stopped once the market started increasing their prices. 

“I grew up with it, and seeing from when it was valued as a kid till now, it’s insane.”

He started collecting and prioritizing Pokemon again in 2020 as an adult. He started collecting sports trading cards 3 years ago at a card show that he attended when a random person offered to trade a Fred Warner rookie autograph card worth $300 in exchange for one of his Gengar paintings, which made him realize he could get into collecting sports cards. 

Since there were many new Pokemon sets and Pokemon that he wasn’t familiar with, it was difficult to get into the Pokemon market, “I was like, oh cool, maybe I’ll do sports cards instead because I follow all these sports players,” he said. 

After incorporating both Pokemon and sports cards he found himself trading his artwork for cards or just trading with people who were interested, “I’m down for the trade when it costs me my time and effort for that painting,” Fernandez said.

Initially he started by going to the Fresno card and collectible show where he started trading and buying cards and since then Fernandez travels every weekend to art and card shows, where he looks to trade his paintings for other people’s cards, card for cards, and any offer or deal he could get.

  He has traveled every weekend to shows all across California for the past 3 years. Wherever these shows are, Fernandez will be there. “I don’t care if I have to drive 3-6 hours, I’ll be there,” he said. Thanks to his artwork, Fernandez has built a big following as an artist, where people constantly want to have custom pieces made by him, such as one of a kind artworks that they’ll trade it for some cards, “I get to incorporate both of my hobbies now, collecting and selling my artwork,” Fernandez said, “It’s fair because they value my artwork.”

Many people would not travel every weekend after continuously working the whole week, but Fernandez found it as an investment, since it didn’t cost him his money but rather his time creating the artwork, “Knowing that I could sell and make $10,000 a day, I mean who wouldn’t want to do that,” Fernandez said. He initially considered art as a hobby to pass time and relieve stress, so he found it as a win-win in his book doing all the traveling.

He finds joy in collecting cards and making art that he could later trade at an art show or simply keep in his collection, “It’s the thrill of finding a diamond in the rough,” Fernandez said. “The passion of finding a card that I had when I was a little kid sparks my interest.”  

After continuously collecting cards for over 4 years now, Fernandez’s card collection is worth around 70 thousand dollars, by his estimate. His most expensive card is a Kobe Bryant on card autograph worth $7,500. Without regarding the value or money of his card collection his favorite Pokemon card is the Umbreon VMAX that he got by trading artwork and cash and his favorite sports card is the Stephen Curry rookie gold card by gathering enough money to buy it, “I never thought that would be in my collection, I made a lot of money and that card came to my table like fate,” he said.

Being an artist has brought Fernandez into a different space where he could invest his earnings from his art into cards. Although collecting cards, selling his artwork, and creating new paintings may sound fun, it can get tiring at times because traveling every weekend to shows means Fernandez has no days off whatsoever, and has less time to spend with his girlfriend. “I’m actually surprised she lets me go every weekend,” Fernandez said. “We know that we don’t want to keep each other from doing what we like to do,” Fernandez said, “It would cause resentment towards one another.” 

He is also referred to as the king of trades at the card shows that he attends because he has become a familiar face and people like his artwork, along with his card collection. ”If they are not feeling confident about the trade I’ll throw in a couple free prints and stickers of my work if we can close a deal,” he said. “I always sweeten the pot or give them extra goodies.” 

Fernandez believes that collecting trading cards and creating artwork is something that he will continue to do for the rest of his life because both hobbies get to be incorporated into each other because selling his artworks allows him to have more funds to purchase trading cards and also allow him to keep attending these art and card shows. “It’s a hobby I started when I was younger, where now I find it as a passion because it’s my side hustle and hobby.”

He is even willing to help budding collectors with their collections. For people wondering if their cards are worth any money or if they are wondering if your cards are worth grading, stop by his classroom (or his table at a show) and have a chat with him about trading cards. Since many people don’t know about his passion for collecting and selling trading cards, he longs for the chance to speak to somebody about it. “The least I could do is just pass it on,” he said “I can share the ins and outs, the tricks and the trade of the hobby.” 

Fernandez is a brilliant art teacher who is willing to not only teach kids art but also help them get into a great hobby, feel free to go to see him and ask him questions about his card collection. Maybe you’ll just close a sweet deal with the king of trades.