In our Collector Feature series, we highlight collectors of all kinds and share the stories, passion and advice that have shaped their collections.
For more from Leonhart and his collection, follow @Leonhart on Rare Candy!
Fast Facts
Name: Lee Steinfeld
Age: 37
Location: Dallas, Texas
Collects: Sealed items, rare cards that showcase the history of Pokémon
Crown Jewels: First-edition Base Set Charizard [PSA 10] signed by Mitsuhiro Arita, Ishihara GX promo card
Currently Seeking: Cards with stories from meaningful experiences
“To me, Pokémon means community,” Lee Steinfeld begins. You may know Lee better as Leonhart. With 1,000+ videos, more 1.8 million YouTube subscribers and a long history of bringing people together digitally and in person, community is exactly what Leonhart brings.
So whether you're familiar with the basics (like that he’s co-founder of Rare Candy!) or a longtime part of the Hart Squad (bonus points if you caught that episode of Ninja Warrior back in 2019), there's still more to Leonhart than meets the eye.
Beginnings
Like many, Lee found his way to Pokémon when the craze first swept the US in the late 1990s. “I grew up initially with the video games, Pokémon Red and Blue for the original Game Boy,” he shares. “And once we got hooked on the games, the card game and the show followed from there. So just like any other kid at the time, I was fully thrown into Pokémon mania.”
He remembers weekends at the neighborhood pool when kids would bring their binders, making trades based purely on excitement, not economics. “Someone had a Japanese Team Rocket Meowth card that was laminated,” Lee recalls. “I traded like half my binder for it just because I loved cats growing up. And I still have that card to this day.”
As Pokémania took hold and kids brought cards to class to show off, trade and battle, many schools —including Lee's—banned them. And without people to play with every day, the hype began to fade. “I started to grow out of Pokémon as it became less popular,” Lee explains. “It was right around the E Series sets for Pokémon — Expedition, Aquapolis, Skyridge — which I'm really upset about, because those are now my favorite sets of all time!”
While most people didn’t return to the hobby until the launch of Pokémon Go in 2016, Lee found his way back a decade ahead of the curve. “2005 was my freshman year of college, and we would go to Walmart to get starter packs and started playing again.” With starter decks from EX FireRed & LeafGreen and EX Dragon, Lee and his friends reignited some of their childhood nostalgia.
But things really took off again after graduation in 2009. “I actually graded cards back then with PSA. I had my old binder of cards that were in bad condition, and had first-edition Base Set Alakazam that came back PSA 5,” Lee shares. “That's when I started buying new packs and actually recording videos on my old faceless channel called Pokécollector20 that you can't find on YouTube anymore.”
The Launch of Leonhart
Those first faceless videos set the stage for everything that Leonhart would become. “I didn’t really have any other friends at the time,” Lee explains. “My childhood friends had moved away from Dallas, so this was another chance to try and reach another community out there at the very early days of YouTube. It was a way for me to try and connect with other likeminded enthusiasts.”
He began the Leonhart channel in 2014 just after graduating from law school and passing the Texas bar exam. The name is, in part, a play on Lee's own name — but more meaningfully, honors a close high-school friend, Grant, whom he lost to suicide after high school.
“We always played Final Fantasy Eight, and one of the main characters is named Squall Leonhart,” Lee shares. “He'd always call me ‘Leonhart’ in the hallways and we'd dress up together for Halloween. After he passed away, I created the name in honor of my friend.”
Lee's early videos covered a range of nostalgic topics like features on video game from Nintendo 64 and Playstation 2 before he found his way fully back to Pokémon. “I started doing Pokémon openings like I had back in 2009 and found that to be the most rewarding for myself, personally,” he shares. “That community was so welcoming and amazing. I wanted to build that.”
In 2017, he made the decision to quit his career as an attorney to focus on his channel full-time. “It was the best decision I ever made, even though my parents were really iffy on that decision at the time,” Lee explains. “But you know, I couldn't be happier than where I am right now. It's incredible.”
More than Digital
While most people interact with Leonhart from behind a screen, it’s been crucial for Lee to make sure his work has tangible, real-world impact outside of the digital world. And from meet-ups to museum exhibitions, you can see this in the way he builds experiences that bring community together.
“I recently did a vending machine pop-up event that was designed to be an analog experience in a digital world. I wanted to give kids who've never used quarters in a vending machine a tangible, real-life experience,” he shares of his latest event.
“A lot of what I try to do with these different types of pop-up events, building these different vending machines and ice cream trucks, is involve the community. I want to use whatever influence I have to give back to the world and give back to the community.”
Lee's efforts to give back also extend past events alone. “I was inspired by creators like Markiplier and others and the charity work they were doing at the time,” he explains. Now, for Lee, that means raising funds for his own important causes like Save the Children, the American Heart Association, breast cancer research and, he emphasizes, “most importantly, mental health.”
Natu, How Do Ya Do?
Along with collectors Austin Evans, Leonhart is also a proud member of the Squirtle Squad. “Blue is my favorite color, so as a kid I began with Pokémon Blue and Squirtle as my starter,” he shares. “I remember trading anything for Squirtles at the time. I'd trade holo cards for them. Those memories are still with me today.”
“You have more than 1,000 Pokémon that you could choose to be your favorite,” Lee reflects, “but everyone has a switch that flips for a specific reason. That's what makes Pokémon so special.”
Aside from his love for the tiny turtle Pokémon, Leonhart also has a soft spot for one of Gen 2's cutest introductions, Natu.
“There's a set called Roaring Skies that came out almost a decade ago,” Lee explains, “and there were different versions of Natu in that set.” As he began opening boosters in his videos, Lee found himself suddenly finding a surprising number of Natu — so much so that he coined a catch phrase.
“Whenever I would pull a Natu in my videos, I'd say ‘Natu, how do ya do?' — and it stuck,” he shares, explaining how people quickly started saying it when pulling their own Natu cards with family and friends. “It's a very positive saying, and that's important to me. Stay awesome, stay positive.”
Inside Leonhart's Collection
Over his years of collecting, Lee's amassed an extensive collection with plenty of grails. But among all of his cards, two stand out as crown jewels.
“I had a first-edition Base Set Charizard in 2012. I got it graded by PSA and it came back a 10 at the time — but I sold it for $2,300 because I needed to pay rent or I would've gotten kicked out,” Lee shares. And in 2016, he decided it was time to replace it — and improve it with an autograph. “I got the card signed by Mitsuhiro Arita during the Pokémon regionals here in Dallas. It was the first time he ever signed a PSA 10 like that, and his reaction was priceless.”
Among his rarest cards, Lee holds a Ishihara GX promo card. President Tsunekazu Ishihara of Pokémon gave this card out for his 60th birthday at a small event during the Nashville World Championships in 2018. And while Lee wasn't there himself, he was able to find one of these extremely rare cards later. “This is one of the most influential people in the branding world,” Lee shares of his respect for Ishihara. “He's been there since it started, so having a card like that with this story means a lot to me.”
And outside of cards that are particularly rare, Lee's other crown jewels are cards that hold particular nostalgia for him — like the Team Rocket Squirtle, his favorite card of his favorite Pokémon — or cards with art that tell a story. “There's a Ditto Skyridge card where it’s doing a ‘hi-ya!’ karate pose in front of a cave. And you have to ask, what on earth is this Ditto doing?!”
Advice to Collectors
With decades of experience behind him, Lee offers the following advice to collectors of all kinds: “Collect what you're really passionate about, like your favorite Pokémon or your favorite type. It's easier than ever to go after whatever card you want.”
And at the end, always remember to bring it back to the people along the way. “Have fun, set goals — and make other friends that are just as passionate as you are,” Lee urges. “The community is the key thing here. Connecting with them, making new friendships and bonding with others makes the whole journey worthwhile.”
