Yes, I guess you can just go copy the .jpg image and save it to your computer, but it's not the same thing. That is a very childish thought. That's like saying I can go print a copy of the Mona Lisa on a piece of canvas and say that I own the Mona Lisa... it's not real or authentic, it's just a fake copy that's not worth anything and can be proven to be fake. The token/asset behind the card/art is what gives it it's value and authenticity. If you hold the asset, then you hold the value.
A printed copy of the Mona Lisa is like a CAM copy of a movie, or a 64 bit MP3 version of a song, they're not perfect copies, BUT I can download a DVD copy of a movie that's identical to the original, and I can download a flac of a song which is also identical to the original. What makes paintings valuable is they can't be copied exactly, same as coins and stamps and comic books, and physical cards. My son collects pokemon and yugioh cards and we learnt early on how to spot fakes.
Pepe card art is really entertaining, and the community vibe looks really cool, but that doesn't mean there's going to be a thriving collectible market for expensive pepe cards. If I see a card image that blows my mind I can take a screen shot, crop, and email it to my friends , or put it on a t-shirt or coffee mug, and there's nothing anyone can do to stop me, so the guy who paid 1k USD for a rare pepe card as an investment will likely regret his mistake and buy bitcoins, xcp, or xmr for investment returns.
Pepe games might develop that do require blockchain ownership, but other than straight gambling games, I can't see how a really good game design can come from all these random pepe memes. Magic, Pokemon etc are good games, the card art is secondary to the information on them, they're designed well and fun to play. Unless the pepe game design really kicks ass and the game is fun to play and becomes a classic, there's no need to buy pepecash to love the art. That's why I don't see a long term investment here, just cynical pumpers trying to cash in on a craze. Wait to see the game designs that require blockchain ownership first.