The Pokémon trading card game has fallen foul of some malicious secondary market price increases over the past 18 months.
I've been reporting extensively on this situation since January last year, noting that some of our most popular products saw increases of up to 150%. I also learned about the difficulties of purchasing new products, how the price of Moonbreon doubled overnight, and even traveled around Japan to see what the situation was like there. It wasn't good.
With the series' 30th anniversary just around the corner, I decided to take a look at the prices of the Pokemon 25th Anniversary TCG products included in the Celebrations expansion, and in the last three months alone, some prices have risen by nearly 65%.
The prices of Pokemon trading card game congratulatory products are rising rapidly.
The Celebration Pokemon TCG set has been one of the most popular sets of late. More than a dozen exciting products featuring cards reminiscent of TCG past have emerged. Naturally, it was difficult to come up with a new interpretation of the infamous base set Charizard.
As the Pokemon bubble slowly began to open in 2020/2021, people saw Celebrations as a product whose price would rise exponentially if held, and that is true.
The Pokemon company created 30th anniversary logos for all Pokemon.
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According to Collectr, prices have been rising steadily in the five years since launch, but now the secondary market for Celebration is exploding again, with prices on some products increasing by up to 64.75%.
You can see the full data below.
|
November 26 Price |
February 23rd price |
percentage increase |
|
|
Celebration Ultra Premium Collection |
$841.74 |
$927.75 |
10.22% |
|
Celebratory Pokemon Center Elite Trainer Box |
$379.97 |
$414.91 |
9.20% |
|
Celebration Elite Trainer Box |
$213.26 |
$298.00 |
39.74% |
|
Lance's Charizard Collection |
$96.51 |
$103.02 |
6.75% |
|
Pikachu Premium Figure Collection |
$164.41 |
$187.94 |
14.31% |
|
Pikachu V-Union Collection |
$128.51 |
$138.03 |
7.41% |
|
Dark Sylveon Collection |
$97.95 |
$101.78 |
3.91% |
|
collector box |
$139.31 |
$141.74 |
1.74% |
|
Zacian LV.X Collection |
$75.83 |
$88.82 |
17.13% |
|
DragPult Prime Collection |
$53.02 |
$56.27 |
6.13% |
|
Lance's Charizard Note |
$112.04 |
$155.43 |
38.73% |
|
Dark Sylveon Tin |
$89.51 |
$147.47 |
64.75% |
As you might expect, the Ultra Premium collection, Celebrations pièce de résistance, has increased by more than 10% over the past three months. Launched at $119.99, it is currently selling for more than $920, up from $841 in late November.
Two of the other most popular products, Elite Trainer Boxes, saw increases of 10% and 40% in the standard and Pokémon Center exclusive versions, and Zacian LV, respectively. The X collection also rose 17%.
The two products that made the biggest difference were the Celebrations tins, which contained five booster packs. Lance's Charizard tin is up 39% over the past three months, while the Dark Sylveon tin has been the biggest gainer, up nearly 65%.
It's hard to know who's paying these prices, but you have to imagine that with the rise of Rip-n-Ships, some streamers will make huge profits even if they have to pay wildly inflated prices.
- original release date
-
October 20, 1996
- number of players
-
2
- Age Recommendations
-
6+
- length per game
-
variable
- franchise name
-
pokemon
