August 18th - August 24th, 2025
Black & White Starter Tin Set Sells $5.4k 🧰, PSA 10 Japanese Neo Shining Mewtwo Sells $19k 🔮, Lot of 20 Korean Promo Ditto Sells $2.13k 🃏, Pokemon Anime Cards Booster Pack Box Sells $5.25k 📦
Note: sold listing links sometimes redirect to active listings after some time but should still be discoverable by searching for the listings manually.
📋 TLDR
This week we continue to see steady activity across the BW and SM eras. Sealed highlights included a Black & White Starter Tin trio at $5.4k, a Forbidden Light case at $8.5k (a slight discount versus a late July comp), and an extremely scarce Diamond & Pearl booster box at $7.9k. Singles strength centered on niche and language-exclusive promos: a 20-card Korean Metamong Ditto lot worked out to $100+ per slab, a CGC Pristine 10 Moltres from Supreme Victors reached $2.25k (well above recent PSA 10s), the Yu Nagaba Eeveelutions PSA 10 set crossed $1k, and the Pokémon Center ETB promo Charmander posted multiple $3k+ results.
On the vintage/niche side, a PSA 10 Japanese Neo Shining Mewtwo achieved $19k—more than triple its English counterpart, a New Year Present Fan Club Gyarados sold for $2.4k, and a sealed Anime Cards booster pack box brought $5.25k, with contents value underpinning the premium. Potential Sleeper: Riolu 215 (S&V Base) continues a climb into the $250–$300 range, supported by appealing art, a ~17% PSA 10 gem rate, and fresh attention from the recent Mega Evolutions release.
📦 Sealed Product Market Highlights
🔵 Black & White Starter tin set (ft. Snivy, Tepig, and Oshawott) sells for $5.4k
Listing - Best offer accepted from $6k list price
For anyone who may not be familiar: The B&W Starter Tins were released in 2011 to preview the upcoming Black & White expansion and introduce the new Unova region starter Pokémon where each respective tin contains a promo starter card. The tins also included a special preview pack with five cards from the main Black & White expansion and four randomized booster packs from older sets in the HeartGold & SoulSilver or Platinum series.
The promos themselves don’t go for much. The B&W preview pack averages around $30. Now with the randomized booster packs on the other hand, the prices vary a bit of course depending on the set (Call of Legends, HS series, Platinum series). For example though, Call of Legend booster packs average around $400 looking at the past couple weeks of sales (In the July 28th report I shared that a lot of 26 Call of Legends booster packs sold for $10.5k).
Now of course this isn’t an accurate assumption but for the sake of example if we assume that each tin had four Call of Legends booster packs, this would put the value of the tins close to $5k (but realistically the value could be anywhere from $4k-$5k conservatively). The premium paid from this sale of tins seems more like a long term investment for the older packs they contain given that there’s no way to know what packs are contained without opening them.
🔵 Forbidden Light case of 6 booster boxes sells for $8.5k
The overall sentiment around Forbidden light is somewhat mixed. On the whole it lacks popular chase cards and features Necrozma as the main legendary chase which historically has never been all that popular to collect within the TCG. Additionally the top chases of this set (Rainbow Lucario, Greninja, Dialga and the like) value wise are predominantly rainbow cards which also don’t have the greatest reputation collecting wise. Naturally of course, its age and relative scarcity have driven up the prices of sealed products and key singles.
The latest booster box sales put Forbidden Light at around a $1.5k average with some sales as high as $2k. In fact, another sealed case sold for $9.25k at the end of July making this sale a slight bargain. There is a slight disconnect between top chase value where the Lucario GX in a PSA 10 is hovering around $400 and booster box value is more than triple. At this point, as long as it's sealed, even underwhelming sets will stand the test of time and continue to rise in value on the basis of scarcity.
🔵 Diamond and Pearl booster box sells for $7.9k
The top chase cards of this set are the starters including Empoleon LV.X 120 with an extremely limited PSA 10 pop of 20 and fetching around $2.5k (price data is extremely limited). Close behind is Torterra LV.X 122, with a PSA 10 pop of 58 and an average price around $2.35k and finally Infernape LV.X 121 has a PSA 10 pop of 63. The most recent sale that I could find was at $872 last year in April (there are probably other more recent sales at a higher price that I just couldn’t track down).
The most recent sale before this one that I can find for this booster box was in October 2024 at $5k. Following that would be another sale at $8.2k although I wasn’t actually able to verify it. The pricing data was extremely limited due to the scarcity and so for that reason the price jumps may not be that significant but otherwise not out of the ordinary either.
💎 Singles & Graded Cards Highlights
🔵 Lot of 20 Korean Promo Metamong Ditto sells for $2.13k
Released as part of the "Pokémon Town Metamong Project" event held in Seoul, these cards were a free promotional giveaway for attendees who completed a QR stamp rally. This card is especially notable for being exclusive to the Korean market and for its charming and unique art style which follows other Ditto cards where Ditto is disguised as another Pokemon.
This sale highlights the immense value of this formerly free giveaway that a lot of enthusiasts might have previously overlooked because it was a free giveaway and therefore had a high population of cards. Now this card has a PSA 10 pop of 6502 with the total number of graded cards at 7603 so the rate of getting a 10 is by no means low. Nevertheless when a card is out of print it's out of print and we’re starting to see the effects of that. This sale translated to a per card price of over $100. The card's value has seen a rapid increase since its release, with prices climbing from an initial average of around $50-60 over the past couple of months.
This sharp rise is driven by a perfect storm of factors: the card's limited, event-exclusive distribution; its unique and popular artwork; and the growing international interest and collector demand for niche language exclusive cards.
🔵 CGC Pristine 10 Supreme Victors Moltres sells for $2.25K
Supreme Victors from the Platinum era has been appearing a lot recently across multiple reports for sealed product sales and singles sales like the Garchomp that sold for $7k. Among the other top chases of the set, the legendary bird trio is also quite popular. Moltres had a recent sale at $1.2k. Now in some cases the CGC Pristine 10 often considered to be in some cases the equivalent to a PSA 10 (not always) is fetching almost a 2x premium. Again keep in mind I’m just comparing 1 PSA 10 sale to another but then again the PSA 10 pop for this card is extremely limited at 38.
🔵 PSA 10 Yu Nagaba Eevelutions set sells for $1.2k
In the June 30th report I shared the Yu Nagaba Eevelutions set as one to keep an eye on despite the incredibly high population count (20K in a PSA 10 for the Umbreon for example). Now after close to two months we’ve crossed the $1k line and are starting to see a steady trend. Is it sustainable? I would suspect that long term there will be some dips here and there again because of the population count but I think its a safe long term hold. Just like with the Korean Ditto promo its the perfect storm of all the right factors with very unique artwork in collaboration with a well known artist, and language exclusive featuring popular Pokemon.
I would actually call out the Pikachu from this set as being an underrated card that has yet to take off completely (PSA 10 pop count of 24340) hovering around $180-$200.
🔵 PSA 10 Obsidian Flames Pokemon Center ETB Promo Charmander crosses $3k line
There’s not much to call out here but in last week’s report I shared that a PC stamped S&V Charmander Promo sold for $2k. Just this week alone we’ve seen three confirmed sales with one close to $3k and two crossing the $3k mark. The value has been steadily climbing to $2k since about July but with such a sudden jump to $3k, will this be the new price point or just a case of outlier sales due to buyer FOMO. Either way, this is an insane jump.
🕰️ Vintage & Niche Market Highlights
🔵 PSA 10 Japanese Neo Shining Mewtwo sells for $19k
This copy of Shining Mewtwo that sold for a staggering almost $20k had me curious about how the English counterparts were faring. Surprisingly, there were multiple sales in July and one in August hovering around $4.5k. Normally this would be the opposite case due to the fact that Japanese sets have a guaranteed holo / “rare” pull making the more valuable cards easier to pull and also easier to grade in a 10 given the superior print quality in Japanese compared to English. However, with the Neo cards in particular, that same guarantee did not apply to the Shining cards in particular making them much more rare.
With that being said, at this staggering growth rate (there was one confirmed sale for the Japanese version in Feb 2024 at $1.15k which is unthinkable now) are the English versions of the Shining cards still at a solid value relative to other English vintage cards that are priced even higher?
🔵 Japanese New Year Present Fan Club Promo Gyarados sells for $2.4k
The Japanese New Year Present Fan Club Promo Gyarados (released as a jumbo card) is a prime example of a card whose value is rooted in its unique and difficult distribution like the Masaki promos talked about in previous reports. This card was not available in booster packs but was instead a special mail-in prize awarded to members of the official Pokemon Fan Club in Japan who accumulated 200 "GET Points" by participating in official events. The card was mailed to recipients in 2000 as an actual postcard, with a message and a designated space for the address on the back. This quirky, vintage origin and unique art by Tomokazu Komiya have made it a cornerstone for serious collectors of ultra niche vintage promos.
Given how niche this card is the pricing data was extremely limited however there was a recent sold listing at the end of July for $2k. There is also an active listing for a graded copy at a PSA 3 for $4.9k. In my opinion this is a very cool card that also has great collectability (and it also features other dragon type Pokemon with some great quirky art).
🔵 Sealed Pokemon Anime Cards booster pack box sells for $5.25k
These Anime Cards boxes are unique time capsules from the height of the Wizards of the Coast era of Pokemon that also combined other unique Pokemon products like theme decks and the VHS tape featuring episodes from the Pokemon anime.
For a discerning buyer, the value of this lot can be calculated by looking at its individual components. The sealed packs are the main attraction: two Aquapolis booster packs, currently valued at roughly $800 each, and two Expedition booster packs, valued at about $900 each, already bring the total to $3,400. When you add the value of a Neo Discovery booster pack (~$400), a Fossil booster pack (~$200), and a sealed Expedition Alakazam Echo theme deck (~$300), the total value of the sealed card products alone is approximately $4.2k. However the slight premium paid here is probably more for the value of the unique vintage product itself which always performs well long term (but mostly thanks to its contents).
😴 Potential Sleepers
Riolu 215 - Scarlet & Violet Base Set
This card was released as a part of the Scarlet & Violet base set in 2023 and has been on a steady climb since the end of June. This was after a dip from around $230 in March of this year. Now I will admit a bit of bias here because Lucario and by extension Riolu are two of my favorite Pokemon. But nonetheless I think this card has some solid attributing factors to its potential takeoff.
I want to call out the obvious (at least to me) which is the charming artwork and Lucario on the back wall. Riolu has just a handful of full arts (just 3 that I am aware of at the present time) and to me this has the best storytelling and it’s really fun to look at. Now of course this can’t be the only contributing factor so back to the numbers, this card has been on a steady climb since June from a price point around $170 to an almost $130 increase where the most recent sales from the past month have been solidly in the $250-$300 range. Still speculation but these are in my opinion some of the contributing factors.
The PSA 10 pop for this card is 783 but with a total PSA pop of 4717. This puts the gem rate at about 17% which is decently low. I’m only mentioning this because I do think Riolu as a whole is a decently popular Pokemon perhaps because of Lucario, and as such the full art cards especially are in high demand.
Last but not least I think enthusiasts are starting to take greater notice of this card because of the latest Mega Evolution set which was released with a new Riolu full art as the ETB promo (3rd in total but correct me if I'm wrong on this) which will also have a PC stamped version which are inevitably always very popular. This set also largely focused on Mega Evolution Lucario with a Mega Ultra Rare Gold card and a Secret Art Rare featuring a really cool Mega Lucario vs Mega Venusaur showdown. If collectors view Riolu and Lucario as a collectible pair from this set that could also contribute to the value of this card rising however minor (although I think that’s already happening even now).
📚 Educational Commentary – Collector’s Corner
What percentage of a collection should be in sealed vs slabs for balanced risk?
I see this as a question that comes up occasionally and the right answer really depends on the goal for your collection (assuming it's from an investing standpoint). While there is no single right mix, a simple way to frame it is time horizon, liquidity needs, and reprint or population risk. Slabs are generally much more volatile and are usually easier to sell due to high immediate demand but their risk is tied to several factors and in the case of some modern cards, a price jump could often just be manipulation. Sealed on the other hand almost always goes up over time simply due to scarcity even for “underwhelming sets”. However sealed products do take up space and in some cases carry authenticity risk (which becomes an issue for older sets mainly). There are also reprint considerations but inevitably sets will go out of print. If your horizon is short term, maybe within a year or so, tilt toward slabs. But if your horizon is several years or more, sealed products can easily compound as supply dries up. At the end of the day it all depends on your collecting goals.
🫐 Berries For Thought
💭 Do you think tins are underrated as a sealed product? Even with low value promos, do they only hold their value because of the packs inside?
💭 Will we ever see a return to alternate Pokemon card collectibles like the Topps cards?
Share your thoughts on the above questions by replying to this email! (I read all of them 🙂)