Rarest Bulbasaur Card Sells For $200,000 ☘️, Sealed Case Of 144 Sleeved Team Up Booster Packs Sells $29.5k⚡️, Huge WOTC Vintage Collection Sells For $19.1k 💾, Complete 20th Anniversary Mythical Pokemon Collection Sells $3k 🧙

📋 TLDR

This week continues to mark major moments for vintage across the board as a Pokémon Snap Bulbasaur card sold for $200,000, reaffirming strength at the ultra-high end (among the other Snap and vintage cards and collections). Meanwhile, modern sealed products like a sleeved case of Team Up packs fetched $29.5k, and the 20th Anniversary Mythical Collection hit $3k, most likely riding the coattails of 25th anniversary hype. A massive $19.1k WOTC-era collection sale is one of several signs that collectors are rotating into vintage amid modern’s boom. In singles, Japanese cards like Karen’s Umbreon from VS and the Zekrom/Reshiram/Victini trio continued to climb, while an incredibly niche grail like the Professor Program Voltorb and a Hidden Legends booster box commanded premium prices. The vintage and modern markets appear to be fueling each other and collectors are paying close attention to both.

📦 Sealed Product Market Highlights

• A sealed case of sleeved Team Up packs (containing 144 packs) recently sold via eBay auction for $29.5k. The top chase cards in this set are the Latias & Latias Tag Team, Gengar & Mimikyu Tag Team, and the Magikarp & Wailord Tag Team. Team Up booster boxes are currently nearing $7k where each booster box contains 36 packs. The 144 sleeved packs equate to 4 booster boxes which would be close to the $29.5k amount paid (It should be noted that sealed products cannot always be equated in this way although it's interesting to note).

  • What is your opinion on what type of sealed product is best to collect for a set? Or does it not matter as long as it's sealed?
• Following on the trend of the 25th Anniversary Celebrations collection finding their footing in the market, a complete 20th Anniversary Mythical Pokémon Collection Pin Set recently sold for $3k via eBay auction best offer. These pin sets were released in 2016 for the 20th Anniversary and feature full art cards and pins of different mythical Pokémon (known as the Dream Shine Collection in Japanese) including Mew, Darkrai, Celebi, and more!

  • Is the 20th anniversary simply following in the footsteps of the 25th anniversary? In my opinion these collection cards in both Japanese and English are still very underrated and will continue to pop off in both languages.
• Continuing on the rise of older Mega Evolution cards with the market catching up and hype around new Mega Evolution sets building, a sealed booster box of XY Flashfire recently sold via eBay auction best offer for $6.3k.

  • The top chase cards in this set are the Mega Charizard cards including the secret rare which is close to crossing the $4k line in a PSA 10.
  • There are several sales at the $6k mark however this is a significant jump from the $4k mark towards the end of April so it's possible that these most recent sales are simply outliers as of now but no doubt the booster box could eventually stabilize at the $6k mark and push past it.

💎 Singles & Graded Cards Highlights

• A huge collection of Wizards of the Coast trading cards recently sold via eBay auction ending at $19.1k. This collection includes cards most notably all original shining cards and from many vintage sets including Base Set, Fossil, Jungle, Neo Destiny, Southern Islands, and more. This type of complete collection, especially for vintage sets, don’t surface at auction that often. This listing included a total of 1041 cards. The seller created a YouTube video with a close up of the cards in the collection.

  • Collectors are starting to notice a real shift in the vintage Pokémon market, with prices and demand picking up steam as the modern side of the hobby continues to explode. With modern sealed products and singles seeing massive gains, some jumping 150% to 350% in the past year, many are rotating into vintage as a more stable, long-term play. One Redditor put it well: “Demand has surged (likely due to modern collectors shifting into vintage), while low pop supply continues to shrink.” At the same time, content creators and longtime collectors are calling vintage the “pulse of the market,” pointing to its historical significance and lower risk compared to today’s fast-moving modern sets. All this adds up to a growing wave of interest that’s making vintage feel increasingly relevant again.
• A trio set of the Zekrom, Reshiram, and Victini from Black Bolt and White Flare sold via eBay auction for $3.3k. This sale comes just a couple days after some news which revealed that the Victini card (which was originally only to be included as a Japanese exclusive lottery prize item limited to 2000 copies) will be in English versions of the Black and White sets. There doesn’t seem to be any kind of additional stamp that differentiates the Japanese prize version compared to the English version.

  • Despite the print quality of Japanese cards being much higher, it’s possible that the price of the Zekrom and Reshiram at least will drop once the English equivalents are on the market as is typical with recent sets.
• With the recent trend of Japanese exclusive cards seeing huge spikes, Karen’s Umbreon from the Japanese VS set released in 2001 is seeing a significant jump with recent sales hovering around $5.5-6k.

  • Will Karen’s Tyranitar (or any other of Karen’s Pokémon for that matter) ride this wave to reach similar heights at some point?

🕰️ Vintage & Niche Market Highlights

• Multiple Pokémon Snap cards sold via Fanatics auction in the past week and a half. Most notably a copy of the Bulbasaur Snap card sold for $200,000. For anyone not familiar with the Pokémon Snap cards:

  • The Pokémon Snap Prize cards are among the rarest and most iconic pieces of Pokémon TCG history. Originally awarded in 1999 through a unique contest run in Japan via the Nintendo 64 game Pokémon Snap, players submitted in-game photographs to be judged. Winners received custom-printed cards featuring their snapshot artwork, printed in incredibly limited numbers (often estimated at just 20 copies per winner). These cards—feature some of the most popular Pokémon in the TCG like Pikachu, Magikarp, and Gyarados.
  • The market for incredibly rare and high-end vintage cards is still incredibly strong when they surface in the market. Other notable sales of Snap cards include:

    • Gyarados sold for $150k
    • Articuno sold for $100k
    • Chansey sold for $150k
• A sealed booster box of the Hidden Legends set released in 2004 recently sold via eBay auction best offer at $11.5k from an original listing price of $19.99k. The top chase cards in this set are the Groudon, Ninetales, and Regi trio ex cards which are hovering around $1k.

  • As with other vintage and modern sets this set is also seeing incredible growth in value despite limited price data. One question that sometimes comes up with sets like this is why the booster boxes are so expensive despite the top chase cards not coming anywhere close to the value of the booster box even in a PSA 10. This is by no means a profound or otherwise revealing answer, but there are generally several factors that go into it such as the shrinking supply of the sealed product itself considering the age. It’s also that scarcity as well as the potential of pulling a top chase card that encourages growth and demand.
• A copy of the cosmos holo version of the Professor Program Voltorb recently sold via eBay auction in a PSA 9 for $15k.

  • This particular Voltorb card is an extremely rare Pokémon TCG promo card from the 151 set, given to head mentors at the 2024 North American International Championships (NAIC) as part of the Professor Program. Only 12 of these Cosmos holo versions were ever produced, making it one of the rarest English cards ever printed.

⌛ Pokemon Time Machine

Might not be directly card related

In 2020, a hand drawn and signed original art of Pichu by Ken Sugimori, sold at Goldin auction for $45,000 (with the added buyer’s premium the buyer ultimately paid $54,000).

📚 Educational Commentary – Collector’s Corner

What is a “shadowless” card — and why do Base Set print variations matter so much?

When Pokémon cards were first printed in English in 1999 the earliest print run was 1st Edition Shadowless, identifiable by a 1st Edition stamp and the absence of a drop shadow around the Pokémon portrait box. Shortly after, Shadowless Unlimited cards were printed and these cards had no 1st Edition stamp but still lacked the shadow. Finally, the standard Unlimited Base Set added the now-familiar shadow behind the portrait box. Collectors prize these early variants for several reasons: Scarcity: 1st Edition and Shadowless prints were limited, especially compared to the mass-printed Unlimited version. Historical significance: These were the very first English Pokémon cards ever printed, making them a milestone in TCG history. Importantly, these print distinctions have massive implications for value. A PSA 10 Base Set Charizard from each print run can range from: $15k–$20k for Unlimited, $60k+ for Shadowless, and $150k–$300k+ for 1st Edition Shadowless.

🫐 Berries For Thought

💭 What are your thoughts on collecting other Pokémon collectible items in addition to cards such as sealed games or original artwork?

💭 When do you decide to invest in modern vs vintage cards or sealed products?

Feedback/Questions?

Contact me at news@luckyeggreport.com 🥚