Same rarity, less than half the price: trainer SIRs

• In 17 of 21 sets the typical trainer SIR sells for less than the typical Pokémon SIR, a median 0.42× as much. The exceptions where the trainer art wins: Twilight Masquerade, Shrouded Fable, Black Bolt and Phantasmal Flames.
• Phantasmal Flames is the most top-heavy set: Mega Charizard X ex ($660) alone is 60% of the master-set cost. Sealed prices track a set's total value, not its concentration, so if that one card slips, the box has nothing priced in.
• Singles stay the trade over ripping: Umbreon ex sells for $1,338; pulling one takes about 1,441 packs, roughly $20,300. Even the best box going, Temporal Forces, returns 65¢ per $1. Delta Reign isn't even out yet: preorders already sold out, chase card at $2,166.69.
• The Japanese print of the same special art costs 0.64× the English one for 2024+ sets — Umbreon ex: $409 vs $1,327. The gap is widest against Prismatic Evolutions, at 0.22×.
• Graded vintage keeps climbing while modern chase slabs cool. The strength is in the old cardboard, not the new pulls — and the gap between the two keeps widening. A PSA 10 holo Charizard at Heritage is being floated as a $1.7 million record.

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