Modern chase slabs are cooling; vintage is still making big prices
The week in the Pokémon card market: our take, the biggest price moves, the news and what's coming.
- A 2008 Palkia LV.X #106 PSA 10 sold for $204,000 at Fanatics Collect. Old grail cards in top grade keep clearing serious money while modern chase slabs soften — the strength right now is in the older sets.
- Opening packs returns a median 47¢ per $1, and a sealed booster box beats its price in only 4.0% of simulated openings. Umbreon ex sells for $1,263; pulling one takes about $19,400 in packs. Buy the single.
- The Japanese print of the same special art costs 0.69× the English one across 2024+ sets — Umbreon ex at $399 versus $1,240. If it is the art you collect, the Japanese copy is the deal.
- Mega Charizard X ex at $621 is 60% of what a complete Phantasmal Flames master set costs. Sealed prices do not discount one-card sets, so that box's price rests entirely on a single card holding.
- Delta Reign pre-orders are running at 1.53× MSRP for the booster box, with the Pokémon Center ETB at 3.81× the standard ETB. Recent launch premiums have faded quickly, so there is little reason to pay one.
Biggest price moves
 BeedrillLegendary Collection |
$300▲ 145.1% |
 Rocket's Articuno exEX Team Rocket Returns |
$450▲ 143.3% |
 MetagrossEX Deoxys |
$141▲ 141.3% |
 MachampEX Legend Maker |
$99.99▲ 133.6% |
 Groudon StarEX Delta Species |
$2,340▲ 131.7% |
 Zapdos - 024/PP Promotional cards · JP |
$32▼ 60.0% |
 Seel (94)Skyridge |
$90.32▼ 59.9% |
 Scyther (106)Aquapolis |
$86.66▼ 56.7% |
TCGplayer market price, week ending Oct 18, 2026. Look up any card.
In the news
- DexertoOver $100,000 in graded Pokémon, MTG, Yu-Gi-Oh cards stolen in FedEx theftPer Dexerto, a FedEx vehicle carrying PSA orders from its Southern California facility was burglarized; customer SKY-B says their 104-card submission worth over $100,000 is gone. PSA has deactivated the certificates and will compensate customers, capped at each item's Maximum Insured Value.
- ComicBook.comSouthern Islands trio nets $972,000; Togepi and Slowking set new recordsThree PSA 10 Southern Islands promos sold for $972,000 through Fanatics Collect, ComicBook.com reports. Mew hit $660,000, while Togepi at $192,000 and Slowking at $120,000 both beat records set just one week earlier.
- MSNAdults who collected as kids are now spending big on Pokémon cardsAccording to MSN, the children who once traded Pokémon cards on the playground are now grown and putting hundreds, sometimes thousands, into the same cards.
- Sports Illustrated30th Celebration reprints outprice originals, except Magikarp at $88 vs $355 OGSports Illustrated priced the final five Classic Collection reprints against their originals. Zacian V's reprint runs $7 against a $1 original, while the Magikarp reprint sits at $88 against a $355 Paldea Evolved copy.
- PolygonPokémon Center's 30th Anniversary drop is $9.99 mini tins, not the UPCAccording to Polygon, Pokémon Center restocked 30th Anniversary mini tins at a $9.99 MSRP rather than the Ultra Premium Collection fans were expecting. Hours-long queues, eight separate tin listings, and aggressive anti-bot checks made checkout a gamble.
- Yahoo FinanceRaincoat Pikachu promo drops from $8.4 million to $1,037,000 in weeksA 2015 Japanese Art Academy 'Raincoat Pikachu' promo, one of 100 copies and graded PSA Gem Mint 10, sold for $8.4 million on Fanatics Collect in late September, then resold for $1,037,000 at Goldin, an 87% drop, Men's Journal reports.