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All prices in USD, as of mid October 2026. Based on actual marketplace prices.
This is a weird one, but before we get into the 30th Celebration set, we need a quick squizz at the 25th anniversary set (Celebrations, 2021), because it shows us where the money ended up. Five years on, if you bought one of every single card in its 25 card main set, the whole lot would cost you a whopping $90-105 USD… yep kinda underwhelming. That’s every single card, including the Mew secret rare (about $55-70 USD, and the only card worth more than $20) down to holos you can find for change you found on the bus.
But wait, it gets even weirder again. The sealed Elite Trainer Box from the same set? Roughly $330-380 USD, BAM now we got you on your toes, it’s about 7 times its $50 USD retail price! The cardboard, the shiny cardboard, comes in beat it in price. Now the 30th Celebration is three weeks old, and its ETB is already at nearly 3x retail (roughly $130-150 USD). So where’s the real investment, the box, or what’s inside it?
What the 25th Anniversary Taught Us
In the 2021 Celebrations main set, only one card is worth more than $20 USD: the Mew Secret Rare, at about $63 USD. But the Classic Collection reprints so much better in comparison, at around $445+ USD across 25 cards, but two cards, surprise surprise it’s, Charizard at $140-$150 USD and Umbreon Star at $70-$80 USD make up almost half of that. Newer anniversary cards are mostly faded, while sealed product and a few icons carried pretty much most of the value.
We can see the same pattern show up in Scarlet & Violet 151, three years on. The Charizard ex Special Illustration Rare (SIR) is about $320-ish USD, and the OG starters Illustration Rares (Charmander, Squirtle, Bulbasaur) sit between $65 and $90 USD. Compare that against $13-$25 for generic cards like Mr. Mime and Machoke. As almost always, original characters hold, and generic ones don’t, you can’t escape that nostalgia price. It’s the same story we told in our Moonbreon piece, in Prismatic Evolutions, Umbreon ex is about $1,300+ USD and Jolteon ex about $180-ish USD, and they’re both with the same rarity card. (Also, quick side note, we compared the two earlier sets in 151 vs Celebrations, but this one is about the cards inside the 30th.)
Where the 30th Is Right Now
The best place to start is with the top SIRs, starting with the most expensive. Pikachu ex ($85-$90 USD and around $75 for the two versions), Mew ex ($80 USD), Gengar ex ($72-$75 USD), Mewtwo ex ($55-$60 USD), Jirachi ex ($48-$50 USD) and Sylveon ex ($42-$45 USD). Then… we see the price really start to fade away: Greninja ex is $20 USD, Salamence ex $15 USD and Fuecoco ex $15 USD. The 30 card Pikachu run tops out at $1.90-$2 USD, becoming essentially bulk. BUT in the Classic Collection, Lugia leads at $200+ USD, then Charizard at $140 USD and Magikarp at $82 USD.
Now for the sealed side, the ETB is about $140-$150 USD against its $49.99 USD retail price (2.9-3x), and a booster pack is $12.70-ish depending on where you’re buying, against $4.49 USD retail release price. That’s all well in good, but we need a comparison. Look at Prismatic Evolutions, its ETB is 2.6x retail after almost two years, and its sealed stuff isn’t too shabby in gains. The 30th is already there after a short three weeks, so a lot of the sealed upside is early on.
How We’d Pick the Winners
Three questions to consider, on top of the four pillars (rarity, nostalgia, playability, and aesthetics) :
Is it an OG character with deep demand? Think, Mew, Mewtwo, Pikachu and Gengar versus Fuecoco. According to the price data, it matters.
Is the card scarce within the set? Use listing counts as a rough guide. The Twilight Masquerade Greninja ex SIR sells for around $280-350 USD, but the 30th’s version is about $20 USD with 232 listings. Same Pokémon, roughly 15x gap, so clearly scarcity matters here as much as the character.
Is it the original or is it a reprint? For example, a Classic Collection Charizard isn’t a 1999 Charizard, obviously. The 2021 reprint is at $140-$145 USD after five years, and the 30th’s is $139 at day 21. Remember, it’s still early days, so this one’s a hard call.
What We’d Actually Watch
Whether or not the sealed premium deflates. Even Prismatic’s Umbreon ex, the best modern chase card in recent history, has swung between about $830 USD and $1,586 USD in the last year and is now about 18% off its peak price. The 3x sealed premium may not last. Stay on the pulse for this.
Delta Reign releases on November 6. What we have found is that new sets often pull attention (and money) away from the previous set released, which in this case is the 30th Celebrations.
Reprints and supply. As we covered in the 90-day rule, a new set shouldn’t be judged until it settles, and there is expected to be more supply coming.
The Reality Check
Let’s be real, it’s early days. We only have three weeks of price history, and sales volumes on single cards are fairly thin currently (often about 1-2 sales a day), so these prices can move quickly, the TCG investment game has always been volatile. Currently, we don’t have solid pull rate data for the all-foil packs. And the RGB Mew trio (about $6,000 USD, $4,200 USD and $1,700 USD) is a massive lottery ticket, not really a true investment concept: only 10-13 listings each, and prices that don’t match their cheapest listings.
The TCG Times’ Verdict: Two Singles, Not the Box
Our long-term and safer picks are the Mew ex SIR (#152) and the Mewtwo ex SIR (#151). Mew has been the 25th’s best card for five years running (not too shabby), and Mewtwo still isn’t a bad long term choice, consider it the lower-priced option with the fewest listings among the top SIRs.
Don’t buy sealed at today’s premium, it’s way too early and the premium is real right now. Skip the Pikachu bulk run and the Greninja, Fuecoco and Salamence SIRs, they are worth diddly squat, and we can’t see much investment opportunity.
When is the best buying window: it’s looking like mid-December 2026 to March 2027. If you are aiming to pay below today’s prices. Our walk-away trigger: if both cards are still above today’s price at the 90-day mark with listings rising, supply is winning, so do not chase.
Disclaimer: The TCG Times is a news and educational platform. All content provided is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as professional financial advice. Trading cards are high-risk, volatile assets. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Always perform your own due diligence before making financial decisions.
