The Pack Report
A Legendary Collection reverse holo Pikachu sells for $780,000 and a First Edition Japanese Rayquaza Gold Star for $562,650 on eBay in a $10.5 million week, while 30th Celebration's tins and bundles arrive and October's release calendar fills in.
| Up | ||
|---|---|---|
| PikachuXY-P Promotional cards · PSA 10 | $20,001 → $32,400 | +62% |
| Sharpedo exEX Deoxys · PSA 10 | $3,800 → $9,000 | +137% |
| MudkipEX Team Rocket Returns · PSA 6 | $6,070 → $14,600 | +141% |
| PikachuGenerations (modern) · CGC 9.5 | $104 → $254 | +144% |
| Down | ||
| DeoxysEX Deoxys · PSA 9 | $700 → $175 | -75% |
| Dark SlowbroTeam Rocket · CGC 8.5 | $86 → $50 | -42% |
| All-Night PartyBREAKpoint (modern) · PSA 7 | $85 → $40 | -53% |
$780,000 for a Reverse Holo Pikachu
Last week's top five came to $10.5 million, and the Raincoat Pikachu was 80 percent of it. The other four are the story, because none of them is a card anyone had priced at six figures a month ago.
The Reverse Pikachu: A 2002 Legendary Collection Pikachu reverse holo in PSA 10 sold at Fanatics Weekly for $780,000, nine days after the set's reverse Charizard made $575,000. A common, in a reprint set, in the fireworks reverse foil that almost never gems, and it now out-prices the Charizard from the same set. Legendary Collection read +15.0% in this morning's Index.
The Rest: A 2004 Japanese Clash of the Blue Sky First Edition Rayquaza Gold Star in BGS 10 at $562,650 on eBay on Thursday (the Japanese printing, the English one made $1.02 million in August), a 2001 Neo Revelation First Edition Misdreavus in PSA 10 at $408,000, and a second Double Crisis Team Aqua's Kyogre EX PSA 10 at $384,000, up from $348,000 on September 10.
Population Over Character, Again: On the Legendary Collection fireworks reverse foil, a PSA 10 is scarce for every card in the set, and scarcest on the commons nobody submitted. The Charizard has been graded many times because it is a Charizard; the Pikachu almost never was. Nine days apart, the Pikachu out-priced the Charizard by $205,000.
What It Does to the Set: Legendary Collection has 110 cards and every one has a reverse. Two six-figure results in nine days re-mark all of them: the set read +7.2% on Thursday and +15.0% this morning, the largest set reading in the Index's history.
Vintage +6.9% vs the Pre-Pause Marks; Modern -3.2%
The Pack Report Index tracks two baskets: the ten most-traded cards in each of twelve vintage sets (1999-2007) and twelve modern sets (2016 on), priced by our own engine from public comps, grade by grade, and compared with the same day last week. One note: the comparison date, September 28, still carried the September 15 marks, so this reading overlaps Thursday's and measures the move since mid-September, not since Thursday.
Still Re-Marking: Vintage +6.9% against the pre-pause marks (Thursday's reading was +5.2%, so roughly 1.6 points of new ground since). 89 of 116 cards up. Legendary Collection +15.0% and EX Deoxys +15.0% lead, then Unseen Forces +14.1%, Expedition +13.9%, Team Rocket Returns +12.4%, Skyridge +12.1%. Modern -3.2%, 70 of 112 cards down: Ascended Heroes -9.9%, Japanese 151 -6.9%, Celebrations -4.8%; Evolutions +12.0% and Fates Collide +8.2% the exceptions.
Vintage sets
| Set | Index w/w | Basket |
|---|---|---|
| Base Set | +0.1% | 10 cards |
| Legendary Collection | +15.0% | 10 cards |
| Skyridge | +12.1% | 10 cards |
| XY-P Promotional cards | -0.2% | 10 cards |
| Expedition Base Set | +13.9% | 10 cards |
| EX Team Rocket Returns | +12.4% | 9 cards |
| EX Deoxys | +15.0% | 10 cards |
| Neo Destiny | +6.6% | 10 cards |
| EX Holon Phantoms | +6.8% | 9 cards |
| Team Rocket | -0.6% | 10 cards |
| Neo Genesis | +5.9% | 10 cards |
| EX Unseen Forces | +14.1% | 8 cards |
Modern sets
| Set | Index w/w | Basket |
|---|---|---|
| Evolutions | +12.0% | 6 cards |
| Ascended Heroes | -9.9% | 10 cards |
| Generations | -0.5% | 10 cards |
| Celebrations | -4.8% | 8 cards |
| Crown Zenith | -3.3% | 10 cards |
| Fates Collide | +8.2% | 9 cards |
| 151 | -4.2% | 10 cards |
| Paldea Evolved | -4.2% | 10 cards |
| BREAKpoint | -3.3% | 9 cards |
| Celebrations: Classic Collection | -3.4% | 10 cards |
| Pokémon Card 151 | -6.9% | 10 cards |
| Shining Legends | +0.6% | 10 cards |
A $900 Gengar VMAX in a 9: the Smart Grade
The quiz card below is the 2021 Fusion Strike Gengar VMAX alternate art in PSA 9, loaded in the $1,000 machine, our mark $900. The 10 has a population near ten thousand and trades at roughly twice the 9.
The 9 Is the Card: On a modern chase, a 9 is a clean copy with one small flaw, usually centering. It is the grade most pack-fresh copies actually land in, it is liquid, and it carries the art, the character and the status of the card for half the money. The 10 premium on a card with ten thousand 10s is a premium for perfection that is not scarce. On the Illustrator, the 10 is a different object; on the Gengar, it is the same object with a better label.
When to Pay for the 10: When you intend to sell to someone who will only buy a 10, which is a real and large buyer pool, or when the 10 population is small enough that it will stay scarce. Neither is true here. If you want this card, the 9 is the efficient purchase; if you are grading one, a 9 is not a failure, it is the expected outcome.
- Friday's Wave: 30th Celebration's ten mini tins (two packs, a sticker sheet and an art card each, designs that combine into larger images) and the six-pack booster bundle shipped October 2, with a Mega-era Mini Portfolio and an Enhanced 2-Pack Blister with foil Gengar, Marshadow and Team Rocket's Mimikyu. Pokemon Center's tins sold out in preorder.
- The Rest of October: The Deck Crafter's Collection (40 tournament staples including a foil Meowth ex, 39 Trainers, a booster) on October 23; Espeon ex and Umbreon ex Battle Decks, 60-card all-foil decks with playmats, on October 30. Delta Reign prereleases start October 24.
- eBay Gold Star: A 2004 Japanese Clash of the Blue Sky First Edition Rayquaza Gold Star in BGS 10 sold on eBay on Thursday for $562,650, the first Japanese Gold Star past half a million and the first six-figure Gold Star sale on eBay we can find. Between the English Pristine ($1.02 million) and the plain English 10 ($192,000).
- Tomorrow: PSA's backlog update, the first that fully includes the $59.99 Standard tier's inflow. 8.1 million means the pace held; above 8.3 million means Standard is slowing it.
The Quietest Week Yet
Rip Check: 339 packs by 93 collectors in the seven days to Monday, the fewest packs in any week since the Pack Report began, after 1,159 by 244. The $25 machine did 220 of them. All-time: 18,103.
Pulls of the Week: Friday morning the $250 machine gave up a 2024 Japanese Terastal Festival Umbreon ex special art rare in PSA 10, estimated at $529. From the $500 machine: a 2006 Journey Across America Pikachu promo in PSA 9 on Thursday ($476) and a 2025 Destined Rivals Ethan's Ho-Oh ex special illustration rare in PSA 10 on Saturday ($377). Sunday morning the $250 machine turned out a 2000 Wizards Black Star promo Venusaur in PSA 7 ($230). See what is live HERE.
- Oct 6 · PSA's fortnightly backlog update
- Oct 23 · Deck Crafter's Collection
- Oct 24 - Nov 1 · Delta Reign prerelease events
- Oct 29 / Oct 30 · Pocket's Deluxe Pack: Mega ends; Espeon ex and Umbreon ex Battle Decks
- Nov 6 · Mega Evolution: Delta Reign
The Fusion Strike Gengar VMAX alternate art, one of the Sword & Shield era's most-wanted cards, loaded in the $1,000 machine with a mark of $900. The 10 trades at about twice the 9. What grade is on this label?