- 08/05/2026
The market's holding its breath for 30th Celebration.
By Corbin Hosler
|@Chosler | Published Aug 5, 2026 | 5 min read
It's easy to sum up the Pokémon market in one sentence right now:
Waiting for the release of 30th Celebration.
We're about three weeks out from the release of Pitch Black, which, while featuring one of the dopiest Slowbros we've ever seen (I love him) has overall been a hit-or-miss set. Specifically, that Slowbro is running only about $15 right now, and the most expensive card in Pitch Black is the pricy $275 SIR Mega Darkrai ex. But after that, the set falls off very quickly, with the next non-Darkrai card being the $120 SIR Morpeko ex, with nothing else breaking $100.
Yes, I know how silly it might sound to judge a Pokémon set by its number of triple-digit cards not even a month after release, but Pokémon over the last few years has set a very high bar to meet—and the rest of the market has been about as ho-hum as Pitch Black for the last month or so. That doesn't come as a huge surprise in the typical summer slowdown when people are more likely to (gasp) touch grass than cardboard, but it's also a sign that the market is eagerly anticipating the release we've been eagerly anticipating all year.
Pokémon 30th Celebration officially releases on September 16, a unique simultaneous worldwide release rather than the typical staggered Japan-international release schedule. 30th Celebration is of course stocked with reprints of some of the most iconic Pokémon cards in history, including the last decade that's been so good to the TCG.
Until then, we might be navigating mostly calm waters. The topline news is that among the most expensive modern-day Pokémon cards, there was barely any movement up or down—although Metang continues to climb (the base printing went from a dollar to $4 this week) due to its breakout in the decks of those playing (gasp again) Constructed, competitive Pokémon TCG tournaments.
But there are several notable cards to highlight this week, starting with a rather obscure set from a decade ago that's making waves.
It was actually the small jump on M Rayquaza-EX (Shiny Full Art) that first caught my eye this week—it's officially up over the $1,000 threshold now, having climbed to that point from around $975 a week ago and $500 this time a year ago—but in terms of more recent movements, it's the shiny full-art printing of Primal Kyogre from Ancient Origins that is in fact shining bright this week.
The striking art on the Normal-type Pokémon clocks in at nearly a $450 Market Price, which is up from around $300 at the beginning of the summer. And Primal Groudon-EX from the same set is currently flirting with an all-time high of around $325, which is more or less flat for the past few months but almost double what it was a year ago.
Something that comes up regularly in the Pokémon market is the idea that scarcity drives everything. While news or meme cycles can help catapult recent printings (looking at you, Seismitoad), older cards often move in price simply due to how few copies there are on the marketplace, and how quickly supply can disappear quietly. In the case of the set Undaunted, which released way back in 2010, it's long been led by what is known as the series of Prime cards, like Umbreon Prime at the top end. While there's also a couple of top/bottom split cards like the $200 Rayquaza & Deoxys Legend (Bottom), it's the recognizable Pokémon in their Prime printings that have carried the torch.
And that's the class of cards that's enjoying a very strong year so far. Umbreon Prime was $150 a year ago, and then began a run that simply has not stopped. It entered 2026 at $300 and after about a month at that price it immediately began climbing again. Today you're looking at well over $400 for even a Lightly Played copy, and Near Mint printings at closer to $700. Heck, even the more common Umbreon UD 10 has come along for the ride, climbing from $70 at the beginning of June up to a new all-time high Market Price of $97.
The trend is the same across the set's premier Pokémon, with Raichu, Espeon and even Houndoom climbing in price this year. While the other Pokémon from this set have plenty of premier printings, it's much more rare for the ever-popular Houndoom, but this dark puppy is a hit from this set and has climbed from $150 back in April up to almost $250 today.
Houndooms aside, back to your regularly scheduled Umbreons. That's the main draw as far as I can tell to All-Night Party, a Trainer card from the 2016 set BREAKpoint. Maybe it's just the 10-year mark of the set putting these Umbreons back onto the radar, but whatever the reason it's caused the Market Price on All-Night Party to climb from a dollar back in May up to a $12 Market Price today.
When I said scarcity makes the Pokémon world go round, that's not just limited to old sets—it's old promos as well. Like the XY Promo printing of Garchomp-EX XY167, which has climbed from $20 up to $30 in the last month, as well as the XY promo Greninja – XY24, which was under $100 until just a few months ago, and now doesn't have a Near Mint copy listed for much less than $400.
Lastly this week, let's look back at a set that qualifies as ancient at this point. Delta Species is one of the most unique concepts ever introduced to Pokémon, and its debut in the TCG has produced hits beyond even Metagross Star and Groudon Star—many of which have been climbing precipitously in price this year.
Like Ditto. This iconic Ditto pose has climbed from $50 back in May all the way up to an all-time high of nearly $80 today. And it's joined by Rayquaza δ, which passed $200 for the first time last month, more than double what it was a year ago.
Dragonite δ? Same story, up to an all-time high of nearly $270. Mewtwo δ? Coming in at $400 today, almost twice what it cost just four months ago. And as for Umbreon δ? Try $450, up from $300 as recently as May. So while you may have to dig deep to find the movers and shakers this week, there's always action happening somewhere in the Pokémon market—and there will be plenty of digging to come over the next month as we prepare for the watershed moment that is the 30th Celebration set release!
