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November 3rd - November 9th, 2025

📋 TLDR

📰 TCG News: The Mega Dream ex set officially revealed featuring Mega Dragonite ex and the new “Mega Attack Rare” rarity, Beckett & Dragon Shield send a graded Pokémon card to space for charity, Walmart enforces new Pokémon card purchase limits ahead of Phantasmal Flames.

🔢 Card Market Highlights: Mega Dream ex case hits $3.5k amid pre-release hype, Generations ETB sells $2.15k, Evolutions booster boxes stabilize around $1.7k, Mario Pikachu PSA 10 surpasses $17k, Latias promo hits $10.6k, and early Phantasmal Flames Mega Charizard X ex sells for $1.5k.

😴 Potential Sleepers: Silver Tempest Lugia V #138 - Underrated Lugia by Mitsuhiro Arita.

🏆 Card of the Week: Zeraora from English Black Bolt #169 and Japanese Black Bolt #172 illustrated by artist Kazumasa Yasukuni. Zeraora is an underrated lightning speedster (and Pokemon in general). Kazumasa does an amazing job highlighting Zeraora’s speed and signature move Plasma Fists with the incredible line work and coloring in this card.

📰 TCG News

Note: Some updates may touch on wider Pokémon news beyond the TCG.

🔵 Mega Dream Ex set officially revealed

The Mega Dream ex Special Set has been officially revealed, headlined by Mega Dragonite ex and releasing in Japan on November 28th, 2025. The set includes 193 cards and introduces the new “Mega Attack Rare” rarity, which features dynamic comic-style artwork showcasing each Pokémon’s signature move. These cards blend nostalgia from the XY-era Mega Evolution mechanic and style of attack names featured on the card art. The packs themselves will include 10 cards with a guaranteed Pokémon ex, making them more premium than standard booster sets.

As a “High Class Pack” release, Mega Dream ex mixes reprints of popular cards with new artwork and special illustration rares like Mega Gengar ex and Marnie’s Grimmsnarl ex. The English version of the set is expected to follow internationally in early 2026. (Source: PokeBeach)

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🔵 Beckett and Dragon Shield Send Pokémon Card to the Edge of Space

Dragon Shield and Beckett Collectibles teamed up to launch a sleeved Pokémon card (Reshiram from White Flare) into the stratosphere via Sent Into Space, protected by three layers of Dragon Shield sleeves including a perfect-fit inner sleeve, a matte dual art sleeve, and an outer sleeve. The card withstood extreme conditions including freezing temperatures around -70 °C, wind, rain, and roughly 180 minutes of flight from takeoff to landing.

After recovery, the card was resubmitted for grading and was determined that the card maintained its pristine “Black Label” grade from Beckett. The card is now set to be auctioned by Heritage Auctions from November 12–19 2025, with all proceeds benefiting The Toy Foundation. (Source: Beckett)

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🔵 Walmart Introduces Pokémon Card Purchase Limits Ahead of Phantasmal Flames Release

Walmart has introduced a new policy limiting customers to a maximum of five packs or boxes of Pokémon Trading Card Game products per visit, according to an internal announcement shared on the company’s OneWalmart employee portal. The rule took effect as of November 5th. Many believe the move follows a viral TikTok video showing a customer purchasing large quantities of Pokémon cards while a manager allowed the sale, drawing backlash online (it hasn’t been confirmed if the rule was added in response to social media).

The policy’s vague wording has raised questions about what qualifies as a “box” and whether larger items like Elite Trainer Boxes are included. Because the limit applies “per visit,” determined scalpers could still make multiple purchases by returning to the store. The timing aligns with the upcoming Phantasmal Flames set launching November 14th, which already features high-value cards such as Mega Charizard X ex selling for around $1,500 and Mega Lucario ex at about $800. (Source: Polygon)

📈 Card Trends

Source: Price data provided by TCGPlayer and 7 day data breakdown provided by TCGMarketNews (which sources all data from TCGPlayer).

Top Gains 🔼

Top Losses 🔽

🔢 Card Market Highlights

📦 Sealed Product Market Highlights

🔵 Japanese Mega Dream ex booster box case sells for $3.5k

​Listing​

With the reveal of some highly anticipated cards like Mega Dragonite ex and Mega Gengar ex, Mega Dream is a pretty highly anticipated set.

Mega Dream ex releasing on November 28th in Japan this year, is already commanding strong interest among collectors, with sealed booster box cases (containing 20 booster boxes) selling from anywhere between $2.5k - $3.5k.This sale puts booster boxes around $175 where they typically retail for about $30-$40 for this particular type of booster box. Demand will likely stay high leading up to the English release.

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🔵 20th Anniversary Generations ETB sells for $2.15k

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The top chases of Generations include Flareon EX #RC28, M Charizard EX #12, and Sylveon EX #RC32 ($3k to $3.5k in a PSA 10).

The Generations ETB hit a high of ~$2.5k mid October and has been slowly coming down with subsequent sales but still up from ~$1.5k since June of this year. There have been some potentially outlier sales in the $1.5k - $1.7k in the past couple of months.

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🔵 XY Evolutions booster box sells $1.7k

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Most of the top chases from Evolutions are the reprints of the popular holo cards from the Base Set of Pokemon like Charizard, Raichu, Chansey, etc.

Evolutions has been holding steady around $1.8k with several buy-it-now listings under $2k. Sold listings were at a high of ~$3.3k in August and have since come down considerably. Evolutions is not seeing the same rate of growth as other modern/modern-vintage booster boxes possibly due to the top chase cards being reprints (with slight differences), but it has been a solid long term hold.

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💎 Singles & Graded Cards Highlights

🔵 PSA 10 Pikachu Mario sells over $17k

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Mario Pikachu, one of the modern grails alongside the ponchos, is hitting new highs. There have been a couple outlier sales well above the current highs but setting those aside, Pikachu Mario is close to hitting $20k consistently. The Mario/Luigi Pikachu cards set themselves apart a bit from the tangentially related Poncho cards because of the Nintendo/Pokemon crossover and possibly as a result, have not seen much of a correction in price. Luigi Pikachu in a PSA 10 is slowly reaching where Mario Pikachu was (~$13k) just a few months ago.

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🔵 PSA 10 Latias Black Star promo sells $10.6k

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This card was included as an English promo in the Pikachu-Ex Legendary Collection and in Japanese as a part of the Legendary Shine Collection. The Japanese counterpart currently goes for about $500 in a PSA 10 highlighting the significant disparity between Japanese and English cards in most cases.

For the English promo there are only 3 in a PSA 10 with a total of 661 graded. Similarly the Latios from the same set number only 2 in a PSA 10 with a total of 628 graded. Price data is extremely limited but Latios (XY79) most likely carries a similar price tag.

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🔵 Near mint Phantasmal Flames Mega Charizard X ex sells for $1.5k

​Listing​

Phantasmal Flames has not yet been released in the U.S. and is set to launch on November 14th this year, but multiple sales of the Mega Charizard X card have already been appearing around the $1.5k mark. Some sellers gained early access through various channels, while others obtained copies from Phantasmal Flames packs that were mistakenly (whether intentional or not is still debated within the collecting community) included in Mega Evolutions sealed products. It’s unclear when this card’s price will settle, but that should become clearer once the set releases and the supply of available cards increases.

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🕰️ Vintage & Niche Market Highlights

🔵 PSA 10 1st Edition Base Set Blastoise sells for $88k

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The premium vintage market is still alive and well with many major vintage sales this week.This PSA 10 1st Edition Blastoise fetched $88k, which is more than double one of the last sales at the end of May this year at ~$40k. There was another sale at $72k in October of this year. The Vintage “big three” holos (Charizard, Blastoise, Venusaur) continue to carry major weight even though they don’t see too many sales for their graded counterparts.

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🔵 Base Set 2-Player starter set sells ~$4k

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Released in 1999 by Wizards of the Coast as part of the original Base Set era of the Pokémon Trading Card Game, the two-player starter set included two half-decks of 30 cards each, a rulebook, damage counters, and everything needed to play right out of the box. A standout feature was the holographic Machamp card, which was exclusive to this set and not found in standard booster packs. Prices have doubled since July where sold listings were around $1.5k-$2k (this doesn’t account for the first release versions).

Fun fact: every single Machamp from this product was printed as a 1st Edition card, making it one of the most common 1st Edition holos ever produced (non-shadowless version). Only the first release of this set includes the Shadowless copies of the Machamp card.

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🔵 1st Edition Base Set Magneton sells for ~$23k

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Like the Blastoise, this Magneton comes from the same Base Set and commands a similar five figure range but considerably lower. This most recent sale is up $15k+ from one sale in March at $7k and another sale at $4.8k in May.

Base Set 1st Edition cards come in two main stamp types: Thick and Thin. The Thick stamp has a wider “1” inside the 1st Edition symbol and is generally believed to be from the earlier part of the print run, making it slightly rarer and more desirable. The Thin stamp has a narrower “1” and is more common, especially on holo cards. There are also grey-ink and mis-aligned stamp versions which can carry extra collectible appeal. Collectors often pay a small premium for Thick stamp cards due to their lower print numbers and status as the earliest known print variation.

😴 Potential Sleepers

Silver Tempest - Lugia V #138

PSA 10 - 3278 pop / 6621 total - $185 average

Ungraded - $11 average for near mint condition

This card stands out to me for its overlooked artwork and its stunning depiction of Lugia. In my opinion, it’s another hidden gem in Silver Tempest that often gets overlooked in favor of Lugia V #186. The illustration does an excellent job of showing Lugia in its natural environment, with a touch of realism in both its design and the surrounding water. It was illustrated by Mitsuhiro Arita, which adds even more appeal given his significance as one of the most iconic Pokémon artists.

📚 Educational Commentary – Collector’s Corner

How liquid is your collection?

Liquidity isn’t something most collectors think about until they actually try to sell. In the Pokémon market, liquidity refers to how quickly and easily you can turn your cards or sealed products into cash without taking a big loss. Some items like Charizard cards, iconic promos, or popular sealed products tend to move fast because demand is constant. But niche cards, high-end slabs, or obscure promos can take weeks or even months to find the right buyer.

It’s also important to factor in the real cost of selling. No matter what avenue you choose, whether it’s eBay, a local card shop, or a convention vendor, you’ll lose a percentage of your sale to fees, shipping, taxes, or the buyer’s margin. Vendors and buyers usually offer around 70 to 90 percent of current market value, and after eBay fees and taxes, you might lose 10 to 15 percent or more. That means even a "liquid" item comes with friction. It’s important to consider all of these factors when deciding whether to sell one part or your entire collection.

🫐 Berries For Thought

💭 What is your favorite Lugia card?

💭 What card are you looking forward to the most from the new Mega Dreams set?

Share your thoughts on the above questions by replying to this email! (I read all of them 🙂)