Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

Why are pokemon cards costing so much (in comparison to last season)

xcfrisco

New Member
Is it just me or has there been a $$ creep to staples of both new and old cards in the past year (I started playing in may 2009). Take T/S/S for example. Roseanne's was a must have staple that everyone needed 4 copies of and on average those only went for $3-4 piece. Now, pokemon collector's are easily $5+.

Gengar prime comes in 2 out of every 3 boxes and is currently around $30-35. Luxray lv X only comes in one out of every 3 or 4 boxes and was only around $25-30 when it came out.

These are just some of the examples I'm seeing, not too mention the ridic prices of other must have T/S/S and pokemon cards.

What gives? We're in a down economy and pokemon is getting "more" popular. Does this account for the price increases? Is it that the past few set have been so terrible that it inflates prices of old staples?

I can't figure it out, lol. $_$
 
I don't think it has changed all that much. Roseanne was a $5 card that was very tough to get until it became a League Promo. Luxray was only $25-30 for a short while, it got ridiculous once DCE was released and Luxchomp became BDIF. When Gengar came out it was a $10-15 card . . . Lost World hype has now made it more expensive. Apart from anything else, you only need 1-2 Luxray, while Lostgar plays 3-4 copies of the Prime.
 
oh you're right, completely forgot that gengars were a reasonable price for about a month or so after triumphant came out.

But BTS being $8+, Poketurn $5+, I seriously never remember T/S/S being as expensive a year ago as they were now.

Also, I've heard a lot of this magical holon tranceiver cards. Anyone know how much these cost at their low and at their peak? (just to compare staple tss prices across the eras)
 
Someone told me a whole set could go for 50+.
But I don't think something like that will happen again.
Holon tranceiver was a staple in EVERY deck, not certain ones.
 
Actually, Lux X got pretty ridiculous even before DCE and LuxChomp... anyone remember LuxApe? That deck basically took Nationals '09 by storm, and Lux Xs were trading hard around that time. Flygon Lv.X was as well.

Also, let's not forget the super pricey meta cards of bygone days. IIRC, Rayquaza * hit $100 when it was used in Metanite to combat EX-heavy decks. Transceiver was extremely expensive in its day... every deck ran four. It was around $15... the RH ones were like $25. Crazy. Holon's Castform wasn't too easy to get, either, nor were Castaway and Rare Candy.

I don't think card value has changed a whole lot since the EX era. Let's also not forget that the one- or two-per-box secrets are far cheaper than in the EX era. Many *s routinely go for $25+, some reaching as high as $50 or $60, and are coveted collector's items. Alphs are, like, $10 and noone wants them.
 
I remember TSD (which was played in certain decks) being VERY expensive.
 
You mean like Roseanne, Uxie, Azelf, Spiritomb, Expert Belt, Claydol, Bebe . . . that kind of thing?

We can hope, I suppose.
 
^The difference with that is that a lot of the * Pokemon were playable. The Alphs, frankly, aren't.

I'm aware of, like, two *s that were actually playable; Rayquaza and Latios. I know Jason's Worlds deck played Jolteon, but I still wouldn't consider it "playable." It was a gimmick. Are there any I'm missing...?
 
I didn't mean playable like top cuts. I meant that someone could feasably make a rogue deck with quite a few of them. But the Alphs? SHUFFLE YOUR DECK? Honestly? That is ONLY valuable if your opponent runs some sort of lock deck with Disrupting Spy/Slowking HS. RETURN A STADIUM CARD? Why not just use that space for your own Stadium that might actually help you, not just make it so there's no Stadium for one turn. (I know there's a card that gets more powerful without a Stadium... but honestly, I've never seen a deck around it.)

Alphs 1 & 4 are maybe sort of possibly playable.

Alph 1 is an alternative to the Promo Noctowl for Gengar SF decks, but honestly it's a waste. you can only run four, which means you get only four turns of using it bar Junk Arm. Nocotwl can sit on your Bench for 10+ turns if it's needed. Yes, Luxray will chomp it up, but the return KO is easy for Gengar. Bench Shield stops Garchomp from ruining your fun.

Alph 4 MIGHT be an alternative to Azelf come rotation. But that's Theorymon, so we'll just have to wait and see on that one.
 
^Care to explain? Yes, the only cards that can search for it are DSG and Twins (I think), but Gengar shouldn't have any problems sac'ing a Spiritomb. I for one find Bench Shield very helpful. I won against a DialgaChomp with my rogue Mismagius deck BECAUSE I ran Bench Shield.
 
Let's also not forget that once B&W comes out, the game very well may revert to the Haymaker-style decks of old, with big Basic Pokémon ruling OP. That will decrease the price of meta cards considerably.
 
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