Hey everyone, just wondering what’s your thoughts on Vstar Universe (VU) and Crown Zenith (CZ). Which one will do better in terms of growth potential?
My thoughts are
VU has much better pull rate than CZ
However VU is so massively printed. Half million copies graded by PSA, 2nd most graded sets in the entire Pokemon history, just behind base set (unlimited, shadowless, 1st ed combined)
CZ is also heavily printed, but not as severe as VU based on PSA pop report, but maybe pull rate related?
VU is currently selling above msrp and CZ ETB is currently below msrp
VU has god pack
CZ is the last set with the classic tcg yellow border
VU has severe resealing issue in secondary market
VU has better box art (no offence to lucario lovers…) and more compact packaging
both sets will not likely be getting a reprint any more
VStar Universe is a near-perfect set. If it didn’t have the resealing issue, it would go to the moon. I have to imagine that consumer confidence on the secondary market will affect its growth somewhat.
It’s hard to root for sets released in an ETB format, as ETBs are less fun to open and significantly bulkier to store. If CZ was released in a normal booster box format, I think it would be as strong as VStar Universe in terms of demand.
Long term, I think both will do very well. However, I would put my money on VStar Universe.
Someone please correct me if I’m wrong, but if VU can be convincingly resealed, I think any modern Japanese booster box can. In that case I’m not sure why there’s so much buzz around VU reseals or why it’s something VU is seen as particularly affected by. Is it because VU was printed and opened in such great numbers, more people got scammed overall? Or because the juice box scam was an interesting story that got circulated widely? In the future you’ll have to watch for reseals with any set from this era, until they add some decent security features.
CZ hit rates seem to be tuned so you can pretty much expect a textured illustration in every ETB. So on average, I don’t think the hit rates are that much worse than VU. But yeah, the lack of a guarantee hurts, and a CZ opening doesn’t flood you with smaller pulls like VU does.
I think $40 for a CZ ETB and $60 for a VU booster box are both great prices, but if I had to bet on one I’d say VU.
Even though Vstar was printed into oblivion I think the supply is going to dry up faster than expected
because it’s such a balanced/enjoyable set to open.
I know this is anecdotal, but to me it feels structured more like a “vintage set” in the sense that I don’t feel like I’m burning money opening it if I don’t hit that one big chase card like most modern sets.
I also completely agree with @Dyl that the biggest thing holding CZ back is the absence of a booster box.
With that being said I could see CZ having more short term growth potential simply because it’s English, but my gut feeling is that Vstar will far outpace it in the long term.
Japanese sealed for the past several years has consistently done better than english sealed. Japanese sets are far better allocated. English prints to demand, even if that means printing years after the release of a set. Whatever amount a japanese version of a set was printed to, the english version will have been printed more. Not to mention the overall better printing quality of japanese vs english (print lines, edge of cards, texture).
Personally, I’ve got a sealed vstar booster box in my collection which I love regardless of whether it grows or not in value. It has some of my favorite modern box art and it is one of my favorite modern sets of all time. I’m really thinking of getting a second box to open years down the line just for fun because it was such a great set to open.
That’s an interesting thought and something I didn’t even consider until you mentioned it.
I’ve tried drawing parallels to previous “last set of xyz” and I can’t think of any cases where the primary driver of the value is historical significance.
For example,
Neo Destiny 1st edition - last English set with the 1st stamp and obviously very valuable today but imo the premium is associated with it being scarce and just a complete banger of a set.
Same with Skyridge, last WOTC set and very expensive but imo the premium it commands is more associated with it’s scarcity and just being great set overall.
That is a good point though.
I can’t imagine a situation where being the last yellow border set hurts it’s value in the future but I’m also not convinced it’s going to help it a ton either.
historical significance for last yellow border set?