I really think Steam Siege gets a bad-rap. It has shiny pokemon in it (with a really interesting dual type design), and I think it’s fair to say Gardevoir is a top 50 pokemon in terms of popularity. The Sycamore as well I think is a great card that will gain popularity if Kalos is ever revisited. I think that Sun & Moon base, Guardians Rising, and most notably Emerging Powers all all worse sets and do not get nearly the amount of hate.
Emerging Powers to me will always be the worst set of all time, and boxes look to be going around the $1000 range. I know it’s an older set, but if Emerging Powers can hit $1000, Steam Siege can as well.
If Gardevoir gets a boost in popularity from being feature in the anime or the game (which is very possible as one of the strongest Fairy types) happens, the demand for Steam Siege will go up. I also do think if pokemon ever revisits dual types in the TCG again, people might take a second look at Steam Siege. Even the shiny pokemon being regular holo rares, I could see them one day being $10-15 cards, adding a bit to demand. Personally, if I can find Steam Siege stuff for a good deal (which is pretty easy to do so with its current reputation), I’m picking it up.
Umbreon, Lucario, Greninja, and Rayquazza do consistently rank in top 10 polls all the time. Especially in Japan, Greninja has beaten out Charizard a couple of times. With the rise in anthropomorphic designs in popularity, I think Gardevoir being the first popular female one does help it a lot. In a way she’s the OG Waifu pokemon.
As long as the games keep continuing, the price of sealed boxes will continue to rise, because the market keeps expanding or at least keeps it relevant.
I think it’s because hardly any of these people are buying to open the box so the price of singles is irrelevant.
Look at something like Rebel Clash or even Darkness Ablaze. A VMAX (don’t care if it’s Charizard) is the most valuable card in the set. It’s a worthless set (both), but already it’s above MRSP (RC). The pull rates are also so bad for all these SM+ sets that you’d probably never open them unless you were a YouTuber.
This is an interesting point. I am becoming increasingly convinced that the Pokemon card market is operating separately from the games. It used to be that many of the card collectors/players were only interested because the games brought them in. Now there are plenty of card enthusiasts who have never played the games or watched the anime/movies.
As time marches on, the expected value of a box (EV) will diverge from the actual sales prices. Scarcity mostly drives this increase, but nostalgia can play a part too.
Based on the interest in the games on E4, I would even venture to say that the majority of Pokemon card collectors no longer play the games. I seem to be one of the few who still does enjoy them.
I haven’t properly beaten a game of pokemon or been invested in one since the release of pokemon sun. I tried playing pokemon lets go and brilliant diamond but could not get myself to finish them.
Eh, maybe for high end collectors which is the impression I get from E4 members.
But go onto something like r/pokemontcg where the majority are more casual, those people definitely play the games since they are buying mainly SWSH sets. Or at the very least they are aware of the new Pokemon via some game or anime or something else.
