While all eyes are on the upcoming 30th Celebration expansion, which launches next month, collectors are already thinking about the last set of the year - Pokémon Delta Reign. The Rayquaza-led standard set releases in November, and while it may not be as big of an event, classic Rayquaza and Kyogre cards are already soaring in value after its official reveal.
Rayquaza is a classic. The Generation 3 legendary is etched into the memory of many older Pokémon TCG fans, including myself. So, when a Pokémon set celebrating the Dragon-type gets revealed for later this year, it shouldn’t be a surprise that it’s bound to be popular.
The full card list hasn’t been revealed in English yet, but Storm Emerelda’s release in Japan gave us a great look at what’s to come. The Mega Rayquaza ex SAR, especially, is extremely stunning, and while I’m personally excited for the Kyogre IR, thankfully, it’s an ETB promo. I’m happy I can avoid the chase for my most-wanted card.
Despite pre-orders for the expansion yet to be released, unsurprisingly, the market prices for older cards have surged for Rayquaza and Kyogre ahead of Delta Reign. For example, a PSA 10 version of Rayquaza 102/107 from the EX Deoxys expansion has just sold for roughly £62,300 ($85,000). Not only that, but the Kyogre 001 Black Star Promo from 2003 has sold for roughly £44,000 ($60,000) on eBay.
These are certainly massive outliers, which are driven by excitement for the new expansion alongside low PSA 10 populations, but both legendaries are seeing jumps in price following the set’s English reveal. The ungraded Rayquaza 102 has gone up by £300 since last week, while the Rayquaza C Lv. X 146 in a PSA 10 has risen from a baseline of £17,809 to £26,700 since Delta Reign’s reveal.
The Kyogre 112 Gold Star from EX Deoxys has also gone up since last week, although it is much lower than July’s peak of £939. The Shiny Full Art of Ancient Orgins’ Primal Kyogre EX 096 is the clear winner though, with listings rising from £489 on 20th August, but recent sales have it at £1,167. In three months, it has gone up by 125%, but PSA 10 copies stay at a surprisingly modest £3,500. Well, modest considering the $60k behemoth.
This isn’t unusual. If anything, it’s become the new normal. As soon as an English expansion is revealed, the Pokémon closely associated with the set become retroactively expensive. Any older cards surge in value. It happened with Darkrai, it happened with 25th Celebrations cards, and it will happen again.
If you’re still looking to finish those old master sets, well, you may be spending a small fortune now. Hopefully they drop in value - I don’t know if I can spend over £1,000 on an older card. My bank account would probably hate me.
