u/PokemonInvestor_Mod

In the 2003 Aquapolis set, Pokémon artist Kyoko Umemoto illustrated Gloom 49/147, showing Gloom asleep on a tree branch after using its own Sleep Sap attack.

Twenty years later, in Crown Zenith (2023), the same artist illustrated Gloom 002/159, showing Gloom falling from the tree branch. Still waiting on Umemoto to show what happens after the fall. Perhaps that will come in a future set.

The huge gap in time between these two cards might be the longest multi-card storyline gap in Pokémon history. Anyone know of a longer one?

Probably my favorite card of all time.

Check out Dark Arbok 2/82 from the Team Rocket set. The copyright is listed as “1999-23000”. Pokémon meant to put "2000" but accidentally added an extra "3". If anyone can make it to the year 23000, it’s Pokémon 😊

Interestingly, Pokémon never corrected the error during the standard print runs. There was, however, a "W Stamped" promo version of the card that did have the correct copyright date.

Prismatic Evolutions is right around the same age 151 was when it started to take off... will be exciting to see how Prismatic plays out over time.

(Please note that the chart uses an indexed price rather than the absolute dollar amounts of the regular ETBs. Using the indexed price produces a visually cleaner comparison. This means the Y-axis is not the dollar price of the ETBs. The starting point for the chart is the opening price for each set on the secondary market, not MSRP. By indexing, it allows the graph to show the same starting point (100) as opposed to using absolute dollar amounts, which wouldn't allow for the same starting point and therefore produce a more challenging direct comparison.)

Apparently, Pokémon has partnered with Renova to offer a new line of toilet paper… and prices are already sky-high on eBay with scalpers doing their thing.

As much as I love Pokémon, I’m going to have to pass on the toilet paper and stick with the cards.

But in case anyone is interested, it looks like each individual sheet of toilet paper will have a Pokémon on it, and the toilet paper collection features a total of 79 Pokémon.

I have a feeling scalpers are going to get cooked on this one.

I love these Pokémon Easter Eggs and wish they did more of them. From both an investor and collector perspective, hidden details add a ton of long-term interest and value to cards.

Collectors (especially newer collectors who may not know this card exists): If you’re trying to complete a Mew master collection, don’t forget about this card from the 2006 Legend Maker set. It’s #73.

Investors (especially newer investors who may not know this card exists): This card has both a Reverse Holo and Non-Holo version. The Non-Holo version has the biggest % spread I have ever seen between raw market price and PSA 10 (a 359x difference). The Reverse Holo also has a pretty strong spread at around 16x.

There's good reason for the large spreads since the gem rates are so low. The Reverse Holo has a PSA 10 rate of only 8.23%, while the Non-Holo sits at 21.96%. Combine that with the relatively low PSA 10 population and the pricing starts to make more sense (though still a bit high from my perspective).

According to PSA’s Fraud Report, in 2025, Pokémon cards had a 125% YoY increase in counterfeit cards flooding the market, moving Pokémon solidly into the number one spot for most counterfeited trading cards, with baseball and basketball in the number two and three positions, respectively.

When examining the list of top 10 most-faked subjects (see image #3), Pokémon has six of the top 10 with Charizard leading the way at #1 (Pikachu #3, Gengar #5, Rayquaza #7, Umbreon #8, and Mewtwo #9). The single most-faked Charizard card is the 2014 Pokémon XY Flashfire M Charizard Ex #108.

The single card with the fastest year-over-year increase in fraud is the 2014 Pokémon Phantom Forces M Gengar EX #35 with a 656% increase. Pokémon cards own the top four spots for largest YoY increases among individual cards.

According to PSA, “Counterfeiters are no longer just targeting the hobby's most valuable assets. They are attacking every segment of the market— from vintage to modern, inexpensive and mid-tier cards to ultra-scarce case hits, even widely available promotional cards.”

It sucks we even have to think about this kind of thing. And it'll probably only get worse as Pokémon becomes more popular and technology gets better. I bookmarked this for reference when I want to figure out if someone is trying to fleece me: How to Tell if a Pokémon Card Is Fake. It lists 14 different ways to tell.

Pokémon does such a great job using different perspectives to tell a story across multiple cards.

In Perrin 220/167, she is taking a picture of Growlithe. If you look at Hisuian Growlithe 181/167 from Twilight Masquerade, you’ll notice Perrin’s legs and feet as well as the same color palette and the same smiling face that we see in the camera lens of Perrin 220/167.

See image #3 for the side-by-side.

I’m not making this up. Pokémon Air Adventures is a real thing, and there are nine different jets they feature on the website. Flying-pikachu.com/en/pika_jet

As best I can tell, the jets are operated by six different airlines, are exclusive to Asia, and have been around since 2021 (I just discovered this yesterday).

Has anyone here ever flown on one of these Pikachu jets? I wonder if there’s anything special about the in-flight experience or whether it’s just a regular flight. Would love to see one in person someday (image #2 is one of the jets).

I wasn't sure whether it would actually happen, but Ascended Heroes ETBs have now surpassed Prismatic Evolutions ETBs based on TCGplayer market prices.

AH ETBs are at $178.91, while Prismatic Evolutions ETBs are at $172.05.

How long do you think this lasts?

Here’s mine… Snorlax 143/165.

I’m ready for the weekend.

The S&P 500 is trading at its all-time high and has been a spectacular investment. But Pokémon Center ETBs are on a different level.

The table shows PC ETBs vs the S&P 500 from date of set release.

For simplicity's sake, I added a flat 10% sales tax to the price of the ETBs even though 10% may be high in some locales.

Obviously past performance doesn't guarantee future performance. But these PC ETB numbers are pretty incredible.

Everywhere I look Pikachus are soaring in price. But not the Surging Sparks ones (based on raw prices). The top three Pikachus in the set are #238, #247, #219. They’re all trading right around where they were a year ago.

What does everyone think? When Surging Sparks finally gets pulled from vending machines, is it off to the races for the set and its top chase cards?

The set was released in November 2024, which means we’re 18 months post release, and it’s still in vending machines. My local machine even has Surging Sparks booster boxes right now. With all the newer sets coming out, at some point, it’s going to get bumped.

For me, it’s the Pikachu 160/159 from Crown Zenith. I thought about buying it when it was around $7, hesitated, and now I'm kicking myself seeing it at $50.

What's your biggest 'should have bought that' card?

One of Japan's largest retailers (Bic Camera) has a store in Tokyo that is now requiring customers to pass a 15-question Pokémon quiz before purchasing product. It's part of their attempt to stop scalping (Source: Yahoo News).

If you got to make that quiz, what would you put on it?

I'd probably start with: Name three of the Eeveelutions.

It is mind-boggling that PSA can do over 100,000 grades in a single day. How is that possible?

And TAG... I don't even know what to say about that. A lot of people talk about TAG, so I figured it'd at least be ahead of SGC. I guess not. Anyone use TAG before? Was it a good experience?