Good morning! We wish all of our readers a Happy 2025! This is a quick post on the new special Pokémon set Prismatic Evolutions. There is a lot of hype based on the popularity of the Eevee evolutions (Eevolutions is the cool adult slang). Two questions we’ll answer. Is it worth buying now? How does the long term past one year look?
Do you have FOMO?
Do you have a fear of missing out on the latest cards? Special Illustration Rare Umbreon is well over $1000 on release day.
It is our experience that prices for unopened product will come down on release day, as a torrent of supply will be available to take advantage of high prices. We bought a poster collection box for $38 and an Eevee Poke Ball reverse holo for $30 when the prices were good. The poster is going for $14 to $20 separately, the promos are about $3 each, which means 3 packs are about $3 to $5 each. That’s a good deal when the average price per pack was about $15 per pack before release. Last item is securing an Eevee promo card from the latest ETB.
The Pokémon company will be releasing new products until September 2025. That’s a long time. Find out what cards you want and wait. Scarlet & Violet 151 ETB boxes were readily available after initial release.
We advise the following. Find what product(s) you want. Set a budget. If you find a good deal that makes you happy, buy. If you want individual cards, you don’t need to rip open expensive packs. Buy singles. You’ll save on storing bulk, less carbon dioxide emissions to ship, and cheaper for your wallet. A friend at a local gaming store estimated specific Special Illustration rares had a 1 in 1000 pack chance of being pulled. At $12 each, that’s $12,000 to pull the SIR you want!!!
If you are a trader, these prices are heaven. Your interest is securing as much supply for the lowest price possible, ripping open packs and selling everything except the best items, and repeating the process. For the best items, you are waiting for a price increase or grading them to lock in their value.
Long term outlook
Cards that are not useful to play and unpopular Pokémon will see prices decrease quickly to normal levels. The best cards for a price increase are Poke Ball and Master Ball reverse holos for popular characters, and the Special Illustration Rares for Eevolutions. Sometimes exceptional art like Magikarp in Paldea Evolved can surprise (one of our favorite pieces). As an example, see the price for Charizard EX from SV151 over the last year.
Another recent example is Elsa Enchanted from Disney Lorcana. The price here quickly went to $1500 and now can be bought for $800. Does that happen to Umbreon? No one knows but history of other popular cards gives us a guide of expected outcomes.
Enjoy the set and bonding experiences with your kids and fellow collectors!
Update from IGN on 1/17/25 regarding card shortages
“We’re aware that some fans may experience difficulties purchasing certain Pokémon Trading Card Game: Scarlet & Violet—Prismatic Evolutions products at launch due to high demand impacting availability.
“We understand this inconvenience can be disappointing for fans, and we are actively working to print more of the impacted Pokémon TCG products as quickly as possible and at maximum capacity to acknowledge this.”
“Reprinted products are expected to be available at participating retailers as soon as possible to help ensure more fans receive opportunities to access Scarlet & Violet—Prismatic Evolutions. In addition, more new products from the Scarlet & Violet—Prismatic Evolutions lineup will be launching in the coming months.
“We’d like to thank the community for their continued support and patience as we work to deliver this highly anticipated expansion to fans.”
Sincerely yours,
smilingdad
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