$11.29, up 145.69% in 30 days. This is the cleanest mix of nostalgia, affordability, and grading upside on the board. Raw copies are still cheap enough for collectors to pile in, and the PSA 10 ceiling remains huge. This move makes sense.
The Journal
Blaine’s CharmeleonBlaine's Charmeleon · Pokemon Japanese Challenge From The DarknessNM$6.34PSA 10$348.72+65.4%
Daily Market Brief
Jul 28, 2026No. 1206 min read
Pitch Black cards wake up while sealed stays picky
New deck buzz is lifting key singles, but ripping Pitch Black still looks weak
Today feels more active than yesterday, but it’s not a broad rally. Competitive attention is finally giving the market something real to react to, especially around Pitch Black singles, while sealed buyers are still being selective and refusing to overpay for weak pack math.
The split is pretty clear. Playable cards and clean grading targets are getting chased, but plenty of older names are still correcting hard after fast run-ups earlier this month.
Top stories
Pitch Black gets a real demand story, but sealed still doesn’t pencil.
The new set review put Hide 'n' Sneak on the radar as a legitimate deck heading into Worlds testing, and that matters because competitive demand tends to hit fast when players think a new archetype has game across multiple matchups. The cards to watch are the obvious engine pieces, especially Dhelmise, Banette, and the support cards tied to that shell. But here’s the catch, Pitch Black sealed still shows a 0.78x pack EV ratio, or about -22% expected margin. That confirms the market is buying singles, not boxes.
Eevee product news is bullish for promos and display pieces, not for pack rippers.
China’s fully revealed Eevee & Friends: Dream-Illustrating Figures line lands August 7 at about $15 per box, bundled with one Terastal Festival booster pack and a reverse holo linked to the figure. The important detail is the product mix, fewer packs, stronger figure odds, and a cleaner collector angle. That usually shifts demand away from pure rip value and toward sealed display, promos, and complete figure sets. If this line eventually gets a similar release in Japan, expect Eevee collectors to move first and fast.
Big 30-day gainers are still concentrated in known collector names.
The strongest movers aren’t random. M Rayquaza EX from Roaring Skies is up 144.74% to $87.82, Mewtwo EX from BREAKthrough is up 145.69% to $11.29, and Reshiram & Charizard GX from Double Blaze climbed 144.15% to $22.99. That’s vintage-modern crossover demand doing the work, recognizable chase cards, nostalgia, and slab potential. It’s a reminder that the market still pays up for iconic art and popular Pokemon even when newer sealed is mixed.
Some recent drops look like real pullbacks, not bargains.
The loser list is ugly, with several cards down roughly 49% over 30 days. Magikarp 1st Edition Base Set sits at $181.72, Ampharos EX at $46.03, and Dusk Mane Necrozma GX at $19.52. Not every 50% drop is a deal. In a lot of cases this looks more like prior spikes getting unwound, especially where demand is thinner and buyers were already stretched.
Shining Legends keeps winning the EV battle.
Shining Legends leads the best EV set list at 2.79x pack EV and 179% margin. That’s miles ahead of White Flare at 1.11x. If you’re choosing between opening product for singles value, the market is basically shouting the answer this morning.
Today's movers90 day trend
Gainers
Reshiram & Charizard GX, Double BlazeReshiram & Charizard GX · Pokemon Japanese Double BlazeNM$22.99PSA 10$119.19+17.4%
Pikachu World Championships Winner, Scarlet & Violet PromoPikachu [World Championships Winner] · Pokemon Scarlet & Violet PromosNM$131.45PSA 10$808.26+47.3%
$87.82, up 144.74%. This is a flagship collector card acting like one. Rayquaza demand rarely stays quiet for long, and once buyers start chasing clean copies, supply dries up fast. I wouldn’t call it cheap now, but I also wouldn’t stand in front of it.
Reshiram & Charizard GX, Double BlazeReshiram & Charizard GX · Pokemon Japanese Double BlazeNM$22.99PSA 10$119.19+17.4%$22.99, up 144.15%. Tag Team cards keep pulling buyers back in, and Charizard gives this one a much wider audience than a normal Japanese GX. If this keeps getting shown in collection posts, it probably has more room.
Pikachu World Championships Winner, Scarlet & Violet PromoPikachu [World Championships Winner] · Pokemon Scarlet & Violet PromosNM$131.45PSA 10$808.26+47.3%$131.45, down 49.29%. This looks like a classic cool-card, thin-buyer problem. The PSA 10 at $808.26 says the top end still has appeal, but raw demand hasn’t held up.
Decliners
Magikarp 1st Edition, Base SetMagikarp [1st Edition] · Pokemon Base SetNM$181.72PSA 10$3068.51-11.9%
Magikarp 1st Edition, Base SetMagikarp [1st Edition] · Pokemon Base SetNM$181.72PSA 10$3068.51-11.9%$181.72, down 49.62%. This is the kind of card people want to call a steal because it’s iconic. Maybe, but don’t rush it. Base Set commons and uncommons can stay soft longer than people expect when collector budgets tighten.
Grading spotlight90 day trend
Raw is about $6.71, PSA 10 average is $632.81, for a listed 783% ROI with a 17.1% gem rate. That gem rate keeps this from being a blind bulk submit, but the entry price is low enough that careful copy selection still looks excellent. Focus on centering and surface, because buyers are clearly paying for top-end eye appeal here.
Blaine’s CharmeleonBlaine's Charmeleon · Pokemon Japanese Challenge From The DarknessNM$6.34PSA 10$348.72+65.4%Raw is just $6.34, PSA 10 average is $348.72, for 787% ROI and a 24.6% gem rate. This is one of the better risk-reward plays on the sheet. The raw price is low, the character is popular, and the gem rate is better than several flashier options.
High-risk upside pick, Dragonair Reverse Holo
Raw sits at $48.74, PSA 10 average at $1,772.83, with 797% ROI and a 23.3% gem rate. More capital required, but the slab premium is serious. This is for disciplined graders, not gamblers.
Community Pulse
Collector chatter is leaning positive on a few nostalgia names rather than broad set hype. Shining Mew CoroCoro posted improving sentiment at 61.25 across 4 mentions, which isn’t huge volume, but it’s enough to show people are circling premium Mew pieces again.
Dark Dragonite Reverse Holo also improved to 60.0, while Squirtle sentiment ticked up to 40.0. On the flip side, Cinccino ex slipped to -10.0, suggesting the community isn’t buying into that story right now. Overall mood, selective optimism. People still want hits, but they want the right ones.
Pokemon TCGPitch BlackMewtwo EXEevee and FriendsShining LegendsPokemon card gradingRoaring Skiesdaily market brief
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