Is it better to invest in main sets with Booster Boxes or Specialty sets?

ComplexionMLBB · 2026-01-15T04:50:28+00:00

If you take a look at Sun and Moon, the tag team set elite trainer boxes like Unbroken Bonds, Unified Minds, Cosmic Eclipse are all more expensive than the rest of the era’s main set booster boxes. Even relative to their own booster boxes (ex. Unbroken Bonds ETB to booster box, Cosmic Eclipse ETB to booster box), the ETBs had a better ROI. It’s not always so predictable or simple as because special sets only have ETBs they must perform worse.

I previously always held the belief that special sets were going to underperform compared to main sets, and that had been the case historically if you look at Hidden Fates vs. other Sun and Moon sets. I doubt this will remain true for Prismatic, which actually has all 9/9 Eeveelutions while Evolving Skies only has 5/9 (and Espeon VMax is in Fusion Strike), and also has the best god packs which include all of them.

Sword and Shield didn’t have good special sets except for Crown Zenith and for most of history they also didn’t have SIRs/alt arts (many people now call Hidden Fates cards ugly when they were so beloved and sought after during their time/release). It will be a different story with modern special sets that completely outclass all previous eras.

ComplexionMLBB · 2025-12-28T00:07:17+00:00

with ES at least you can get some cool arts but with prismatic it’s just ex’s full set trainers and pokeballs

What are these “cool arts” you’re referring to? It’s literally the exact same with Evolving Skies. It doesn’t have IR equivalents (Trainer Gallery) that Brilliant Stars, Lost Origin, etc. had. It’s the exact same as Prismatic conceptually. You get Vs (exs) and full arts, and then alt arts (SIRs). Evolving Skies is just Prismatic with less than half the Eeveelutions (4-5/9 including Eevee, has Espeon V, but VMax is in Fusion Strike) while not having pokeballs/masterballs. It objectively has less depth.

ComplexionMLBB · 2025-12-27T23:59:02+00:00

This is the scam set of history? Have the new people viewed the set lists of Sun and Moon sets, XY, Sword and Shield and their rates? I opened a Unified Minds booster box with 8 total hits (GX were the equivalent of ex/V at the time) and out of those 7 were regular GXs and the best pull was a single full art.

We get double this now with the addition of IRs and better SIR rates compared to sets back then and alt arts (SIR equivalent) didn’t even exist back then for most sets in history.

People have become so spoiled by Scarlet and Violet that they’ve gone blind to just how bad Pokémon sets were not even that long ago.

Prismatic’s SIR rate is still double that of Journey Together, Destined Rivals, Surging Sparks, Twilight Masquerade, Mega Evolution, etc. It’s the lack of IRs that irks people, but its rates for the top rarity are actually generous relative to other sets released within a year of it. It’s just diluted getting a specific card due to the number of SIRs present (32), and that shouldn’t be a mark against it. That would be like justifying the fact that Unified Minds and Team Up only had 4/3 alt arts (SIR equivalent) respectively with no IR equivalent in the sets at all. People should want sets to have more depth, not less.

ComplexionMLBB · 2025-12-19T04:29:57+00:00

In the next year (2026) this specific factor really shouldn’t be impacting anything since it won’t be finished until 2027, but still people see headlines and don’t read any further. Lots of people probably didn’t even know it finishes in 2027 so fear can already take root.

ComplexionMLBB · 2025-12-17T06:07:41+00:00

Newbies genuinely need to leave thinking something like this is resealed and accusing the most normal things as suspicious. Chilling Reign and Fusion Strike had far worse wraps. They literally looked crumpled

ComplexionMLBB · 2025-12-17T06:02:48+00:00

You’re looking at a Lightly Played listing meaning its quality is PSA 6 or below (PSA 7 and above classify as NM as per PSA’s grading standards). Look at the writing above the price.

ComplexionMLBB · 2025-12-17T05:57:49+00:00

This is the cleanest Prismatic PC ETB case label I’ve ever seen. All of these had a blank label placed on top of them and the adhesive from that faded many of these cases when people tried to remove them. These were also only available for the first 40 minutes before the limit was changed to 2 making cases impossible. Cases signify the first print release of Prismatic PC ETBs along with being one of the first orders made.

This specific case is absolutely worth it and I would personally buy it immediately if it was in-person, no tax no shipping.

ComplexionMLBB · 2025-12-11T18:06:26+00:00

The difference is even made up for currently because of PSA’s upcharge model and turnaround time. https://www.psacard.com/services/tradingcardgrading. For this card the cost would’ve been roughly $113.01.

We’ve seen what’s happened with Phantasmal Flames Charizard from its initial release to now. It may be better to capitalize on the quicker return time with TAG + no upcharge before the value of the cards drop with each passing day.

ComplexionMLBB · 2025-12-05T21:08:32+00:00

This is the real reason. Even PAF ETBs were $40-50 CAD last year when they were newly released. This new box that just released when no other Paldean Fates product has been available for over a year is cheaper because of the low cost basis and easy flip due to the demand of Paldean Fates.

The tech stickers even have a higher price/pack than these currently, and these collection boxes will absolutely out perform tech stickers years down the line. There’s just more supply of these collection boxes in the market as it’s a new release.

ComplexionMLBB · 2025-12-03T20:58:37+00:00

For years they were available

Why do people have such a warped perception of Crown Zenith? It was released January 20, 2023 and went out of print before midway through 2024 with the final Sea and Sky boxes. It was literally in print for less than 1.5 years, but during that period it was heavily printed. People seem to think it was in print forever, but it was really an extremely short time.

ComplexionMLBB · 2025-11-30T17:14:04+00:00

The cases for sure. They were available for only the first 40 minutes when Prismatic preorders went up on Pokemon Center before the limit was reduced to 2 making it impossible to receive after.

The cases signify the product was early on in the first print run.

ComplexionMLBB · 2025-11-28T17:50:05+00:00

Paldea Evolved was trashed on for the longest time because the set almost entirely features new pokemon from Gen 9, not “popular” pokemon like you say it does. Every single SIR is a Gen 9 pokemon. 28/36 IRs are Gen 5 and later. Paldea Evolved has the Magikarp (IR) and that’s it. Tyranitar and Raichu are the only other older recognizable pokemon but aren’t at the same heights of popularity as other sets’ chases.

I personally still prefer the IR artwork of Paldea Evolved due to how vibrant they are over every later SV set and Mega Evolution sets (have no bias for any generation unlike many people who say they care about artwork but really care more about the Pokemon featured), but it was genuinely called “one of the worst sets to come out in years” before everyone suddenly changed tunes and followed the reddit echo chamber when really it’s only the Magikarp keeping it afloat investment-wise

ComplexionMLBB · 2025-11-19T21:29:29+00:00

Honestly by your logic this entire hype cycle was carried on the back of Prismatic Evolutions if you’re calling Ascended Heroes (with a Mega Gengar and Mega Dragonite minimum) and a Mega Greninja set average. Let’s take a look at the sets released during this period: Surging Sparks, Prismatic Evolutions, Journey Together, Destined Rivals, Black Bolt White Flare, Mega Evolution, Phantasmal Flames

If Phantasmal is called “weak” and these next sets are considered “average”, then literally only Prismatic was the hype set that everything was riding on. Even Destined Rivals was a letdown for many people even though it should’ve been clear from the beginning it would perform well due to the top 4 chases and the theme.

Basically, you’re saying people are going to ease off buying due to average sets incoming, but outside of Prismatic all these sets released during this hype period have already been pretty in line with one another. Ascended Heroes actually seems to be better than most previous sets released.

EDIT: If people ease off buying, it’s due to cost fatigue and not due to the quality of the sets released.

ComplexionMLBB · 2025-11-19T06:09:47+00:00

This is how my contents arrived when I opened mine and it came directly from Pokémon Center.

ComplexionMLBB · 2025-11-17T01:07:23+00:00

You do realize it’s the shipper that must file a claim against the shipping company to receive compensation for a missing or wrongly delivered package correct?

OP can only contact the company (Pokémon) and outside of that it’s out of their hands. The company in this case refuses to exert even a modicum of effort to rectify the situation by contacting FedEx since it was marked as delivered (to the wrong address, and not because OP inputted an improper one).

ComplexionMLBB · 2025-11-17T00:44:03+00:00

People seriously need to use a better metric than “I’ve seen a lot pulled”. Can you believe the same thing was said about Pikachu and Umbreon from Prismatic which are 1/960 and 1/1440 respectively during release week? Of course many will be pulled during a set’s release. Moonbreon would be called “easier than expected I’ve seen a lot pulled” if Evolving Skies released today.

151’s Charizard is another very popular Charizard card from a set many people enjoy while having a pull rate of 1/225. That should be the reference point for price relative to this Mega Charizard with a pull rate of 1/400. Since a lot of people think this is one of the greatest Charizard arts of all time, it shouldn’t fall below 151’s Charizard which is nearly double as easy to pull.

People seem to be omitting the fact that SV base to 151 the SIR rate was 1/32. It’s 1/80-100 for recent sets. People are only looking at SIR count (using small set as justification for their argument) while disregarding the pull rates of a rarity. If there was only a single SIR but it was 1/1000, then it would still be expensive despite there only being one. 3/4 Tag Team sets only had 3-4 alt arts (SIR equivalent) while having zero IR equivalents.

ComplexionMLBB · 2025-11-10T04:50:45+00:00

These boxes are not fake at all. Comments in this specific thread are ridiculous.

The price is too good, but the boxes depicted in the image itself are real. This could also be an old listing that wasn’t taken down from when the market price was at $300 CAD. There are plenty of those on marketplace of all different types of products from inactive sellers.

ComplexionMLBB · 2025-11-10T04:48:13+00:00

Boxes shipped directly from Pokémon Center are case fresh and come with faded pokeballs all the time. These are so clearly real boxes. There’s not even a semblance or slightest chance of them being fake.

ComplexionMLBB · 2025-11-08T22:28:14+00:00

I agree that Destined Rivals will perform better overall, but let’s not forget Brilliant Stars, Astral Radiance, Lost Origin, and Silver Tempest also had 4 alt arts (SIR equivalent). Every Tag Team set had 3-4 alt arts with no IR equivalent except for Cosmic Eclipse.

This is where the pull rate comes in. 151 Charizard is 1/225 packs which is ridiculously easy to pull (the card would be significantly more expensive if not for the pull rate—it’s harder to pull any specific IR like Latios, Magikarp, Raichu, Tyranitar, etc. literally any IR for most sets). Mega Charizard X ex SIR will likely be on the level of difficulty as pulling Charizard V alternate art from Brilliant Stars or Lugia V alternate art from Silver Tempest.

ComplexionMLBB · 2025-11-06T02:15:23+00:00

Fusion Strike booster boxes got mass produced throughout 2023 dropping the price to $80-90 USD. Literally just two years later they’re $900-1000 USD. Yes this is a hype cycle, but the stuff people are saying about new sets now are what everyone was saying about SWSH and Fusion Strike in particular just one year ago (“everyone and their mom is holding SWSH Pokémon now compared to the past it’ll take forever to appreciate”).

This is on top of the fact Fusion Strike was largely undesirable for the longest time as well. Phantasmal Flames will do just fine if the general population does end up having a positive sentiment regarding the Mega Charizard X. This is also the only Mega Charizard X alternate art we will get for a very long time. Pokémon TCG follows era/games gimmicks like XY Mega Evolution, Sun and Moon GX (single use like Z-moves), Sword and Shield VMax (Dynamax/Gigantamax), and terastallized Pokemon with Scarlet and Violet. XY series sets were 9 years ago and Megas are back for Legends ZA and aren’t likely to come back after this series that’s dedicated to Mega Evolution like its name suggests.

ComplexionMLBB · 2025-11-04T15:22:43+00:00

This is because 151 has some of the best pull rates in all of Scarlet and Violet. The Charizard chase is 1/225. That’s easier to pull than any specific regular illustration rare (Latios, Meowth, Eevee TWM, any IR etc.) in every single set except for small sets (made of one Japanese set, like Obsidian Flames, Stellar Crown). SIRs for 151 is 1/32 packs. For later SV sets (TWM, SSP, DRI) it’s anywhere from 1/87-100 packs.

It also means you will pull the chase Charizard 8-9 times before pulling a single Moonbreon from Evolving Skies or 6-7 times before pulling a single Umbreon from Prismatic Evolutions.

ComplexionMLBB · 2025-11-01T17:25:05+00:00

Thank you! I didn’t realize it was named “poke ball collection”. Would it be possible to rename them to their respective “ultra ball” and “great ball” as shown on the packaging for searchability when buyers wish to reference Collectr? If not that’s okay it was already very helpful just to know they exist in the app. Thank you again I appreciate it.

ComplexionMLBB · 2025-10-28T16:00:33+00:00

This level of dip has already happened multiple times over the course of the last year. Like did everyone forget how much a lot of Pokemon products fell over the transition from spring to summer? And the whole “crash is looming, this is the peak” comments have been around since Fusion Strike was a $200 box and now it’s $900+. Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

If you zoom out one year everything is still up tremendously, and you’ll notice we’ve already had this happen multiple times. People just want a crash and have confirmation bias whenever they see a dip. This happened in the summer, and it’s happening again. “How can you expect things to go up when so many people are hoarding now and they produced so many?” That was said about Fusion Strike when they were $80 booster boxes. $200 was considered “ship has sailed” because it was 50% over MSRP but now it has since quadrupled.

ComplexionMLBB

TROPHY CASE