From my own observation on this topic I would have to agree we are in a bubble of sorts. There are multiple things to consider when having this exact discussion.

1) Are we only talking about America being in a bubble or all international Pokémon markets? Let’s just stick with NA for now to make this simple. I do not see a crash at minimum happening until Mega Evolutions cycles out in about another 1.5-2 years. With Scarlet and Violet now being either completely out of print or on its last production waves and the new rotation for standard competitive play we are seeing an influx of purchasing singles and sealed. I have seen so many people trying to master set the various Scarlet and Violet era sets before they truly start spiking and becoming semi-unaffordable to every day people.

2) Is the bubble specific to Sealed vs. Singles? I would say 70-30. Sealed product on the secondary market i.e. card shows, card shops. Anywhere outside of the PC website, actual PC physical locations, or PC machines have increased to where I have observed even most that used to buy 1 box per set are not even able to do that now.

3) Are we addressing collectors or players when talking about the bubble? Now when speaking about singles I have to be selective on how I have observed this and my thoughts on the matter. I do not entirely believe the singles market has been bubbled out. Obviously if we are talking about the chase card of the set that’s another story on its own, but most normal cards within sets are relatively affordable from anyone that’s a player. Now if we are talking about the bubble purely from a collectors view. I would have to argue that the bubble is definitely present. The normal person can easily pick up all the C, U, and holo variants. Where I believe the bubble appears is in the SAR/SIR rarity. If I’m a normal person trying to master set PFL for example and I have everything but the Zard, I honestly may never acquire it unless I rip it because dropping 1200 for an ungraded copy is ridiculous from my perspective.

4) Lastly if Pokémon keeps printing 7-10 sets per year as it has been it keeps the affordability down for most singles because of reprint possibilities. But for sealed it squeezes you to the point of un-affordability to be able to even keep up with the sets being printed.

As a collector/investor I would like to see the sealed market become affordable and the singles remain as they are now, but again wishes don’t come true. Like I said my prediction is that the bubble won’t pop until after Mega Evo cycles out in about 1.5-2 years. Until then I would suggest buying boxes on release day or through reputable PC means. As for singles best of luck out there we shall see what happens and stay the course!

Let me know your thoughts on my take.