Pokémon Booster Box Prices Over the Years - An Investment Analysis (2026 Update)
Ignoring this is flat out stupidity.
Four years ago I published a free analysis that documented the return on investment of Pokémon booster boxes from 2014 to 2020.
You can read it here:
My goal was to show people just how good of an investment these booster boxes are.
As a recap, here is what the data looked like four years ago:
Average Yearly Gain: 104.3%
Average Overall Gain: 546.5%
Worst Performer: Crimson Invasion - 28% yearly gain - 122% overall gain
Best Performer: Flashfire - 411.1% yearly gain - 3233% overall gain
Those numbers are obviously fantastic.
My takeaway was that it was in my best interest to invest in every booster box from that moment forward.
That is what I did… for the most part.
I stupidly sold my Evolving Skies booster boxes for around ~$1,000 each because I was convinced a reprint was coming (it never happened).
Those are now nearly $3,000 each.
I also didn’t buy the following sets because I hated the idea of paying more than MSRP:
Scarlet & Violet Twilight Masquerade
Scarlet & Violet Stellar Crown
Scarlet & Violet Surging Sparks
Scarlet & Violet Journey Together
Scarlet & Violet Destined Rivals
(I haven’t bought any Mega Evolution series sets either but there is still time there even if they never hit MSRP)
In hindsight, selling Evolving Skies and not paying over MSRP made sense at the time.
Pokémon had always been able to print enough product to allow for this to happen.
By the time I had realized that we were in an entirely new era, I missed my chance at getting every set listed above at a price I feel good about.
I could buy any of them at the current price and in the long run, it would be a good buy.
That is something I may do… I’m still undecided.
I bring all of this up to say, let’s look at how these numbers have changed four years later:
Average Yearly Gain: 278.1% (up from 104.3%)
Average Overall Gain: 2274.7% (up from 546.5%)
As you can see, things have ramped up significantly.
Since the original post I made the average yearly gain is up almost 3x.
The average overall gain is up 4x.
The S&P 500 since I made that post: +45.2%
While the stock market is much more liquid and a lot easier to buy and sell, it doesn’t even come close.
These boxes outperformed the stock market by a factor of 50.
Even today, four years later, it appears that Pokémon booster boxes are still one of the best investments you could possibly make.
The average gain between Destined Rivals and Journey Together is 87.5% over the last year, both of which were not available at or below MSRP.
The only thing that changes over time is how quickly each box appreciates.
A world where sealed Pokémon cards do not appreciate is a world where:
No one cares about Pokémon anymore
The Pokémon Company makes too much product (physcially impossible at the moment)
There are much larger issues in the world to worry about
The only realistic concern is #2 and as many people know, this is not possible until at least 2028.
Even then, The Pokémon Company has navigated multiple bear markets over the last 30 years and know how to balance product production (except for when they run out of production capacity).
Every time a new set releases and is deemed “garbage” by the community, they dial the printing press back on future sets (means less get produced), and then those future sets appreciate quicker because less exist.
It is a constant time-tested cycle.
If there is one takeaway, it is this:
I am going to continue to treat buying sealed Pokémon cards the same way I treat my retirement accounts.
Constant regular buys regardless of what is going on out there.
You are more than welcome to join me when I send out buy alerts to paid subscribers or just watch from the sidelines.
That choice is yours, I can’t make it for you.
This post is not financial or investment advice.
I am simply informing you of what I have done with my own capital.
What you choose to do with your capital is at your own discretion.
While I will always vouch for the content I publish and the ideas I teach, there are limits to what I’m legally allowed to encourage without putting myself in harms way.