Welcome to Staten News — where one legendary beast is outrunning the whole set.
Raikou ex Special Illustration Rare (Delta Reign #136) sits at $92.70 on TCGplayer market in the latest TCGCSV build, posted Thursday. In Monday's report it was $76.16. That's up 21.7% in four days, and it's the only card in the set's top three that went up.
Almost everything else got cheaper.
📉 The Board Since Monday
All TCGplayer market via TCGCSV, Nov. 12 build, against the Nov. 8 prices in Monday's report:
Delta Reign Pokémon Center Elite Trainer Box: $152.16, down 23.2% from $198.20
Booster Bundle: $38.10, down 15.9% from $45.29
Booster Pack: $6.29, down 14.0% from $7.31
Booster Box: $187.23, down 10.4% from $208.90
Elite Trainer Box: $81.96, down 9.9% from $90.94
3 Pack Blister [Seel]: $23.10, up 3.4% from $22.34
Build & Battle Box: $46.60, up 0.8% from $46.22
The Pokémon Center box was $299.38 on release day, Nov. 6. Six days later it's $152.16, down 49.2%.
Translation: anyone who paid release-day money for that box is holding about half of it.
🎯 Scoring Monday's Calls
Predicted loser: Delta Reign Elite Trainer Box. Hit. Market went from $90.94 to $81.96, and the cheapest listing is now $62.99. MSRP is $49.99, so even after the slide the box trades 64% over sticker.
Predicted gainer: Mega Rayquaza ex Mega Hyper Rare (#141). Miss. The gold card fell 8.1% to $251.62 from $273.82. The Special Illustration Rare version (#138) fell 7.1% to $290.39 from $312.70. The gap we expected to flip barely moved, $38.77 now against $38.88 on Monday.
The two Rayquazas are sliding together. Raikou is going the other way.
🛒 The Weekend Buying Board
Opening product? Buy the box, not the packs. At $187.23 the booster box works out to $5.20 a pack, against $6.29 for a loose pack. That spread was $5.80 against $7.31 on Monday, so it's narrowing, but the box is still the cheaper way in.
Want the ETB? Wait. The market price sits $18.97 above the cheapest listing, and when that gap is open, the market price is usually the next thing to fall. That's exactly what happened this week.
Want Raikou? Be honest about what you're buying. A 21.7% week in a set where nearly everything else fell is either collectors picking their favorite card or a thin market getting pushed. Possible it keeps going? Sure. Guaranteed? No. Chasing a card right after its best week is how people buy tops.
Outside Delta Reign, 30th Celebration kept leaking. The Ultra-Premium Collection [Night] is $369.02, down 12.6% from $422.46 on Monday, with the [Day] version at $346.24. The Ditto Premium Collection is $80.88, down 8.3% from $88.24.
📅 Calendar Check
Nov. 20: Delta Reign Build & Battle Box, presale at $46.60 against a $21.99 MSRP
Dec. 4: 30th Celebration Binder Collection at $95.06, Sylveon ex Tin at $72.37, Greninja ex Tin at $55.90
Those December prices come from our release tracker and are thin presale markets. They've barely moved since Monday while everything already on shelves kept sliding. This is the week Delta Reign sealed showed it hasn't found a floor yet.
Sources: TCGplayer market via TCGCSV, Staten News Nov. 9 TCG report, Staten Deals release tracker
This is not financial advice. Always do your own research before buying or selling collectibles.
— The Bandicoots ⚡📉