You will not believe the prices that old Pokemon Booster Boxes are selling for!
(Updated June 1, 2020 – Pojo Note: I updated prices based on recent eBay sales where applicable)
I have been playing and collecting Trading Card Games (TCG’s) since the mid-1990’s. I started playing Magic: The Gathering (MTG) in 1996. I remember seeing a Black Lotus card from MTG at my local game store selling for $300. I still remember thinking $300 for a single card was crazy!
In 2017, someone paid $100,000 for a Perfect 10 graded Black Lotus. Wow! Just … Wow! A PSA 9 Black Lotus sold for $62,000 in April 2020.
While playing in a large MTG Tournament in January 1999, representatives of Wizards of the Coast were demonstrating their new Pokemon Trading Card Game. I played the demo, and enjoyed it. The Base Set of Pokemon had just been released. My kids and I had been playing the Pokemon Red/Blue games on the old B&W GameBoys, so I picked up some booster packs to teach them a TCG. Booster packs sold for $3.29 each back then. And Booster Boxes of the Base Set retailed for about $118. The real Pokemon Craze started in the Spring/Summer of 1999, about 2-3 months later.
Had I known in 1999 what I know now!
Cut to 2020 and Pokemon still has legs! There are a lot of Pokemon Collectors/Investors with money to burn. And there a lot of readers out there sitting on small fortunes.
There were a lot of moms & dads playing in Pokemon Tournaments with their children in 1999/2000. Some parents would buy two boxes of Pokemon cards: One box of Pokemon cards to open with their kids; And another box stored away for a rainy day. Well, that rainy just might be here for them!
One particular parent I know would always but 2 Pokemon Booster Boxes when they hit stores. He would give his kids a pack a day if his kids had good days at school. Luckily (or unluckily) this was a rare occurrence for him and his kids. And now, he has some unopened old booster boxes still sitting in his closet.
I’ve been scouring eBay lately, looking at past sales of Pokemon Booster Boxes, and basically freaking out. There are over two dozen Pokemon booster box expansions selling for more than $3000 each!
Pokemon Booster Box Price Guide
So without further adieu, let’s have a look at Crazy Pokemon Booster Box Prices!
Note: When i mention single card values in the article, I’m specifically mentioning cards graded Gem-Mint by an Independent Grading Service. Card Prices and Booster prices are based on Actual eBay Sales in the United States!
Pokemon Base Set, 1st Edition, 1999 – $60,000 The Holy Grail of Pokemon Booster Boxes! 1st edition Pokemon Cards sell for ridiculously high prices. In November 2018, this booster box sold for $60,200 on eBay – receiving over 64 bids in the process. Why is this going for $60k? Basically, every card in this box is still mint, and could sell for great prices. Charizards in this box can sell for $20,000 to $75,000 all by themselves. All holofoils in this box can sell for over $1,000 each. Even basic energy cards can sell for $60 a piece! Based on this sale, each individual booster pack would be worth $1,600! Yowza!
A PSA 10 Blastoise sold for $6000 in April 2020.
Pokemon Base Set Unlimited Edition, 1999 – $8,500 If you can’t afford $50k for a 1st edition base set box, I guess you go for the next best thing. Wizards of the Coast printed a limited supply of First Edition Base Set Pokemon Cards. The unlimited edition cards came out immediately after 1st Edition sold out. All the cards in this box are same as the cards in the 1st edition box, except that they lack 1st Edition symbols. This booster box sold for $9,325 in August 2019. Gem Mint Charizards in this box can sell for $2500 each.
Pokemon Skyridge 2003 – $15,995 It’s funny how one rare card can essentially make the price of a booster box skyrocket in value. What’s the one rare card in this one? You guessed it … another Charizard! This time it’s Crystal Holo Charizard. A Pristine “10” Crystal Holo Charizard sold for $9000 in April 2020. This helps these boosters boxes sell in the $15,000 price range. That makes each booster pack in this expansion worth about $400 each! Crystal Ho-oh is in here as well, which can sell for about $2,700.
Pokemon 1st Edition Neo Destiny Booster Box, 2002 – $8,299 You would think that boosters like Jungle or Fossil would be here next, but they’re further down the list. 1st Edition Shining Charizards from Neo Destiny can sell for $6000. Shining Mewtwo can fetch $1300. There’s also Shining Raichu, Shining Kabutops, Shining Steelix, Shining Celebi and Shining Tyranitar. This box has quite a few good cards inside. A PSA 10 Shining Charizard sold for $10,000 in May 2020.
Pokemon Legendary Collection Booster Box, 2002 – $9,050 – Some folks call this Base Set 3. The Legendary Collection was a 100 card set that featured cards from Base Set, Jungle, Fossil and Team Rocket. There was no “1st Edition” version of this set. The set contains Reverse Holographic cards and Box Toppers. Reverse Foil Charizards from this expansion can sell for over $4,000. The other reverse foils like Blastoise and Venusaur can sell for over $500 each as well.
Pokemon EX Deoxys Booster Box, 2005 – $9999 – The main reason this box sold for $10k in May 2020? These boxes can contain a Gold Star Rayquaza ($23,000), a Gold Star Latios ($6800), or a Gold Star Latias ($6600) – actual 2020 sales prices!
Pokemon neo Revelation Edition Booster Box, 2001 – $6500 – I’ll admit it … this one threw me off. Who knew this thing sells for $6.5k?! After researching, I now see why. Raikou sold for $2425 in October 2017. Ho-Oh sold for $1995 on December 2017. Suicune sold for $1100 in October. Shining Magikarp sold $2000 in 2020. A PSA 10 Celebi sold for $1400 in 2020. A PSA 9 Entei sold for $960 in 2020. Shining Gyarados sold for $2000 in 2020. A PSA 10 Blissey sold for $9,000 in May 2020!
Pokemon Jungle 1st Edition Booster Box, 1999 – $7500 – This was the 2nd Pokemon set printed in the U.S. Even though this is an older expansion, there are quite a few of these available for purchase on eBay. Basically, all holofoil rares from this box can sell for hundreds of dollars in this expansion if graded high. Vaporeon, Snorlax and Kangaskhan both can go for over $2000 in PSA 10. The Unlimited edition booster box sells for about $3200.
Pokemon Aquapolis Legendary Collection Booster Box, 2003 – $13500 – Crystal Lugia sold for $4500 in 2020. Crystal Nidoking’s $1500. Rumor is that this sealed boxes are pretty rare.
Pokemon Dragon Frontiers Booster Box, 2006 – $3600 – Charizard Gold Star can sell for $4,000+. And Gold Star Mew can sell for $2,000+.
Pokemon Neo Genesis 1st Edition Booster Box, 2000 – $14,000 – This set actually has a few cards that can inside that sell quite well individually: Typhlosion – $2000, Meganium – $1300, Slowking $1100, Heracross – $380, Pichu – $380, Kingdra – $380. A PSA 10 Lugia sold for over $12,000 in May 2020!
Pokemon Team Rocket Returns Booster Box, 2004 – $14,100 – Team Rocket Returns booster boxes are 4 years newer than the original Team Rocket expansion, but they go for more money. Why? I think the Pokemon craze had died down some by 2004, and speculators had left the market. Wizards of the Coast was no longer involved in the game, and a lot of folks really liked the way Wizards of the Coast had handled the TCG. You don’t see nearly as many Team Rocket Returns Booster boxes on eBay as Team Rocket boxes. Gold Star Mudkip is a hot card in this set. Many of the foils sell in the $$800 – 1,000 range.
Pokemon Base Set 2 Booster Box, 2000 – $4999 – Base Set 2 reprinted cards from the original Base Set and Jungle. This just sold for $5K in May 2020. I guess People are chasing down: Charizard, Blastoise, Venusaur, Zapdos and other popular cards. A PSA 10 Charizard can sell for over $1000.
Pokemon Gym Challenge 1st Edition Booster Box, 2000 – $9,300 – The Unlimited Edition of these can sell for $3000. Hot 1st Edition Cards in PSA 10: Sabrina’s Gengar – $7,000; Misty’s Golduck $5,000; Blaine’s Charizard – $3,000; Giovanni’s Persian $2,400; Blaine’s Arcanine – $2,000.
Pokemon EX Team Magma vs Team Aqua Booster Box, 2004 – $3,300 – Not quite sure why this booster set goes for so much. Maybe supply and demand? I have a feeling there is a lower population of these boxes on the market. There are not a lot of high value collector’s cards in the set. The PSA 10’s go for $200-$400 with Entei in the highest demand.
Pokemon Expedition Booster Box, 2000 – $9,341 – This booster box sold for $4500 in December 2018. It has doubled in price in 1.5 years. Chase cards include: Charizard Reverse Foil, Pichu Reverse Foil, Mewtwo, Ampharos, and Charizard Holo. A PSA 10 Mew sold for $2000 in May 2020.
Pokemon Fossil 1st Edition Booster Box, 1999 – $7900 – This was the 3rd set released in the United States (After the Base Set and Jungle). In May 2020 these were selling for about $8,000 a box. The hot collector cards in this set are Lapras, Dragonite, Aerodactyl, Zapdos, Moltres, Gengar, Articuno and Raichu.
Pokemon Team Rocket 1st Edition Booster Box, 2000 – $7500 – Dark Charizard Holofoils in this set can fetch $600. Other card sales of note: Rainbow Energy $510, Dark Magneton $550, Dark Dragonite $500.
Pokemon EX Ruby & Sapphire Box, 2003 – $5850 – This box sold for nearly $6k in April 2020. These seem to be difficult to find. I think Pokemon was in a bit of lull in 2003.
Pokemon Delta Species Booster Box, 1999 – $4500 – Two cards from this expansion recently sold for $3,000 each on Ebay: Gold Star Metagross, and Gold Star Delta Charizard. I have not seen a Booster Box actually sell recently. In May 2020, there was only one box for sale on Ebay, and it was listed for $15,000. We’ll have to wait for a sale though. Individual Booster packs sell for about $125 each though.
Pokemon ex Holon Phantoms Booster Box, 2006 – $6000 – A few cards in this set are in high demand: Gold Star Gyarados $2799, Gold Star Pikachu $1299, Gold Star Mewtwo – $800.
Pokemon Gym Heroes 1st Edition Booster Box, 2000 – $7800 – There are quite a few of these for sale on eBay. Chase cards: Erika’s Vileplume, Misty’s Seadra, Erika’s Dragonair, Sabrina’s Gengar, and Rocket’s Scyther are the best of the bunch, bringing in over $200 each in mint form.
Pokemon neo Discovery Booster Box, 1st Edition, 2001 – $4400 – There are a few chase cards in this set. Umbreon $760, Espeon $310, Houndoom $300, Smeargle $295, Politoed $270, Tyranitar $250 and Wobbuffet $200. You don’t see a plethora of these on eBay, making me think 1st Edition Booster Boxes of Discovery are somewhat rare.
Pokemon ex Crystal Guardians Booster Box, 2006 – $6200 – One of the newer sets on this list. If you consider something 14 years old “newer”. This value is pushed up by yet another “hot” Charizard card! EX Charizard Reverse Holofoils sell for up $700 in gem mint condition. There’s also a Gold Star Celebi that can sell for over $500 as well.
Pokemon EX Fire Red Leaf Green 2004 – $4599 – What makes this set valuable? Having the original Red & Green starting Pokemon in it … in ex holofoil form. Charizard ex, Venusaur ex and Blastoise ex can all fetch a pretty penny. Charizard is the key card though, like usual. This box sold for $4.6K in April 2020
Pokemon EX Unseen Forces Booster Box, 2005 – $4,200 – Some minor chase cards in this set include: Gold Star Entei $306, Umbreon $239, Suicune $220 and Gold Star Raikou $200. This box sold for $4.2K in March 2020
Pokemon EX Emerald Booster Box, 2005 – $3000 – There isn’t really a noticeable chase card in this set. Pojo Update: Sorry, no updates for you on these prices in 2020. No booster boxes have sold recently. As packs sell for about $75 each in 2020, we’re estimating the value of a sealed box at about $3,000+
Pokemon Diamond and Pearl Stormfront Booster Box, 2008 – $3,500 – This box sold for $3,500 in April 2020.
Pokemon Call of Legends Booster Box, 2011 – $3,500 – This box sold for $3,500 in April 2020.
Pokemon Diamond and Pearl Mysterious Treasures Booster Box, 2007 – $3000 – This box sold for $3000 in May 2020.
Pokemon EX Hidden Legends, 2004 – $2700 – This Booster Box sold for $2.7K in April 2020.
Pokemon HS Undaunted 2010 – $2645 – This Booster Box sold for $2.6K in May 2020.
Pokemon HeartGold SoulSilver – $2550 – This Booster Box sold for $2.5K in April 2020.
Pokemon HeartGold SoulSilver Unleashed – $2300 – This Booster Box sold for $2.3K in May 2020.
So there you have it. These prices are crazy! Will these cards boxes hold their value? Or will Pokemon card prices go the way of Beanie Babies in the 1990’s? Should you sell yours now? Should you buy some as an investment? Who knows? These are tough questions to answer. If you need some money now, by all means .. Sell! Sell! Sell! If you are financially well off, maybe sit on these a few more years.
Comic Book Prices keep going up. Magic: The Gathering Prices keep going up. I think as folks get older, they like to collect items from their youth. There’s a chance that Pokemon values can still go up, as many of those Pokemon-playing kids still have another 70 years to live.
