Prices forPokémon Trading Card Gameproducts have been steadily rising recently. One product that is typically highly sought-after is the Elite Trainer Boxes, which bundle booster packs and accessories from a given set together in one collectible box. Some of these boxes have reached sky-high prices, coming a long way from their original MSRP of $59.99.

Pokémon TCGpricing has been a hot-button issue this year, especially withsets like Prismatic Evolutions.Pokémon’s secondary market has made trying to get products somewhat of a nightmare, as they are either gone instantly, or marked up in stores to reflect secondary market pricing. This has led to some wild price increases on Elite Trainer Boxes, some of which now sell for over $1,000 online.

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The 151 ETB Has Sold For $704

According toTCGPlayer, the Pokémon Center exclusive version of the151Elite Trainer Box has sold for as much as $704, which is around where current listings have it. The box has previously gone for as low as $430, but it has only continued to get more expensive over time. If the currentPokémonbubble doesn’t burst, then we can probably expect to see this one continue to appreciate as it gets harder to find.

Given the popularity ofPokémon’s151set,it shouldn’t be too surprising to see it on this list. After all,151is one of the sets that has been central to the discussion surrounding scalpers and their impact on thePokémon TCGeconomy. Still, the markup here is pretty stunning when you consider this box was originally sold for $59.99 on the Pokémon Center.

The Unified Minds ETB Has Sold For $850

Unified Minds' Elite Trainer Box is an interesting case in terms of its price history. For our purposes,we’re going to put it at $850, because that’s the highest sale on record fromTCGPlayer, with sales going as low as $279 last year. The strange thing is that current listings all have the box much higher, around $1,200.

There are still some boxes listed cheaper oneBay, so I wouldn’t consider the current TCGPlayer listings to be reflective of the box’s actual value. Still, selling for $850 is a pretty big mark-up from the original price of an ETB. This inflated price is likely due to the set’s inclusion of Tag Team cards like Mewtwo & Mew GX.

The Cosmic Eclipse ETB Has Sold For $1,000

Similar toUnified Minds,Cosmic Eclipsehas been creeping steadily up in price, though it has yet to have any verified sales onTCGPlayerat its current listed value. That said, as recently as June of this year,one of these ETBs sold for $1,000, so even if it isn’t worth as much as its highest listings, this is still a pretty valuable box.

Cosmic Eclipsealso features Tag Team Pokémon GX, similar toUnified Minds, and many of them are pretty valuable. The Ultra Rare full art version of Reshiram & Zekrom GX is notable, as it also features N. TherecentJourney Togethersetshowed that N can be a selling point, with N’s Zoroark ex being one of the more valuable Pokémon from the set.

The Unbroken Bonds ETB Has Sold For $1,200

TheUnbroken BondsElite Trainer Box is an interesting case because not only did its price shoot up recently, but it also has more sales to justify its current price point onTCGPlayer.Two boxes were sold for around $1,200 just this week, whereas previous sales were closer to the $600 mark. Along with the previous two Elite Trainer Boxes we’ve looked at, there’s a pretty clear pattern when it comes to some of the more expensive products.

Unbroken Bondsis yet anotherSun & Moonset which features Tag Team Pokémon. With popular Pokémon featured here like Greninja and Charizard, it’s not too surprising that this set would be sought after by collectors. I’d personally love the Ultra Rare version of Gardevoir & Sylveon from this set, especially since Fairy types have been discontinued, making it feel extra special.

Generations Is A Nostalgic Set

The Generation ETB Has Sold For $1,597

Generationsisn’t just selling for more than the previous Elite Trainer Boxes here, but it’s also selling much more consistently in recent months. Four boxes have sold since May for over $1,200, withthe highest going for $1,597.97just this week, according toTCGPlayer. This is honestly pretty surprising, considering the cards in the set.

Even the most expensive card in this set - Mega Charizard ex - doesn’t break the $100 threshold. Compare this to the $300+ Gardevoir & Sylveon card fromUnbroken Bonds, and it’s strange that this ETB is both selling for more, and selling more frequently. Perhaps some collectors are buying on speculation due to thereturn of Mega Evolutionsin manyPokémongames this year, but I personally wouldn’t pay this much for one of these boxes given the current value of the cards inside.

Roaring Skies Is Hard To Find

The Roaring Skies ETB Has Sold For $1,899

As of right now, theRoaring SkiesElite Trainer Box only has one listing onTCGPlayer, which would usually make me very suspicious of its reported value, since there just isn’t much data on it. However, there have been three sales within the last few months,ranging from $1,500 to $1899.99, so it does seem like some collectors are willing to pay top dollar for these boxes. As for why, it seems to be simply due to scarcity.

I couldn’t find listings for this ETB on sites like eBay, soit seems like there just aren’t many in circulation. Even if there are no real valuable cards in this set, collectors of sealed products may still want one of these boxes to complete their collection. With them being so difficult to find, it seems as though collectors are willing to pay a premium when they do find one.

Primal Clash Is Scarce Now That It’s A Decade Old

The Primal Clash ETB Has Sold For $2,200

Tracking thePrimal ClashETB’s price history is a little tricky, since only one has sold onTCGPlayer.That box went for $2,200, which is pretty impressive. Although it’s hard to say if any others have sold for as much, there is currently one listed oneBayfor over $1000, which is still being bid on by 10 people. With five days left in the auction at the time of writing, I wouldn’t be surprised to see that price go up.

Primal Clashturned 10 in February, and sealed products for it across the board have been increasing in value as they get older. This is another instance where scarcity seems to be the main driving factor in the price of the ETB. While the Primal versions of Kyogre and Groudon are cool, none of the individual cards in this set are worth very much.

The Ancient Origins ETB Has Sold For $2,250

Sales of theAncient OriginsElite Trainer Box have been trickling in on occasion this year, according toTCGPlayer, with all of them being at least over $1,200. However, the most eye-opening sale happened within the last few months, whenone of these boxes sold for $2,250. This was a $500 jump from the previous sale, which is a pretty shocking increase in just three months.

Ancient Originscombines a few factors that could make it more valuable. The set is nearly 10 years old, so it’s definitely getting harder to find unopened Elite Trainer Boxes from it. Additionally,highly-graded versions of the full-art Mega Rayquaza ex from this set can sell for hundreds of dollars.

Team Up Was The First Tag Team Set

The Team Up ETB Has Sold For $2,499

As you may have guessed from the name,Team Upis thePokémon Trading Card Gameexpansion that first introduced Tag Team Pokémon. As we’ve seen with previous boxes on this list, Tag Team Pokémon are pretty sought-after, and their inclusion tends to inflate the price of these boxes. This is certainly the case for theTeam UpETB,one of which sold this week for $2,499.97onTCGPlayer.

Team Uphas been a consistent seller this year, and its price has only continued to rise. Like manyPokémon TCGproducts,we saw it spike in value earlier this year, and it hasn’t gone back down since. This recent price hike is still pretty dramatic, as boxes were selling for less than half the price back in March.

Furious Fists Is Very Old And Hard To Find

The Furious Fists ETB Has Sold For $2,500

Furious Fistsis the oldestPokémonset here, so it isn’t a big surprise to me that it’s also the Elite Trainer Box that has sold for the most money.A box recently sold for $2,500onTCGPlayerback in May. Although there are no more listed on TCGPlayer, this big sale seems to have inspired some very expensiveeBaylistings for the box. However, as none of these have sold yet, I wouldn’t consider the box to be worth what it’s listed for.

Furious Fistseems to prove that scarcity is the name of the game when it comes toPokémon Trading Card Gamevaluation. While this isn’t too surprising for collectibles, it is shocking to me how little the individual cards in these sets are worth. At least when oldMagic: The Gatheringsets are expensive, I know it’s because they include cards like Black Lotus that sell for a lot of money. The value of these ETBs seems a bit more nebulous to me, which also means I wouldn’t buy them for their listed prices.

TCGPlayer [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10], eBay [1] [2] [3]