The past few weeks have been rather interesting, especially for fans of sealed Japanese Pokemon TCG products. Booster boxes of Storm Emeralda have been priced as high as $200, sealed. Today, prices are less than half, but the question is: how low can they go?
Storm Emeralda Prices Finally Come Down
Anyone trying to buy sealed Storm Emeralda booster boxes in recent weeks will have run into the same issue: pricing. Finding these boxes is not the issue, as supply lines are optimal. However, finding a box at a decent price is an entirely different matter. It is nigh impossible to find one in a local card shop under $175, with some going for $200 and more.
Looking at my local card shop, the current price per box is 172 euro. Granted, they’ve had them in stock and at that price for a while, so it is likely their stock came in at peak pricing. Even so, no one in their right mind will pay that price. Then again, I see Storm Emeralda base set show up in the bulk bins, so people are buying them from somewhere.
Thankfully, the prices are now in a more palatable price range. Buying from Japanese vendors directly can bring the price down to around 80 euro per box (excluding shipping and import duty). People who use the US Dollar will pay around $84 per box before all costs. Normal prices for a 30-pack booster box, all things considered.
The question is: will the prices come down further? One obvious answer is: yes, absolutely, and for multiple reasons. Another answer is: no, this is where they will stay for the foreseeable future. Demand for Storm Emeralda remains quite high, as the English set isn’t coming out until mid-October.
Korean Release and 30th Anniversary
Two likely contributing factors to this Storm Emeralda price adjustment are fairly straightforward. First, the set is also released in Chinese, at a third of the price. A Korean release also occurred 10 days ago, further increasing availability. There are no region exclusives for this set – as far as we know – so if you just want the art, budget options are out there already.
To put this into perspective, you can pick up these booster boxes from the secondary market too. A Korean Storm Emeralda booster box costs around 63 euro. The Traditional Chinese versions hover near 75 euro, but will likely come down in price. Finding a cheap Japanese version isn’t impossible, but it is still 100 euro (plus shipping).
A second major factor is the upcoming 30th Anniversary release. Unlike other set releases, this one will have a simultaneous global roll-out on September 16. That means the English, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Indonesian, and other versions all come into circulation from that date.
Many people have a lot of cards they want from these sets. As such, they free up the budget to focus on the cards they want, and leave Storm Emeralda behind a bit. That, too, will bring booster box pricing down further. Seeing them hit sub $75 in a week or two is certainly possible.
Storm Emeralda in the Bulk Bins
I have mentioned this last week, but I keep finding M6 cards in the bulk bins. Is paying 25 cents per card a bit silly? Yes, probably. But the set isn’t that big – for the base set – with 77 cards. So far, I have collected over a dozen, with the 3 extended stadiums almost completed. I just need one right half of a stadium, which I will hopefully encounter this week.
It is an odd situation for this particular Pokemon set. Sealed prices remain astronomically high, yet the cards also show up in the bulk bin. I will never complain about the latter part, as at 25 cents per card, I can complete the base set for under 20 euro. Then it is a matter of picking up more expensive singles and moving on to other sets.
