In a development that will surprise no one, several Pokemon TCG sets note heavy price corrections. Journey Together is now valued below $500 for the entire set. It is not far removed from Obsidian Flames, which sits at $475. Many people blame the 30th Anniversary for this, but it remains to be seen if values will bounce back.
Journey Together is Falling
It is not abnormal to see older Pokemon TCG sets go down in value over time. While some sets have highly-desired grails to keep their overall valuation afloat, others are a lot “weaker”. Not weak in terms of artwork, as Journey Together has some incredible cards to collect. Even so, its valuation now sits below $500 and may drop even lower.
Looking over the card list for Journey Together, this ongoing downturn is a bit surprising. The set has notable cards including Lillie’s Clefairy EX, Salamence EX, N’s Zoroark EX, Iono’s Bellibolt EX, and many more. Unfortunately, only one of those cards is worth over $100, and only two are worth over $41.
Granted, the cards from Journey Together have been reprinted in various other languages. People, like me, who just want the artwork, have much cheaper options at our disposal. In addition, there has been a new influx of Journey Together packs, at least here in Western Europe.
That said, the art itself remains stellar. In theory, that alone should be sufficient to command a higher set valuation. But it seems most collectors and flippers see things very differently. As a result, Journey Together is now on the cusp of falling below Obsidian Flames and becoming the “weakest” set of the Scarlet&Violet era.
Obsidian Flames Holds on, for now
Speaking of Obsidian Flames, that set holds its value at around $475 remarkably well. A bit surprising, as its lineup of chase cards is noticeably weaker. Not because it doesn’t have Pokemon people like, but it’s very different from Journey Together. Far less “cute”, to say the very least.
To be more specific, three of the top 6 cards by value are Charizards. That isn’t surprising, given the set’s name, but it shows how much work that one Pokemon is doing here. The main chase sits at $109, whereas the second-highest card – Ninetales – is worth under $42. A very big gap, and it only goes down further from there.
However, unlike Journey Together, Obsidian Flames has more “supporting” cards. JTG has 11 cards above $10, whereas OF has a dozen of those. It has also a slightly stronger lineup in the $5-$10 range than Journey Together. But it also has 40 more cards in general, so in theory, it should be valued higher than JTG today,
It will be interesting to see how these sets – and the values of others – will evolve in the coming weeks. We are just over 2 weeks a way from the 30th Anniversary product launch. Depending on how “available” that set is, people may liquidate older sets to recover some liquidity.
