This Slim Dark Crystal Blaze Booster Box Surprised me

I recently had the pleasure of opening up a new Chinese Pokemon booster box. Not new as in a new set, but more as in a set I hadn’t opened up yet myself. Dark Crystal Blaze is akin to Obsidian Flames, and the set is quite nice. But how does that translate to opening up a normal booster box for this set? Let’s dig in! 

Understanding Chinese Pokemon Booster Boxes

When it comes to Chinese Pokemon products, you have to keep a few things in mind. Virtually every set comes with two types of booster boxes: slim and jumbo. The slim version will often feature 15 card packs, with 5 cards per pack. A Jumbo booster box is 6 packs of 20 cards. Evidently, the latter one gets more cards in your hands, but that is not the only difference.

While having more cards is fun, jumbo booster boxes also have “guaranteed seeding”. More specifically, you have better odds at pulling the more expensive and rare cards. Getting a Secret Art Rate (SAR) from a jumbo box is almost always guaranteed. There’s even a possibility of getting 2 or even more from the same booster box. 

With Dark Crystal Blaze, you have the option of going slim or jumbo. While I would have liked the better pull odds, I found a super cheap listing for the slim version. Paying 30 euros – shipped! – is a bargain for a booster box opening. Plus, you still have a shot – albeit a lower one – at hitting a SAR or Ultra Rare.

Unfortunately, I did not see any jumbo booster boxes for this particular set when I encountered the slim version. I would be open to buying one of them, at a fair price, but I am also not in a rush to do so. The results of the slim version actually surprised me a bit, so let’s talk about those.

Dark Crystal Blaze Slim Booster Pull Rates

With lower seeding, the expectations for big hits are not that high. Every booster box has the pull rates/odds written on the side, as you can see in the picture. If my mind serves me correctly, there is a 0.7% chance for a SAR. Commons and uncommons, on the other hand, represent 60% of the expected pulls, or more. 

Even so, this slim booster box was quite surprising. Although I had several packs of 4 commons , 1 uncommon, or 3 commons, 2 uncommons, the number of “hits” was pretty decent. I consider rare cards a hit in these types of boxes,so do not get TOO excited just yet.  I did get 6 rare cards, either holographic or pokeball versions.

In addition, there were 2 EX cards, which is always nice. No one will be surprised that those are less common than rare cards, but it is especially true in the Chinese booster boxes. EX cards have their own “seed pool” so they are not counted as “rares” in the traditional sense. It made for a total of 8 hits, but there’s more.

Outside of those “traditional hits”, my Dark Crystal Blaze box also provided 1 Secret Rare and 1 Art Rare. The Art Rare was especially surprising, for two reasons. Firstly, it has a fairly low pull rate compared to normal rares and EX cards. Second, it was the Art Rare I actually wanted the most. No complaints from me there, whatsoever! There was a 1-in-8 chance to get this specific pull, so we beat the odds.

Would I Buy it Again?

Frankly, yes, if it’s at the same price point. I would gladly spend another 30 euro to have a slim booster box of this set shipped to me. Paying 35 wouldn’t be too much of an ask either, but anything above that is likely a pass. Finding a cheap-ish jumbo booster box would also be fun, if I ever see one come by.

Curiously, I see there is a Jumbo booster box on Cardmarket for 47 euro shipped right now. That is quite tempting, although I still have a LOT of Pokemon products to open as of right now. I also have a ton of cards still to filter and sort first too, so I will hold off for a bit. But the set will remain on the radar for a little while longer!