PSA 10 Entei ex Pokémon Card Shatters Record Sale

Pokémon cards continue to be one of the hobby's strongest markets.

https://www.psacard.com/cert/102715408/psa

With the hobby continuing to boom, record sales are becoming increasingly common across almost every segment of the market. When that happens, it's easy for collectors to become so entrenched in their own niche that they lose sight of just how lucrative other areas of the hobby can be.

In recent years, many sports card collectors have begun paying closer attention to the returns being generated in the Pokémon card market. A recent example of this is when a 2004 Pokémon ex Team Rocket Returns Rocket's Entei ex Holo, graded PSA 10, skyrocketed from just over $3,000 to $14,000 in less than two months.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/287345045117?nordt=true&rt=nc&orig_cvip=true

Why is the Card Jumping in Value?

Now, while it's common for collectors to stay in their collecting lane, any time a card rises more than 350% in less than two months, investors are sure to take notice. And while some may question the population of this particular card, as there are 87 PSA 10s in circulation, something that sports card collectors often overlook is that the overwhelming demand for some of these niche Pokémon cards far exceeds what would be considered normal in the sports card market.

Despite the growing PSA 10 population, now sitting at 19,736, the PSA 10 Umbreon VMAX from Evolving Skies, aka Moonbreon, has been holding steady in the $3,400 to $3,800 range, with one of the most recent sales at $3,500.

Even with constant supply hitting the market, demand for… pic.twitter.com/b54vDmOqTO

— Collectr - TCG Collector App (@getcollectrapp) February 2, 2026

To illustrate this, let's take a look at the card market of the most popular and in-demand basketball player in the hobby, Michael Jordan. On its own, his market has performed exceptionally well, growing just over 1,313% since January 2019. However, when comparing that to the Pokémon card market as a whole, we'll find that the Pokémon market grew by more than 1,800% over the same timeframe, despite tracking more than five times as many cards. Just take a look at the chart below from Card Ladder, a popular platform for tracking trading card values, showing this disparity.

https://app.cardladder.com/compare

The Rise of Pokémon

We can clearly see that demand for Pokémon cards has continued to rise and sustain itself. And while it seems unlikely that we can expect that to continue forever, many people don't realize that Pokémon is the highest-grossing media franchise in the world, generating nearly four times the lifetime revenue of the Star Wars franchise and more than five times that of the Mario franchise.

All that said, those looking to invest shouldn't simply buy up every Pokémon card they can find just because of the brand's popularity. It's always important to understand which sets resonate most with collectors and which particular cards generate the most demand. As expected, some cards stand above others for a variety of reasons, and doing your homework will go a long way in any market.