Surprise: All-Time High Prices for Japanese 151 Pokémon Booster Boxes

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From December 2023 to June 2024, Japanese 151 booster boxes crashed from their all-time high of $215 USD down to $65 USD: a 70% collapse in six months.

It came after a remarkable run. At launch, the Japanese 151 set was already commanding a significant premium with retail prices of $100+ more than doubling the $40 MSRP of a Japanese booster box. And prices climbed steadily from there.

For that first year, the Japanese 151 was the darling of the worldwide Pokémon community: collectors marvelled at the quality, exclaimed the superiority of the Japanese 151 set to English, and watched prices climb higher.

But, even Japanese 151 couldn't survive the tidal wave of reprints that was coming.

Announced in March 2024, the Japanese 151 reprints came fast and furious across multiple waves, decimating the market value of booster boxes almost immediately. By June, just a few months after the announcement and only six months after peak prices, Japanese 151 hit their bottom of $65 USD: a 70% crash.

Although 151 was the most dramatic example, it wasn't alone: many modern Japanese sets saw significant reprints, sending the entire Japanese market into the correction phase and taking enormous collector and investor value with it.

Since then, the international conversation moved on almost entirely. There's been little-to-no commentary on the Japanese market, and nobody seems to be paying attention

If they had, they would have noticed something remarkable.

While the broader market has fixated on the (admittedly exceptional) growth of the English Pokémon market, Japanese 151 booster boxes have quietly grown past their all-time high prices to set a new record of $244 USD. Anyone who bought at the $65 low has seen a 275% return. Even those who bought at the absolute worst moment, at $215, are back in the green - up 13%.

Before I go further: I should be transparent about my position here. I love Japanese Pokémon products, and I have a meaningful position in them. That shapes my perspective, and you should weigh what follows accordingly.

With that said, it's genuinely rewarding to watch the Collectibles Cycle play out in real time. From the moment the Japanese Pokémon market crashed, the strategic next steps were simple: accumulate high-quality, cheap products, and wait out the new foundation phase.

Let time do the work: let prices grow, and as they do, let attention shift back to the Japanese market.

Japanese 151 booster boxes are leading the charge in this recovery: their market trajectory is exactly what we expect to see during the new foundation phase, and we are starting to see numbers that, in my humble opinion, are remarkable.

But Japanese 151 is not alone: many modern Japanese sets are showing impressive returns. A couple favorites of mine:

Eevee Heroes, which has been setting new all-time high prices since October of last year.

Tag Team GX All Stars, which is pushing $800 USD a booster box, nearly doubling since its 2024 lows.

VMAX Climax and VSTAR Universe, which have also shown 175% - 230% returns.

It's easy to overlook the significance of these moves, because, yes: the English market has out-performed these products over the same time. But comparing the returns of one market's boom phase to another market's new foundation misses the point: while the English market has been having it's moment, the Japanese market is gearing up for its time to shine.

From here, I believe it's just a matter of time before we experience another explosive boom phase in the Japanese Pokémon market.

As usual,

Thanks so much for reading the TCG Buyers Club newsletter. My name's Grey, I buy cardboard, and I'm on a mission to make collecting and investing in Pokémon simple.

Cheers 🍻

P.S. The weekly livestream continues! Tune in at 7:30 pm EDT tomorrow, Mar 18th to review this week’s newsletter, ask questions, and hang out. You can set a reminder through the link below: