Ascended Heroes hit the market last Friday, Jan 30th, 2026.
It was a disaster.
A new set release is always a big deal. Players and collectors alike can’t wait to get their hands on packs and chase the new hits. And, because Ascended Heroes is based on a Japanese High Class Pack set, this is a particularly exciting release.
Ascended Heroes shared its link to High Class Pack sets with Prismatic Evolutions, Paldean Fates, and Crown Zenith (among many others). All of which were popular sets that have grown even more coveted over time.
There’s no question: Ascended Heroes was destined to be a popular set.
So, why the hell did The Pokémon Company International (TCPi) choose to launch this hype set with nothing more than 3-pack blisters?
For starters: they ran into a production issue that delayed the launch of the 2-pack blister product that was also going to be released at launch, leaving only the 3-pack “Tech Sticker Collections”.
But, that’s no excuse: anyone could tell you that launching with only 2- and 3-pack blister products was a terrible idea.
At the end of the day, collectors are looking for a large number of packs to open at release. A high supply of packs is often best delivered through products that contain a high number of packs (duh).
As products with only a small number of packs, the supply of these 3-pack blister products would need to be enormous to get anywhere near satisfying the demand for Ascended Heroes.
The result: this $15.99 USD 3-pack blister product, being the only product to release at launch, is selling on secondary markets for $40 USD or more: 2.5 times the MSRP price.
TCG Player listing for one of the two Ascended Heroes Tech Sticker Collection products: the 3-pack blister product available at the release of the set.
Surely TCPi knows this product mix was not going to satisfy demand at release: that’s why they’ve typically launched special sets with at least the ETB product.
But, in this case, the ETB and several additional Ascended Heroes products will release on February 20th, 3 weeks after the set release (you can find all the details in the PokéBeach set guide here).
When these new products drop, it help alleviate the immediate supply constraint…
But, I believe it’s unlikely prices will get low enough to reach MSRP, and even more unlikely that they stay lower for long. For a hyped release like this, TPCi needs to be able to print far more product: something we know they’re not yet capable of.
But, hope is not lost.
Pokémon’s printing company, Millennium Print Group, has secured a massive new lease that will expand their production space by 80% (I wrote about it here). This is exactly the scale of expansion that is needed to have a chance at satisfy market demand.
The problem, is that this capacity will take a while to come online. My guess remains that it will take a year before we see any product printed from just the first phase of this expansion.
And, when it does, the question is: what will TPCi print with this new capacity?
I think one of the top targets will be Ascended Heroes reprints.
TPCi has printed special sets like Ascended Heroes long after their release in the past. In my time collecting, a standout example is Shining Fates, which released at the start of the last boom phase, and saw wave after wave after wave of reprints over years that slowly brought the market price down, eventually below MSRP.
Shining Fates was another set based on a Japanese High Class Pack set. It was extremely popular at release, and was in short supply. As TPCi was able to ramp up their printing capacity, they made sure Shining Fates became widely available for fans.
I think the same might happen with Ascended Heroes.
Of course, I don’t have a crystal ball and I can’t predict the future. But, the possibility of large reprints is why I am treating Ascended Heroes as a risky product. I’ll still be buying some Ascended Heroes to open, but I’ll be biding my time before building a larger position.
Besides, as long as the Pokémon market is booming, it’s time to sell, not buy. I still see a booming market that I expect to continue until a significant wave of new supply hits the market.
Until it does, I continue to be cautious.
As usual,
Thank you 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 🍻
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