What Is The Best Vintage Pokémon Pack To Buy?


There are a lot of things to consider when purchasing a vintage Pokémon pack. Is your purchase driven by nostalgia? Are you planning on opening the pack? Is it an investment purchase? Since 2020 we have seen a boom in popularity within the hobby that has led to an influx of collectors, investors, and people chasing the nostalgia of their youth. The combination of all of that has caused prices to soar and Pokémon to solidify itself as not only the best selling gaming franchise in the world, but a sound investment for long term holds.

The most iconic set in the hobby is the one that started it all. 1st Edition Base Set with its iconic Arita sketched Charizard fetching over $300,000 as a sealed box in the current market. Single packs will run you anywhere from $5,000 to $20,000 depending on if you opt for light or heavy packs. Our recommendation with 1st Edition Base Set is to not fall victim to “unweighed” packs unless straight out of a box from a reputable source. These packs are so incredibly valuable that they have almost always been weighed… if you heard one being called unweighed it’s probably light!

The other original WOTC sets that comprise the first 4 sets, Jungle, Fossil, and Team Rocket offer a jolt of nostalgia for many of the collectors that grew up in the 90s and early 2000s. Each of them offer unique fan favorite chases like the Eeveelutions, Snorlax, the Legendary Bird trio, Dragonite, Gengar, Dark Charizard, and more. For a less daunting price point, you can opt for the unlimited versions of these sets which offer the same great hits for a fraction of the price.
As WOTC aged into the final years of its contract with Pokémon we saw many of the best sets released. From Neo Genesis to Skyridge and everything in between, WOTC’s 2nd generation of sets did not disappoint. A staple in the hobby, shiny Pokémon, made their first appearance in Neo Revelation and Neo Destiny and have been a mainstay since. Skyridge was WOTC’s kiss goodbye and it made sure to go out with a bang. With booster boxes currently fetching close to a jaw dropping $200,000, individual packs are a collectors dream. From top holo chases like Umbreon, Espeon, and Gengar to unique Crystal type cards like Charizard, Ho-oh, and Celebi there’s a little bit of something for everyone.
Moving onto The Pokémon Company’s first go at the TCG, the EX era was a mostly forgotten era at the time. The hype behind Pokémon had quieted down and many of the kids who grew up with Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow had outgrown those Pocket Monsters and moved onto other hobbies. And so the EX era came and went pretty quietly with small print runs which would become a theme for the mid 2000s and early 2010s. If you were one of the lucky few who stuck it out, you got to experience what is now considered the best era of Pokémon by many collectors. The EX era introduced multiple new kinds of cards, most notably Gold Stars which have become the holy grail of the entire hobby. Any and every set that features a Gold Star is a rock solid choice that will forever be sought after. First introduced in Team Rocket Returns, there were 27 Gold Stars in the EX Era across 9 main sets and 1 special set (POP Series 5), all illustrated by Masakazu Fukuda. Our recommendation for Gold Star sets are EX Deoxys and EX Dragon Frontiers, though you cannot go wrong with any of them.