Pokémon TCG Value Watch: Brilliant Stars In May 2023

The Pokémon TCG is an ever-changing and unpredictable market. Over the past two years, we’ve seen renewed interest in the hobby due to a number of factors, including the 25th Anniversary, strong Sword & Shield-era sets featuring stunning Alternate Arts, influencers, box breaks, COVID-19 lockdown pushing people to find hobbies, and more. For a time, sets and cards that were readily available quickly became difficult to find. Now that the hype is settling down, let’s see where modern sets stand. Every month, I will do an installment of this series, Pokémon TCG Value Watch. This series is not financial advice but is rather a way to help collectors know the trajectory of a card’s availability so that Pokémon TCG completionists like myself know when to strike. Today, let’s see how the cards of Sword & Shield – Brilliant Stars, which came out in February 2022, are doing now in May 2023.

Here are the top valued cards of Pokémon TCG: Sword & Shield – Brilliant Stars with market values observed on TCGPlayer as of this writing:

1. Charizard V Alternate Art 154/172: $154.74
2. Charizard VSTAR Rainbow Rare 174/172: $77.41
3. Arceus V Alternate Art 166/172: $33.47
4. Charizard V Full Art 153/172: $25.73
5. Ultra Ball Gold Secret Rare 186/172: $21.02
6. Lumineon V Alternate Art 156/172: $19.31
7. Arceus VSTAR Gold Secret Rare 184/172: $17.64
8. Galarian Moltres V Gold Secret Rare 183/172: $15.92
9. Arceus VSTAR Rainbow Rare 176/172: $15.42
10. Honchkrow V Alternate Art 154/172: $13.14
11. Galarian Articuno V Gold Secret Rare 181/172: $12.92
12. Galarian Zapdos V Gold Secret Rare 182/172: $12.53
13. Marnie’s Pride Full Art Trainer Supporter 171/172: $11.72
14. Arceus VSTAR 123/172: $11.49
15. Charizard VSTAR 018/172: $11.27

This Pokémon TCG expansion includes a Trainer Gallery subset. The top cards of this subset are:

1. Umbreon VMAX Character Super Rare TG23/TG30: $20.51
2. Sylveon VMAX Character Super Rare TG15/TG30: $17.21
3. Sylveon V Character Super Rare TG14/TG30: $14.04
4. Umbreon V Character Super Rare TG23/TG30: $12.31
5. Mimikyu VMAX Character Super Rare TG17/TG30: $10.11

The set’s chase card, Charizard V Alternate Art, is down $13. That’s not enough for me to call for you to pick up this card at this price, but hey — it’s better than pushing $200. Charizard VSTAR Rainbow Rare is up $5 and as a Charizard Secret Rare, I don’t see this one staying under $100 longterm. We have a similar fall for the Arceus V Alternate Art and, because it’s cheaper, that is significant.

In the Trainer Gallery subset, Umbreon VMAX Character Super Rare has dropped $6.