Pokémon Card Market Report — September 2026
Vintage Pokémon cards outpaced modern chase by 12 points over the past 30 days.
CardTrack's monthly read on the Pokémon card market, built from live blended values across 4,493 tracked cards. Movement is each card's change vs the previous month's close.
The market, in plain English
Well, September was anything but quiet. The CardTrack Pokémon Index jumped 13.7% in the last 30 days across the 4,493 cards we track for Pokémon prices, and honestly, it's one of the bigger single-month moves I've seen in a while. The headline grab is Pichu from Expedition Base Set, which climbed nearly 90% to $281. Right behind it, vintage-flavored chase cards like Milotic δ (up 89.5% to $77) and Dark Vaporeon (up 89% to $126) tell the same story — collectors are chasing older, harder-to-find holos again, and Entei ☆ from Unseen Forces now sits at a jaw-dropping $1,323 after an 88.8% run. If you're curious how these stack up against the true blue-chips, it's worth a look at the most valuable Pokémon cards list, because a few of these risers are knocking on that door now.
But it wasn't all green. While the vintage stuff soared, modern promos took a beating. Altaria from the BW Black Star Promos line fell 89.4%, and Charizard, Riolu and Lugia from recent promo sets all dropped 85-89% too. That's a pretty stark split — it looks less like "Pokémon is up" and more like money rotating hard out of mass-produced promos and into scarcer, older cardboard. Worth remembering before you chase a green arrow.
Zoom out and Pokémon is clearly the story of the month across the hobby. Disney Lorcana (+0.4%), One Piece Card Game (+0.3%), Magic (+0.9%) and Yu-Gi-Oh! (+0.9%) all basically sat still by comparison — this wasn't a "trading cards are hot" moment, it was a Pokémon moment specifically. And stack it against the traditional stuff: gold crept up 1.5%, the S&P 500 actually dipped 0.1%, and Bitcoin managed +2.5%. Pokémon out-ran all of them by a mile. That said, a 30-day swing like this, driven by a handful of cards moving 89% in a month, is more collector momentum than fundamental repricing — treat it as a signal to watch, not a promise of where things settle.
Keep an eye on the CardTrack 100 over the coming weeks — if this vintage rotation has legs, we should see it spread beyond these headline names. For now, grab a coffee, check your binders, and enjoy the ride.
📈 Top 10 risers
| # | Card | Value | 30d |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $281PSA 10 $1,122 | +89.9% | |
| 2 | $77PSA 10 $2,550📍 Last sold $94 PSA 7 · 7 Aug · 8 sales/90d | +89.5% | |
| 3 | $126PSA 10 $3,711📍 Last sold $556 PSA 9 · 9 Aug · 7 sales/90d | +89.0% | |
| 4 | $1,323PSA 10 $12,500📍 Last sold $1,800 PSA 8 · 29 Aug · 12 sales/90d | +88.8% | |
| 5 | $4,161PSA 10 $150,000📍 Last sold $6,300 PSA 7 · 25 Jun · 11 sales/90d | +88.7% | |
| 6 | $122PSA 10 $1,036📍 Last sold $27 Raw · 21 Jun · 9 sales/90d | +88.7% | |
| 7 | $613 | +88.6% | |
| 8 | $283PSA 10 $3,299📍 Last sold $148 Raw · 26 Jun · 11 sales/90d | +88.4% | |
| 9 | $324PSA 10 $6,499📍 Last sold $95 Raw · 30 Aug · 7 sales/90d | +87.9% | |
| 10 | $775PSA 10 $8,250📍 Last sold $304 Raw · 27 Jun · 12 sales/90d | +87.7% |
📉 Top 10 fallers
| # | Card | Value | 30d |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $37📍 Last sold $31 Raw · 22 Jun · 1 sales/90d | -89.4% | |
| 2 | $62PSA 10 $249 | -89.3% | |
| 3 | $31PSA 10 $304 | -87.7% | |
| 4 | $36PSA 10 $128 | -85.1% | |
| 5 | $38PSA 10 $124 | -84.9% | |
| 6 | $37PSA 10 $940 | -76.1% | |
| 7 | $36PSA 10 $555 | -71.9% | |
| 8 | $41 | -68.9% | |
| 9 | $36PSA 10 $2,640📍 Last sold $18 Raw · 4 Aug · 1 sales/90d | -66.7% | |
| 10 | $31PSA 10 $276 | -65.4% |
💵 Biggest dollar movers
| # | Card | Value | $ move | 30d |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $7,920PSA 10 $78,000📍 Last sold $5,750 Raw · 28 Aug · 11 sales/90d | +$2,147 | +37.2% | |
| 2 | $4,161PSA 10 $150,000📍 Last sold $6,300 PSA 7 · 25 Jun · 11 sales/90d | +$1,956 | +88.7% | |
| 3 | $2,606PSA 10 $32,800📍 Last sold $4,750 PSA 5 · 28 Aug · 12 sales/90d | +$1,106 | +73.7% | |
| 4 | $4,240PSA 10 $114,000📍 Last sold $4,699 CGC 4 · 30 Aug · 11 sales/90d | +$1,040 | +32.5% | |
| 5 | $2,617PSA 10 $19,500📍 Last sold $1,500 CGC 3.5 · 30 Aug · 10 sales/90d | +$1,036 | +65.5% | |
| 6 | $2,098PSA 10 $15,000📍 Last sold $750 Raw · 27 Jun · 12 sales/90d | +$968 | +85.7% | |
| 7 | $2,055PSA 10 $6,200📍 Last sold $3,250 CGC 10 · 29 Jun · 2 sales/90d | +$771 | +60.1% | |
| 8 | $1,670PSA 10 $31,720📍 Last sold $3,750 PSA 8 · 9 Aug · 12 sales/90d | +$770 | +85.6% | |
| 9 | $1,653PSA 10 $14,900📍 Last sold $550 PSA 2 · 24 Jun · 10 sales/90d | +$750 | +83.1% | |
| 10 | $1,323PSA 10 $12,500📍 Last sold $1,800 PSA 8 · 29 Aug · 12 sales/90d | +$622 | +88.8% |
🏆 PSA 10 premium leaders
Biggest raw → PSA 10 multipliers — where grading adds the most. See the full Grading ROI index →
| # | Card | Raw | PSA 10 | Premium |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $166 | $6,600 | 39.8× | |
| 2 | $124 | $4,920 | 39.7× | |
| 3 | $155 | $6,125 | 39.6× | |
| 4 | $30 | $1,200 | 39.5× | |
| 5 | $223 | $8,801 | 39.5× | |
| 6 | $182 | $7,188 | 39.4× | |
| 7 | $46 | $1,800 | 39.3× | |
| 8 | $29 | $1,131 | 39.3× | |
| 9 | $38 | $1,500 | 39.3× | |
| 10 | $590 | $23,100 | 39.2× |
💎 Grading ROI spotlight
Where grading pays off most — the PSA 10 best case beside the expected return once every grade is weighted by its gem rate, after cost. Full Grading ROI index →
| # | Card | Gem rate | Best case | Expected |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6.5% | +$139,320 | +$15,611 | |
| 2 | 15.2% | +$66,431 | +$12,237 | |
| 3 | 4.8% | +$103,601 | +$6,421 | |
| 4 | 2.6% | +$74,896 | +$5,780 | |
| 5 | 8.4% | +$47,913 | +$5,363 | |
| 6 | 40.1% | +$11,733 | +$5,152 | |
| 7 | 7.2% | +$46,137 | +$5,035 | |
| 8 | 19.3% | +$18,589 | +$4,254 |
📦 Sealed product watch
| Product | Price | 30d |
|---|---|---|
| $196 | +70.7% | |
| $196 | +70.7% | |
| $196 | +70.7% | |
| $196 | +70.7% | |
| $196 | +70.7% | |
| $148 | -41.0% | |
| $122 | -38.9% | |
| $978 | -22.6% | |
| $1,000 | -20.0% | |
| $81 | -18.5% |
Reading the September 2026 numbers
The CardTrack Index reads 115.6 this edition. That figure compares totals: the 4,493 cards in this basket are worth 15.6% more in total than the 4,656 cards in the August 2026 report's basket were. The +13.7% beside it is a different measure: the value-weighted average of each card's own move since that snapshot, leaving out any move beyond ±90%. The two agree to within 1.9 points this edition, so either one gives the same picture of how CardTrack's values moved.
Read the index as a measurement of CardTrack's own values, not as a market return. Both snapshots are blended prices, so when CardTrack changes how a price is computed, every card priced that way moves between editions without a copy changing hands. A +13.7% reading is large enough that it should be checked against the movers above, and the completed sales beside them, before it is quoted as the direction of the market. The daily CardTrack 100 marks its own method steps, and the way a blended price is built is set out in how CardTrack prices cards.
Vintage here means cards from sets released before 2003 (505 cards this edition); modern chase means alt-art, illustration, special illustration, secret, rainbow, hyper and V-era ultra rarities (1,632 cards). Vintage led by 12 points, +20.1% against +8.1%. Both baskets moved the same way, so the gap is about how far each went, not which way. The vintage basket is the smaller of the two, so a handful of expensive cards carry more of its average.
Pichu from Expedition Base Set tops the risers at +89.9%, now $281. All 10 risers moved 80% or more, close to the ±90% line beyond which a move is treated as bad data (129 cards crossed it this edition and were set aside). A move that near the cut-off deserves the same suspicion: open the card page and check the sales before reading it as demand. Of the 10, 2 are from sets released before 2003. The daily movers board shows the same kind of list updated every day rather than once a month.
At the other end, Altaria (BW Black Star Promos) fell 89.4% to $37. Of the 10 fallers, 8 are Black Star promos, cards released in boxes, tins and events rather than pulled from booster packs; where a price rests on few sales, one or two of them can move it a long way. Percentages flatter cheap cards, so the dollar table ranks by the size of the move in money: Espeon ☆ (POP Series 5) moved +$2,147 to $7,920. All ten of the biggest dollar moves were rises.
The PSA 10 premium table divides a card's PSA 10 price by its raw price and only considers multiples between 2× and 40×, which is why this edition's leaders sit between 39.2× and 39.8×. Suicune & Entei LEGEND (HS—Unleashed) leads at 39.8×: $166 raw against $6,600 in a PSA 10. A big multiple says a gem copy is scarce next to raw ones; it says nothing about your chance of grading one, which is what the gem rate measures. The grading spotlight weighs that chance in. For Gengar (Skyridge) the best case after about $6,519 of grading and shipping cost is +$139,320, but only 6.5% of the copies in PSA's population report are 10s, so the expected result, valuing a PSA 9 at 40% of a PSA 10 and anything lower at the raw price, is +$15,611.
The sealed product table in this edition is identical to the August 2026 edition's, product for product and to the decimal, which means the 30-day sealed price changes behind it did not refresh between the two builds. Treat it as a stale reading rather than this month's sealed market; current prices are on the sealed Pokémon products pages.
The basket went from 4,656 tracked cards in August 2026 to 4,493 in September 2026. This report samples one snapshot a month; to follow a single card between editions, open its card page, where the price history is daily. Every figure above is in the JSON download below under the same free-to-cite terms, and earlier editions are in the Pokémon market report archive.
Cite & embed this data
Free to use with attribution to CardTrack.
Pokémon Card Market Report — September 2026. CardTrack, 1 September 2026. https://cardtrack.com/pokemon/reports/pokemon-card-market-report-2026-09<iframe src="https://cardtrack.com/embed/cardtrack-index" width="100%" height="240" style="border:0;border-radius:12px" title="CardTrack Pokémon Index"></iframe>
<p style="font:12px sans-serif">Source: <a href="https://cardtrack.com/pokemon/reports/pokemon-card-market-report-2026-09">CardTrack Pokémon Card Market Report</a></p><iframe src="https://cardtrack.com/embed/report?id=2026-09" width="100%" height="300" style="border:0;border-radius:12px" title="CardTrack Pokémon market report — September 2026"></iframe>Frequently asked questions
What is the CardTrack Index?
The CardTrack Index tracks the value of a basket of 4,493 liquid Pokémon cards, with sub-indices for Vintage (pre-2003), Modern chase and Graded (PSA 10). This edition it stands at 115.6, +13.7% over the past 30d.
Why are some big movers excluded?
Movers need a minimum value (≥ $30) and at least three contributing marketplaces, and any move beyond ±90% is treated as bad data rather than a real price change — 129 cards were excluded and flagged for review this edition.
Is vintage or modern doing better right now?
This edition, Vintage (pre-2003) moved +20.1% and Modern chase moved +8.1% over the past 30d.
Is a rising CardTrack Index a reason to buy Pokémon cards?
No. The index compares two snapshots of CardTrack's blended values, so it moves when prices move and also when CardTrack changes how a price is computed; this edition's +13.7% is a reading of those values, not a forecast. It describes where CardTrack's prices sat when the edition was built, not where they are going, and nothing in this report is financial advice.
How is the PSA 10 premium calculated?
It is a card's PSA 10 price divided by its raw (ungraded) price, and the table only considers multiples from 2× to 40×. This edition Suicune & Entei LEGEND (HS—Unleashed) leads at 39.8×, $166 raw against $6,600 in a PSA 10. The multiple ignores grading cost and the odds of a 10, which the grading spotlight accounts for.
Methodology
The CardTrack Index tracks the value of a basket of liquid Pokémon cards, with sub-indices for Vintage (pre-2003), Modern chase (alt-arts, illustration/secret/rainbow rares) and Graded (PSA 10). Blended from eBay sold results, Fanatics auctions, TCGplayer and Cardmarket, updated daily. To avoid noise, movers require a minimum value (≥ $30), at least three contributing marketplaces, and any implausible move (greater than ±90%) is excluded and flagged for review. This is market data, not financial advice — prices can move quickly.