Should you invest in VSTAR Universe sealed?

Ending the SWSH era with a bang, on the Japanese side, is VSTAR universe a good investment?

VSTAR universe s12a was released back in December 2022, as the final Japanese set to finish the Sword and Shield Era in the Pokémon TCG. It was a high-class set, which always means absolute bangers. So a good investment?

Fundamentally, this set has the potential to be the best of the era but perhaps for quite a while. Many consider it to be the next best set after Hidden fates or Ultra Shiny GX. In terms of the cards inside, it has everything you could ask for. Full art Character Rares, Alt art Vs and the new VSTARs, Full art trainers and alt art golds. Its jam-packed. Opening these boxes is so much fun, I opened a case and couldn’t get enough. There’s also something for everyone, they’ve included pokémon that perhaps don’t get as much attention, like Lumineon or Poochyena, for example. There’s not much there to dislike. Even the retail price point of around £40 was incredible.

Looking back at past trends, which by all means are not always going to repeat, previous high-class sets in Japan that have also been the end of an era, tend to do well. Tag Team GX and the best of XY both incredibly popular sets. These were both heavily overlooked at the time, and prices were quite affordable until the big boom in 2020. Sets like Ultra Shiny GX were hits straight off, as well as Shiny star V and Vmax climax. The latter 2 have only slightly increased in price. All these sets represented a “best of the best” in that specific timeframe, and it’s interesting to look back at these sets as the ‘representation’ of that year. With Shiny star V, we had Hidden fates 2.0. With climax, we had the re-entry of CHRs. All sets that I think will be remembered well, to varying degrees. So in terms of history, universe has a good shot at appreciating in the future. But there are some things to consider.

Demand was extremely high during this period in December 22. Therefore, there was a lot made, I’ve seen so many resellers on Instagram with £20,000 worth of inventory just sitting in their living room. And I believe there were multiple reprints as well, which was not common in Japan back when previous high - class sets were made. So I still think there’s a lot in circulation. Unfortunately, because of previous sets, like Tag all stars, shooting upwards of £300 have probably meant people have kept a few boxes sealed, in hopes of a similar price hike in the future. This is quite obviously seen in Shiny Star V and Vmax climax, which have both hardly gone up in value. SSV available for around £100 and climax for even less at £90. Quite simply, everyone seems to have kept some sealed in the hopes that prices will rise, so supply isn’t low and it might take a long while for prices to even reach 3x.

The pull rates in the boxes were also relatively easy, albeit it is a massive set, but I pulled 2 golds, 2 trainers and multiple Vstar alts in half a case. The only cards that were truly hard to come by were the god pack CHRs, which is clearly reflected in their price tag. Perhaps some of the alts like Charizard were harder to come by, but all in all theres thousands of these cards, in pristine condition pulled already. So the rarity may not be there in the long run perhaps.

Overall, the set is fantastic, and was a great culmination of the SWSH era. It has some fantastic chase cards. They have also had the only VSTAR alt arts, which were previously Vmaxs and now EXs, something more unique to them. But there was a LOT printed, and pulls were relatively easy, which might hold back growth for the future, certainly if more and better alt arts get made. How will these older alt arts fair against the new scarlet and violet era? Personally, I have a couple sealed boxes stacked away, but I think it might take 10 years for some significant movement in price.