While iconic chase cards (especially that adorable Squirtle Illustrated Rare) remain the main reason to rip open packs of Pokémon Stellar Crown, there are a few underappreciated hits that are surprisingly expensive, despite looking like perfectly normal cards. The leader of the pack is Fan Rotom [Premier Ball League Judge] #118, a basic style card worth over $1,000 - though you'll have to be very lucky to get your hands on one of these.
While Fan Rotom is a measly common card, the Fan Rotom [Premier Ball League Judge] #118 card is anything but. Since the card's release in October 2024, following the Premier Ball League in Malaysia, it's only been sold twice on eBay, with an average price of over $1,000, according to Pricecharting.
We can gather from the custom stamp that it was likely given to judges of the tournament, similar to the Voltorb 151 card we shared earlier this year.
There's also a non-judge version, with Fan Rotom [Premier Ball League] stamped variants given to participants of the event. In this case, it's worth a lot less at roughly $80 on Pricecharting. It's still a pricey card, even beating out the leading chase card Squirtle, but it's nowhere near the same price as the Judge version, far and away Stellar Crown's most expensive Pokémon card.
I'll be honest that Squirtle #148, Bulbasaur #143, and the other standard chases remain the best Pokémon cards from Stellar Crown. They're gorgeous cards, and accordingly some of the most valuable of the entire expansion. Just bank on shelling out more than you usually would at TCGPlayer if you want to complete your set.
If you're like me, though, you'll have your eyes moving away from Stellar Crown and onto the newest Pokémon set when it finally launches - Phantasmal Flames is igniting stock shortages once again. If you want to get your hands on some of the upcoming expansion at retail prices (or at least, below market price), make sure to join our Wargamer Discord, where we share deals posts and discuss the best trading card game around.