After a year and a half of turmoil, packs flying off shelves, and a variety of Pokémon cards going for massive amounts of cash - I'm looking at you, Ascended Heroes - Perfect Order feels like a small breath of fresh air. Packs at retail, stock on shelves. It feels like a change in the tide. But this happened last year with Journey Together, and as the monumental 30th Anniversary approaches, I wouldn't bet on getting any retail-priced packs of that set.
After opening some Pokémon Perfect Order packs early, I came out of my booster ripping with a positive mindset. Pre-launch marketing and the release of the Japanese twin (Nihil Zero) left me a bit underwhelmed, but actually opening the boosters made me a fan of the Zygarde-led expansion. While my mind has been turned, it seems like most scalpers haven't changed their opinion - Pokémon TCG's Perfect Order has gone under the radar, and can actually be found on store shelves.
Of course, not everyone is so lucky, and it really depends on your area - but compared to the drought of stock caused by most Pokémon sets in recent years, Perfect Order is a welcome change of pace. Best of all, one look at Pricecharting indicates that the market prices for cards and sealed products are similar to pre-Surging Sparks levels. Sure, they're still above retail, but you're getting a booster box for only $200 compared to the $300 of Mega Evolutions, or $550 of Destined Rivals. Surprisingly, it's even cheaper than Journey Together.
The major chase of the set, Mega Zygarde ex #120, is sitting at around $120 on TCGPlayer and eBay sales. In perspective, Destined Rivals' Team Rocket's Mewtwo ex #231 is $505 currently. Ascended Heroes' three major chases are going for above $700, at least. Promising stuff, right?
Yes. Technically. It's no secret that, despite this being a solid expansion, the community - especially those that don't enjoy the modern videogames - isn't a fan of Perfect Order. There's no Charizard chase, no Pikachu to see the price skyrocket. Speaking of rockets, there is a Meowth SIR, but compared to Phantasmal Flames, Mega Evolutions, and the all-star lineup of Ascended Heroes, Perfect Order doesn't have a true mascot of Pokéfame. Mega Zygarde is cool, sure, but it's not a household name by any stretch.
The Mega Zygade ex #124, the Mega Hyper Rare of Perfect Order, is just $184 at market price right now. 'Just?' I hear you saying, and while that does sound like a lot for a gold-colored bit of cardboard, this is actually surprisingly cheap. Ascended Heroes MHRs go for $513 and $303 for Mega Charizard Y and Mega Dragonite, respectively, while Mega Charizard X from Phantasmal Flames is sitting around the $300 mark, too. It's also Perfect Order's most expensive chase, which is unusual - SIRs have been the top chase for both previous sets.
It's easy to get cozy and warm as you start burning up the huge Perfect Order collection that you'll inevitably have by now, but maybe don't do that. Not only are Pokémon cards awesome, but they also make for poor kindling. Don't expect things to get any easier anytime soon, though. Remember that big ol' milestone the TCG has coming up? The 30th Anniversary. Yeah, it's fast approaching, and I guarantee you'll want some packs - like every other collector, scalper, and 'investor' out there.
This is something we also saw last year. As I mentioned previously, Journey Together enjoyed high secondary market prices before release, but as the launch came and went, the cost went down. This was great. This was nice. However, Destined Rivals - a standard set, and not a special set like the upcoming 30th Anniversary release - has blown up, with expensive booster boxes and ETBs. I had a breather after Journey Together, and I wish I hadn't.
If history repeats itself, and it typically does, Perfect Order will have a small fandom of collectors that will (more than likely) enjoy paying less than usual to fill a master set. Lillie's Clefairy Ex #184, the main chase of Journey Together, is sitting around $120 on Pricecharting - ridiculously similar to the Mega Zygarde SIR right now. Perfect Order is this year's JT, and while we don't have Destined Rivals coming up next (that's Chaos Rising, a similarly weak set in most of the community's eyes), we have the 30th Anniversary special set dropping around October this year. So, I imagine Chaos Rising will be a Perfect Order 2, rather than blasting off like Team Rocket.
So, enjoy the Pokémon Perfect Order festivities. Enjoy finding it at retail price, and opening packs, because there's a very solid chance the upcoming 30th Anniversary will cause every store shelf to globally implode. It's also worse that, in the set's reveal, The Pokémon Company announced it would release simultaneously worldwide. I can imagine the earthquake of running feet as I write this. Shudders.
If you're hoping to enjoy this small respite, I'd recommend looking at the following retailers for your Pokémon Perfect Order products. Admittedly, online stock isn't brilliant, but if you keep them bookmarked, I'm sure you'll find some stock soon:
- Walmart (US)
- Target (US)
- Magic Madhouse (UK)
Make sure to join our Wargamer Discord, too, as we'll be sharing plenty of news on the upcoming sets as 2026 continues. And, if you're keen to get some retail-priced stock, we'll also ping you when any pop up.