{
  "url": "https://www.moonstonehq.com/articles/best-pokemon-investments-july-2026",
  "slug": "best-pokemon-investments-july-2026",
  "title": "The Month in Pokémon: Where the Money Went in July 2026",
  "summary": "Singles, slabs, and sealed, scored the same way: median moves, winners, and the BW-era rotation nobody was watching. Slab figures are dated sold comps; raw and sealed figures are asks from daily price history, and the two are never mixed inside a number.",
  "section": "Monthly Review",
  "published": "2026-07-25",
  "readMinutes": 8,
  "publisher": "moonstone",
  "findings": [
    {
      "value": "+2.4%",
      "measures": "median raw single",
      "basis": "n=420 · 69% positive"
    },
    {
      "value": "−2.0%",
      "measures": "median graded (PSA)",
      "basis": "n=216 grade-rows · 39% positive"
    },
    {
      "value": "+0.0%",
      "measures": "median sealed",
      "basis": "n=1,274 · essentially flat"
    },
    {
      "value": "+172%",
      "measures": "best tracked mover",
      "basis": "Riolu BW promo, raw"
    }
  ],
  "tables": [
    {
      "title": "Top raw movers, median of daily prices, last 30d vs prior 30d",
      "columns": [
        "Card",
        "Era",
        "Before",
        "After",
        "Change"
      ],
      "rows": [
        {
          "Card": "[Riolu](/card/bwp-BW33) · BW Black Star Promos",
          "Era": "BW",
          "Before": "$45",
          "After": "$122",
          "Change": "+172%"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Suicune ex](/card/ex4-94) · Team Magma vs Team Aqua",
          "Era": "EX",
          "Before": "$325",
          "After": "$676",
          "Change": "+108%"
        },
        {
          "Card": "Umbreon · [Dark Explorers](/set/dark%20explorers)",
          "Era": "BW",
          "Before": "$56",
          "After": "$100",
          "Change": "+78%"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Shinx](/card/dpp-DP15) · DP Black Star Promos",
          "Era": "DP",
          "Before": "$35",
          "After": "$58",
          "Change": "+64%"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Poliwrath](/card/base1-13) · [Base Set](/set/base%20set)",
          "Era": "WotC",
          "Before": "$77",
          "After": "$122",
          "Change": "+58%"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Flygon δ](/card/ex13-7) · Holon Phantoms",
          "Era": "EX",
          "Before": "$37",
          "After": "$57",
          "Change": "+57%"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Empoleon](/card/bw9-117) · [Plasma Freeze](/set/plasma%20freeze)",
          "Era": "BW",
          "Before": "$190",
          "After": "$293",
          "Change": "+54%"
        },
        {
          "Card": "Eevee · BW Black Star Promos",
          "Era": "BW",
          "Before": "$230",
          "After": "$350",
          "Change": "+52%"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Charizard](/card/base1-4) · Base Set",
          "Era": "WotC",
          "Before": "$300",
          "After": "$450",
          "Change": "+50%"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Mew](/card/bwp-BW98) · BW Black Star Promos",
          "Era": "BW",
          "Before": "$200",
          "After": "$300",
          "Change": "+50%"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "title": "Top graded movers: PSA sold-comp medians, MoM (≥5 sales each window)",
      "columns": [
        "Card",
        "Grade",
        "Before",
        "After",
        "Change",
        "Sales n"
      ],
      "rows": [
        {
          "Card": "[Seismitoad](/card/sv10.5b-105) · [Black Bolt](/set/black%20bolt)",
          "Grade": "PSA 10",
          "Before": "$1,999",
          "After": "$3,005",
          "Change": "+50%",
          "Sales n": "26 / 14"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Shining Celebi](/card/neo4-106) · [Neo Destiny](/set/neo%20destiny)",
          "Grade": "PSA 9",
          "Before": "$1,550",
          "After": "$2,250",
          "Change": "+45%",
          "Sales n": "13 / 9"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Jolteon ☆](/card/ex16-101) · [Power Keepers](/set/power%20keepers)",
          "Grade": "PSA 9",
          "Before": "$3,150",
          "After": "$4,500",
          "Change": "+43%",
          "Sales n": "5 / 7"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Gengar](/card/hgss4-94) · [Triumphant](/set/triumphant)",
          "Grade": "PSA 9",
          "Before": "$3,100",
          "After": "$4,200",
          "Change": "+36%",
          "Sales n": "19 / 9"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Krookodile](/card/sv10.5b-137) · Black Bolt",
          "Grade": "PSA 9",
          "Before": "$55",
          "After": "$70",
          "Change": "+27%",
          "Sales n": "7 / 6"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[M Rayquaza EX](/card/xy7-98) · [Ancient Origins](/set/ancient%20origins)",
          "Grade": "PSA 10",
          "Before": "$11,150",
          "After": "$13,900",
          "Change": "+25%",
          "Sales n": "12 / 5"
        },
        {
          "Card": "Mewtwo EX · [XY Evolutions](/set/xy%20-%20evolutions)",
          "Grade": "PSA 9",
          "Before": "$84",
          "After": "$103",
          "Change": "+22%",
          "Sales n": "11 / 11"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Sinistcha ex](/card/sv06-210) · [Twilight Masquerade](/set/twilight%20masquerade)",
          "Grade": "PSA 10",
          "Before": "$150",
          "After": "$182",
          "Change": "+22%",
          "Sales n": "9 / 8"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Sylveon V](/card/swsh7-184) · [Evolving Skies](/set/evolving%20skies)",
          "Grade": "PSA 10",
          "Before": "$409",
          "After": "$490",
          "Change": "+20%",
          "Sales n": "8 / 7"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Shining Mewtwo](/card/neo4-109) · Neo Destiny",
          "Grade": "PSA 9",
          "Before": "$3,549",
          "After": "$4,175",
          "Change": "+18%",
          "Sales n": "8 / 6"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "title": "Best sealed performers, 30 days",
      "columns": [
        "Product",
        "Price",
        "30d"
      ],
      "rows": [
        {
          "Product": "30th Celebration Classic Collection Pack",
          "Price": "$152",
          "30d": "+6.6%"
        },
        {
          "Product": "Crimson Invasion Booster Pack Art Bundle",
          "Price": "$150",
          "30d": "+1.2%"
        },
        {
          "Product": "Toxtricity V Box",
          "Price": "$145",
          "30d": "+0.8%"
        },
        {
          "Product": "Dragon Majesty Super-Premium Collection",
          "Price": "$1,700",
          "30d": "+0.7%"
        },
        {
          "Product": "Holon Phantoms Booster Pack",
          "Price": "$1,900",
          "30d": "+0.6%"
        },
        {
          "Product": "Trick or Trade BOOster Bundle (120 ct)",
          "Price": "$114",
          "30d": "+0.5%"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "charts": [
    {
      "title": "30-day median change by asset class",
      "unit": "%",
      "note": "Same-methodology medians across the tracked universe, July 2026",
      "points": [
        {
          "label": "Raw singles (n=420)",
          "value": 2.4,
          "basis": null
        },
        {
          "label": "Sealed (n=1,274)",
          "value": 0.01,
          "basis": null
        },
        {
          "label": "Graded slabs (n=216)",
          "value": -2,
          "basis": null
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sections": [
    "Three asset classes, one flat month, on the surface",
    "The BW/DP rotation: +50% months in a forgotten era",
    "A falling market with violent exceptions",
    "Dead flat, and that's the story"
  ],
  "method": [
    "Windows: June 25 – July 25, 2026 vs the preceding 30 days. Raw singles: medians of daily market prices over each window, 420 cards with ≥10 price days per window, $10 floor, from the same stratified 520-card universe as our grade-ladder study. Graded: medians of individual dated PSA sold comps per grade per window, ≥5 sales in each window, $40 floor (216 qualifying grade-rows); two extreme readings excluded as comp-mixing artifacts (thin windows can mix mislabeled listings). Sealed: tracked 30-day price change across 1,274 products above $50. Prices on linked product pages update continuously and will differ from the captured medians. Nothing here is financial advice."
  ],
  "terms": "Figures are moonstone's own recorded measurements, dated as published. Quote them with the population stated beside them. The article at `url` is the human form of this file."
}