{
  "url": "https://www.moonstonehq.com/articles/cheapest-gold-star-pokemon-card",
  "slug": "cheapest-gold-star-pokemon-card",
  "title": "Cheapest Way to Own a Gold Star Pokemon Card",
  "summary": "There are 27 English Gold Stars, not 22. The cheapest ask is $500 for Registeel, and only four of the 25 EX-era cards carry a PSA 10 sale on ten or more comps.",
  "section": "Quant research",
  "published": "2026-09-23",
  "readMinutes": 10,
  "publisher": "moonstone",
  "findings": [
    {
      "value": "27",
      "measures": "English Gold Star cards",
      "basis": "25 from the EX era, 2 from POP Series 5"
    },
    {
      "value": "$500.00",
      "measures": "cheapest ask, Registeel ☆",
      "basis": "flat across all 25 daily readings"
    },
    {
      "value": "4 of 25",
      "measures": "with a PSA 10 sold median on ten or more sales",
      "basis": "seven more carry one on three to eight sales"
    },
    {
      "value": "6 of 25",
      "measures": "with no ask at all on September 23, 2026",
      "basis": "three of those six have never carried one"
    }
  ],
  "tables": [
    {
      "title": "All 27 English Gold Stars, by ask on September 23, 2026. Asks are the daily dump's market figure for the canonical printing, never a sale; PSA medians are sold prices with their sample size",
      "columns": [
        "Card",
        "Set",
        "Star in our catalog",
        "Ask",
        "PSA 10 sold",
        "PSA 9 sold"
      ],
      "rows": [
        {
          "Card": "[Registeel ☆](/card/ex12-92)",
          "Set": "Legend Maker",
          "Star in our catalog": "☆",
          "Ask": "$500.00",
          "PSA 10 sold": "$21,500.00 (n=5)",
          "PSA 9 sold": "$4,153.50 (n=26)"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Flareon ☆](/card/ex16-100)",
          "Set": "Power Keepers",
          "Star in our catalog": "☆",
          "Ask": "$600.00",
          "PSA 10 sold": "$4,652.98 (n=10)",
          "PSA 9 sold": "$3,964.60 (n=34)"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Celebi ☆](/card/ex14-100)",
          "Set": "Crystal Guardians",
          "Star in our catalog": "☆",
          "Ask": "$750.00",
          "PSA 10 sold": "$13,200.00 (n=8)",
          "PSA 9 sold": "$6,659.50 (n=32)"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Jolteon ☆](/card/ex16-101)",
          "Set": "Power Keepers",
          "Star in our catalog": "☆",
          "Ask": "$750.00",
          "PSA 10 sold": "$44,444.85 (n=6)",
          "PSA 9 sold": "$7,234.50 (n=47)"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Metagross Star](/card/ex11-113)",
          "Set": "Delta Species",
          "Star in our catalog": "spelled",
          "Ask": "$951.99",
          "PSA 10 sold": "$5,500.00 (n=3), withdrawn as stale",
          "PSA 9 sold": "$8,057.19 (n=32)"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Groudon Star](/card/ex11-111)",
          "Set": "Delta Species",
          "Star in our catalog": "spelled",
          "Ask": "$1,010.00",
          "PSA 10 sold": "not recorded",
          "PSA 9 sold": "not recorded"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Entei ☆](/card/ex10-113)",
          "Set": "Unseen Forces",
          "Star in our catalog": "☆",
          "Ask": "$1,067.00",
          "PSA 10 sold": "$15,012.50 (n=20)",
          "PSA 9 sold": "$3,850.00 (n=156)"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Suicune ☆](/card/ex10-115)",
          "Set": "Unseen Forces",
          "Star in our catalog": "☆",
          "Ask": "$1,100.00",
          "PSA 10 sold": "$18,450.50 (n=15)",
          "PSA 9 sold": "$5,498.99 (n=96)"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Regice ☆](/card/ex12-90)",
          "Set": "Legend Maker",
          "Star in our catalog": "☆",
          "Ask": "$1,250.00",
          "PSA 10 sold": "$27,569.00 (n=4)",
          "PSA 9 sold": "$5,375.00 (n=14)"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Gyarados ☆ δ](/card/ex13-102)",
          "Set": "Holon Phantoms",
          "Star in our catalog": "☆",
          "Ask": "$1,333.56",
          "PSA 10 sold": "not recorded",
          "PSA 9 sold": "$25,393.75 (n=11)"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Vaporeon ☆](/card/ex16-102)",
          "Set": "Power Keepers",
          "Star in our catalog": "☆",
          "Ask": "$1,399.95",
          "PSA 10 sold": "$24,129.38 (n=7)",
          "PSA 9 sold": "$6,603.53 (n=28)"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Regirock ☆](/card/ex12-91)",
          "Set": "Legend Maker",
          "Star in our catalog": "☆",
          "Ask": "$1,450.99",
          "PSA 10 sold": "$16,000.00 (n=6)",
          "PSA 9 sold": "$4,247.01 (n=20)"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Alakazam ☆](/card/ex14-99)",
          "Set": "Crystal Guardians",
          "Star in our catalog": "☆",
          "Ask": "$1,500.00",
          "PSA 10 sold": "not recorded",
          "PSA 9 sold": "$6,999.49 (n=28)"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Latios ☆](/card/ex8-106)",
          "Set": "Deoxys",
          "Star in our catalog": "☆",
          "Ask": "$1,500.00",
          "PSA 10 sold": "not recorded",
          "PSA 9 sold": "$14,847.50 (n=4)"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Raikou ☆](/card/ex10-114)",
          "Set": "Unseen Forces",
          "Star in our catalog": "☆",
          "Ask": "$1,600.00",
          "PSA 10 sold": "$20,675.50 (n=46)",
          "PSA 9 sold": "$3,774.57 (n=155)"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Latias ☆](/card/ex8-105)",
          "Set": "Deoxys",
          "Star in our catalog": "☆",
          "Ask": "$1,650.00",
          "PSA 10 sold": "not recorded",
          "PSA 9 sold": "$910.00 (n=11)"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Pikachu Star](/card/ex13-104)",
          "Set": "Holon Phantoms",
          "Star in our catalog": "spelled",
          "Ask": "$1,899.99",
          "PSA 10 sold": "$99,374.99 (n=3)",
          "PSA 9 sold": "$23,800.00 (n=25)"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Mew ☆ δ](/card/ex15-101)",
          "Set": "Dragon Frontiers",
          "Star in our catalog": "☆",
          "Ask": "$3,500.00",
          "PSA 10 sold": "not recorded",
          "PSA 9 sold": "$27,000.00 (n=45)"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Torchic ☆](/card/ex7-108)",
          "Set": "Team Rocket Returns",
          "Star in our catalog": "☆",
          "Ask": "$4,500.00",
          "PSA 10 sold": "not recorded",
          "PSA 9 sold": "$14,800.00 (n=10)"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Treecko ☆](/card/ex7-109)",
          "Set": "Team Rocket Returns",
          "Star in our catalog": "☆",
          "Ask": "no ask; last $2,400.00 on Sep 20",
          "PSA 10 sold": "not recorded",
          "PSA 9 sold": "$17,401.45 (n=22)"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Charizard ☆ δ](/card/ex15-100)",
          "Set": "Dragon Frontiers",
          "Star in our catalog": "☆",
          "Ask": "no ask; last $1,000.00 on Sep 19",
          "PSA 10 sold": "not recorded",
          "PSA 9 sold": "not recorded"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Kyogre Star](/card/ex11-112)",
          "Set": "Delta Species",
          "Star in our catalog": "spelled",
          "Ask": "no ask; last $1,602.99 on Sep 16",
          "PSA 10 sold": "not recorded",
          "PSA 9 sold": "not recorded"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Mudkip ☆](/card/ex7-107)",
          "Set": "Team Rocket Returns",
          "Star in our catalog": "☆",
          "Ask": "no ask; never priced",
          "PSA 10 sold": "not recorded",
          "PSA 9 sold": "not recorded"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Rayquaza ☆](/card/ex8-107)",
          "Set": "Deoxys",
          "Star in our catalog": "☆",
          "Ask": "no ask; never priced",
          "PSA 10 sold": "not recorded",
          "PSA 9 sold": "not recorded"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Mewtwo Star](/card/ex13-103)",
          "Set": "Holon Phantoms",
          "Star in our catalog": "spelled",
          "Ask": "no ask; never priced",
          "PSA 10 sold": "not recorded",
          "PSA 9 sold": "not recorded"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Espeon ★](/card/pop5-16)",
          "Set": "POP Series 5",
          "Star in our catalog": "★",
          "Ask": "no ask; never priced",
          "PSA 10 sold": "excluded, see below",
          "PSA 9 sold": "excluded, see below"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Umbreon ★](/card/pop5-17)",
          "Set": "POP Series 5",
          "Star in our catalog": "★",
          "Ask": "no ask; last $71.35 on Sep 19",
          "PSA 10 sold": "excluded, see below",
          "PSA 9 sold": "excluded, see below"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "title": "PSA 9 sold medians on ten or more recorded sales, ascending. 18 of the 25 EX-era cards qualify",
      "columns": [
        "Card",
        "Set",
        "PSA 9 sold",
        "Sales",
        "Ask",
        "PSA 9 over ask"
      ],
      "rows": [
        {
          "Card": "[Latias ☆](/card/ex8-105)",
          "Set": "Deoxys",
          "PSA 9 sold": "$910.00",
          "Sales": "11",
          "Ask": "$1,650.00",
          "PSA 9 over ask": "0.55x"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Raikou ☆](/card/ex10-114)",
          "Set": "Unseen Forces",
          "PSA 9 sold": "$3,774.57",
          "Sales": "155",
          "Ask": "$1,600.00",
          "PSA 9 over ask": "2.36x"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Entei ☆](/card/ex10-113)",
          "Set": "Unseen Forces",
          "PSA 9 sold": "$3,850.00",
          "Sales": "156",
          "Ask": "$1,067.00",
          "PSA 9 over ask": "3.61x"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Flareon ☆](/card/ex16-100)",
          "Set": "Power Keepers",
          "PSA 9 sold": "$3,964.60",
          "Sales": "34",
          "Ask": "$600.00",
          "PSA 9 over ask": "6.61x"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Registeel ☆](/card/ex12-92)",
          "Set": "Legend Maker",
          "PSA 9 sold": "$4,153.50",
          "Sales": "26",
          "Ask": "$500.00",
          "PSA 9 over ask": "8.31x"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Regirock ☆](/card/ex12-91)",
          "Set": "Legend Maker",
          "PSA 9 sold": "$4,247.01",
          "Sales": "20",
          "Ask": "$1,450.99",
          "PSA 9 over ask": "2.93x"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Regice ☆](/card/ex12-90)",
          "Set": "Legend Maker",
          "PSA 9 sold": "$5,375.00",
          "Sales": "14",
          "Ask": "$1,250.00",
          "PSA 9 over ask": "4.30x"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Suicune ☆](/card/ex10-115)",
          "Set": "Unseen Forces",
          "PSA 9 sold": "$5,498.99",
          "Sales": "96",
          "Ask": "$1,100.00",
          "PSA 9 over ask": "5.00x"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Vaporeon ☆](/card/ex16-102)",
          "Set": "Power Keepers",
          "PSA 9 sold": "$6,603.53",
          "Sales": "28",
          "Ask": "$1,399.95",
          "PSA 9 over ask": "4.72x"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Celebi ☆](/card/ex14-100)",
          "Set": "Crystal Guardians",
          "PSA 9 sold": "$6,659.50",
          "Sales": "32",
          "Ask": "$750.00",
          "PSA 9 over ask": "8.88x"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Alakazam ☆](/card/ex14-99)",
          "Set": "Crystal Guardians",
          "PSA 9 sold": "$6,999.49",
          "Sales": "28",
          "Ask": "$1,500.00",
          "PSA 9 over ask": "4.67x"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Jolteon ☆](/card/ex16-101)",
          "Set": "Power Keepers",
          "PSA 9 sold": "$7,234.50",
          "Sales": "47",
          "Ask": "$750.00",
          "PSA 9 over ask": "9.65x"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Metagross Star](/card/ex11-113)",
          "Set": "Delta Species",
          "PSA 9 sold": "$8,057.19",
          "Sales": "32",
          "Ask": "$951.99",
          "PSA 9 over ask": "8.46x"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Torchic ☆](/card/ex7-108)",
          "Set": "Team Rocket Returns",
          "PSA 9 sold": "$14,800.00",
          "Sales": "10",
          "Ask": "$4,500.00",
          "PSA 9 over ask": "3.29x"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Treecko ☆](/card/ex7-109)",
          "Set": "Team Rocket Returns",
          "PSA 9 sold": "$17,401.45",
          "Sales": "22",
          "Ask": "no ask",
          "PSA 9 over ask": "not computable"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Pikachu Star](/card/ex13-104)",
          "Set": "Holon Phantoms",
          "PSA 9 sold": "$23,800.00",
          "Sales": "25",
          "Ask": "$1,899.99",
          "PSA 9 over ask": "12.53x"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Gyarados ☆ δ](/card/ex13-102)",
          "Set": "Holon Phantoms",
          "PSA 9 sold": "$25,393.75",
          "Sales": "11",
          "Ask": "$1,333.56",
          "PSA 9 over ask": "19.04x"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Mew ☆ δ](/card/ex15-101)",
          "Set": "Dragon Frontiers",
          "PSA 9 sold": "$27,000.00",
          "Sales": "45",
          "Ask": "$3,500.00",
          "PSA 9 over ask": "7.71x"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "title": "PSA 10 sold medians on ten or more recorded sales. Four of the 25 EX-era cards qualify",
      "columns": [
        "Card",
        "Set",
        "PSA 10 sold",
        "Sales",
        "PSA 9 sold",
        "Ask",
        "PSA 10 over ask"
      ],
      "rows": [
        {
          "Card": "[Flareon ☆](/card/ex16-100)",
          "Set": "Power Keepers",
          "PSA 10 sold": "$4,652.98",
          "Sales": "10",
          "PSA 9 sold": "$3,964.60 (n=34)",
          "Ask": "$600.00",
          "PSA 10 over ask": "7.8x"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Entei ☆](/card/ex10-113)",
          "Set": "Unseen Forces",
          "PSA 10 sold": "$15,012.50",
          "Sales": "20",
          "PSA 9 sold": "$3,850.00 (n=156)",
          "Ask": "$1,067.00",
          "PSA 10 over ask": "14.1x"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Suicune ☆](/card/ex10-115)",
          "Set": "Unseen Forces",
          "PSA 10 sold": "$18,450.50",
          "Sales": "15",
          "PSA 9 sold": "$5,498.99 (n=96)",
          "Ask": "$1,100.00",
          "PSA 10 over ask": "16.8x"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Raikou ☆](/card/ex10-114)",
          "Set": "Unseen Forces",
          "PSA 10 sold": "$20,675.50",
          "Sales": "46",
          "PSA 9 sold": "$3,774.57 (n=155)",
          "Ask": "$1,600.00",
          "PSA 10 over ask": "12.9x"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "title": "Graded coverage by set. The 25 EX-era cards only; the two POP Series 5 rows are excluded and counted separately",
      "columns": [
        "Set",
        "Gold Stars",
        "With an ask",
        "PSA 10 row",
        "PSA 10 on 10+ sales",
        "PSA 9 row",
        "Neither grade"
      ],
      "rows": [
        {
          "Set": "[Team Rocket Returns](/research/set-screen/team%20rocket%20returns)",
          "Gold Stars": "3",
          "With an ask": "1",
          "PSA 10 row": "0",
          "PSA 10 on 10+ sales": "0",
          "PSA 9 row": "2",
          "Neither grade": "1"
        },
        {
          "Set": "[Deoxys](/research/set-screen/deoxys)",
          "Gold Stars": "3",
          "With an ask": "2",
          "PSA 10 row": "0",
          "PSA 10 on 10+ sales": "0",
          "PSA 9 row": "2",
          "Neither grade": "1"
        },
        {
          "Set": "[Unseen Forces](/research/set-screen/unseen%20forces)",
          "Gold Stars": "3",
          "With an ask": "3",
          "PSA 10 row": "3",
          "PSA 10 on 10+ sales": "3",
          "PSA 9 row": "3",
          "Neither grade": "0"
        },
        {
          "Set": "[Delta Species](/research/set-screen/delta%20species)",
          "Gold Stars": "3",
          "With an ask": "2",
          "PSA 10 row": "0",
          "PSA 10 on 10+ sales": "0",
          "PSA 9 row": "1",
          "Neither grade": "2"
        },
        {
          "Set": "[Legend Maker](/research/set-screen/legend%20maker)",
          "Gold Stars": "3",
          "With an ask": "3",
          "PSA 10 row": "3",
          "PSA 10 on 10+ sales": "0",
          "PSA 9 row": "3",
          "Neither grade": "0"
        },
        {
          "Set": "[Holon Phantoms](/research/set-screen/holon%20phantoms)",
          "Gold Stars": "3",
          "With an ask": "2",
          "PSA 10 row": "1",
          "PSA 10 on 10+ sales": "0",
          "PSA 9 row": "2",
          "Neither grade": "1"
        },
        {
          "Set": "[Crystal Guardians](/research/set-screen/crystal%20guardians)",
          "Gold Stars": "2",
          "With an ask": "2",
          "PSA 10 row": "1",
          "PSA 10 on 10+ sales": "0",
          "PSA 9 row": "2",
          "Neither grade": "0"
        },
        {
          "Set": "[Dragon Frontiers](/research/set-screen/dragon%20frontiers)",
          "Gold Stars": "2",
          "With an ask": "1",
          "PSA 10 row": "0",
          "PSA 10 on 10+ sales": "0",
          "PSA 9 row": "1",
          "Neither grade": "1"
        },
        {
          "Set": "[Power Keepers](/set/power%20keepers)",
          "Gold Stars": "3",
          "With an ask": "3",
          "PSA 10 row": "3",
          "PSA 10 on 10+ sales": "1",
          "PSA 9 row": "3",
          "Neither grade": "0"
        },
        {
          "Set": "EX-era total",
          "Gold Stars": "25",
          "With an ask": "19",
          "PSA 10 row": "11",
          "PSA 10 on 10+ sales": "4",
          "PSA 9 row": "19",
          "Neither grade": "6"
        },
        {
          "Set": "[POP Series 5](/set/pop%20series%205), excluded",
          "Gold Stars": "2",
          "With an ask": "0",
          "PSA 10 row": "1 row, rejected",
          "PSA 10 on 10+ sales": "0",
          "PSA 9 row": "1 row, rejected",
          "Neither grade": "1"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "charts": [],
  "sections": [
    "Twenty-seven, and why the usual count is twenty-two",
    "The cheapest way in, raw",
    "The cheapest way in, graded",
    "The coverage gap is the answer",
    "The Japanese prints, and why none of them helps",
    "What this cannot show",
    "What would overturn this"
  ],
  "method": [
    "Population. Every catalog row whose folded name carries U+2606 ☆, U+2605 ★, or the word `star` on a word boundary, over the whole 62,343-product catalog after deduplicating on `tcg_id` (1,212 rows collapsed). Folding normalises to NFKD, strips combining marks, maps curly apostrophes to straight, maps both star characters to a single token, and drops the gender signs. Inside the nine EX-era sets and POP Series 5 that query returns 22 rows carrying a star character, 20 of them U+2606 and 2 U+2605, and on the residual five more spelled rows in Delta Species and Holon Phantoms, 27 in all. Across the rest of the catalog it also returns modern and Japanese `Star` and `Prism Star` rows, excluded by set and date. The derivation was re-run over all 63,555 catalog rows rather than the 62,343 dedupe survivors, in case a survivor carried a different spelling from a row it replaced: it returns the same 27, none of the 27 shares a `tcg_id` with another row, and every card number in the run is occupied by a row the query catches. The EX-era English population is the 25 cards numbered 107 to 109 in Team Rocket Returns, 105 to 107 in Deoxys, 113 to 115 in Unseen Forces, 111 to 113 in Delta Species, 90 to 92 in Legend Maker, 102 to 104 in Holon Phantoms, 99 to 100 in Crystal Guardians, 100 to 101 in Dragon Frontiers and 100 to 102 in Power Keepers, plus POP Series 5 numbers 16 and 17, which are excluded from every figure for the collision documented above. Every card was resolved by name AND number against the catalog, not by an id we typed. Exclusions: `cel25-17A` and `cel25cc-CC015` (2021 Celebrations reprints), `swshp-SWSH144` (a Sword and Shield promo), `jat-594630` (a 2021 Japanese promo-pack reprint). Prices. `price_history` on day 20719, 2026-09-23, 52,378 priced products; these are ASKS, the daily dump's market figure for the canonical printing rather than the dearest one. The 25-day tape runs from day 20695, 2026-08-30. Where a card has no reading on day 20719 the last reading and its date are printed instead of a blank. Graded. `graded_snapshots`, latest day per card key and grade, read across the catalog-id and TCGplayer-id keyspaces and resolved by taking the fresher row; preferring the catalog id would have served Raikou ☆ at $4,653.02 from day 20675 while the current row reads $20,675.50. These are SOLD medians. Stale-row rule, applied across this whole batch: after the fresher-keyspace read, any median dated before day 20695 (2026-08-30, the start of the current daily tape) is dropped, because the graded feed rotates roughly a seventh of the catalog a day and an older row is a reading from a different week. It removed one row in this population: Metagross Star's PSA 10 median from day 20655. Collision test, run on every graded row used in this study: several products can share one PSA registry line, so a sold count at a grade is compared against the registry count at that grade whenever the registry row passes the trustworthiness check, and a row recording more than two sales per graded copy is withheld. One sale per copy is not a ceiling, because a slab can be sold more than once, so this is a declared threshold and not an impossibility; the stricter one-sale-per-copy bar is counted beside it below. All four gated PSA 10 rows and all eighteen gated PSA 9 rows in the EX-era population pass it; the only failure among the 27 is pop5-17 Umbreon ★, already excluded. Sensitivity: the stricter one-sale-per-copy bar withholds the same single row, so no figure in this study differs between the two thresholds. A minimum sample of ten recorded sales applies to every comparison and every ranking; the nine rows it removed are named in the text and printed in the tables with their samples. Registry. `population_snapshots`, latest day per key, used only for the collision test on Umbreon ★ and never printed as a slab count. Median convention: upper-middle on even samples, used for the $6,659.50 PSA 9 median and the $1,333.56 ask median. Japanese prints: the same folded query restricted to the fourteen Japanese sets that hold EX-era Gold Stars, 32 rows folding to 27 distinct prints, zero priced and zero graded."
  ],
  "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."
}