{
  "url": "https://www.moonstonehq.com/articles/ten-rules-new-pokemon-investor",
  "slug": "ten-rules-new-pokemon-investor",
  "title": "Ten Rules for the New Pokémon Investor",
  "summary": "Everything on this list was learned from our own published measurements, not vibes: four hundred simulated packs, four hundred graded-return calculations, a public buy ledger, and the mistakes the data caught us making. Start here before your first serious purchase.",
  "section": "Guides",
  "published": "2026-08-05",
  "readMinutes": 6,
  "publisher": "moonstone",
  "findings": [],
  "tables": [],
  "charts": [],
  "sections": [
    "Ten rules, each one paid for in data"
  ],
  "method": [
    "Each rule cites its source study: the SIR vs IR scarcity study (403 cards), the moonstone Spread (190 set histories), Population Giants (115 registry-tracked cards), the Grading Frontier downside analysis (219 cards), the Summer Dip audit, the rip-or-hold pack simulation (400 packs), and the public Weekly Buys scorecard. All are linked from the Research page and all show their methodology inline. DATING, added 2026-09-22 on an independent recompute: every figure on this page is as of the publication date, August 5, 2026, or the date of the study it cites, and none of them are live. Two were re-checked against production on 2026-09-22 and still hold: [151 Charizard ex](/card/sv03.5-199) gems at 27.4% against the 28% quoted, and [Moonbreon](/card/swsh7-215) reads a $4,175 PSA 10 median on 506 recorded sales against the $4,250 quoted. The rest rest on tapes that have since been truncated or on studies with their own as-of dates; treat the numbers as rules of thumb with a timestamp, not as current quotes."
  ],
  "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."
}