{
  "url": "https://www.moonstonehq.com/articles/the-first-edition-census-four-times-over",
  "slug": "the-first-edition-census-four-times-over",
  "title": "We Remeasured First Edition With Four Times the Data. The Premium Held. The Fine Print Did Not.",
  "summary": "Three days ago we published a 1st Edition premium of 2.63x from 195 same-day pairs. After filling in printing rows for 1,342 vintage cards, the census is 838 pairs, and the median is 2.59x. But the bigger sample overturns the old footnote: the premium DOES compress with price, falling to 1.81x above $100, and seven of the eighteen inversions sit in one set.",
  "section": "Data forensics",
  "published": "2026-09-07",
  "readMinutes": 7,
  "publisher": "moonstone",
  "findings": [
    {
      "value": "838",
      "measures": "same-day pairs, up from 195",
      "basis": "after one feed artifact excluded"
    },
    {
      "value": "2.59x",
      "measures": "median 1st Edition premium",
      "basis": "was 2.63x on the small sample"
    },
    {
      "value": "1.81x",
      "measures": "median when the Unlimited leg is $100+",
      "basis": "55 pairs"
    },
    {
      "value": "18",
      "measures": "inversions where Unlimited is dearer",
      "basis": "7 of them in Neo Destiny"
    }
  ],
  "tables": [
    {
      "title": "The census by set",
      "columns": [
        "Set",
        "Pairs",
        "Median premium",
        "Inversions"
      ],
      "rows": [
        {
          "Set": "[Fossil](/set/fossil)",
          "Pairs": "62",
          "Median premium": "3.70x",
          "Inversions": "0"
        },
        {
          "Set": "[Jungle](/set/jungle)",
          "Pairs": "64",
          "Median premium": "3.63x",
          "Inversions": "0"
        },
        {
          "Set": "[Neo Discovery](/set/neo%20discovery)",
          "Pairs": "75",
          "Median premium": "3.06x",
          "Inversions": "1"
        },
        {
          "Set": "[Gym Heroes](/set/gym%20heroes)",
          "Pairs": "132",
          "Median premium": "2.51x",
          "Inversions": "1"
        },
        {
          "Set": "[Neo Genesis](/set/neo%20genesis)",
          "Pairs": "111",
          "Median premium": "2.52x",
          "Inversions": "2"
        },
        {
          "Set": "[Team Rocket](/set/team%20rocket)",
          "Pairs": "83",
          "Median premium": "2.50x",
          "Inversions": "1"
        },
        {
          "Set": "[Neo Revelation](/set/neo%20revelation)",
          "Pairs": "66",
          "Median premium": "2.50x",
          "Inversions": "0"
        },
        {
          "Set": "[Neo Destiny](/set/neo%20destiny)",
          "Pairs": "112",
          "Median premium": "2.50x",
          "Inversions": "7"
        },
        {
          "Set": "[Gym Challenge](/set/gym%20challenge)",
          "Pairs": "132",
          "Median premium": "2.24x",
          "Inversions": "6"
        },
        {
          "Set": "[Base Set](/set/base%20set)",
          "Pairs": "1",
          "Median premium": "3.06x",
          "Inversions": "0"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "charts": [],
  "sections": [
    "What held",
    "What did not hold: the premium compresses at the top",
    "The Neo Destiny anomaly"
  ],
  "method": [
    "Population: per-printing rows in our September 7, 2026 TCGplayer price data, on products holding both a 1st Edition or 1st Edition Holofoil row and an Unlimited or Unlimited Holofoil row above zero. That is 839 pairs, 838 after the disclosed exclusion, of which 163 are holofoil pairs. Both legs are same product, same day, same venue. The sample quadrupled because we filled per-printing rows for 1,342 vintage cards whose products previously carried only a collapsed figure; the methodology is otherwise identical to the prior article, and the prior article's 195 pairs are a subset of this census. The four price buckets are cut on the Unlimited leg and partition all 838 pairs; the n is printed for the bucket the revision turns on, the 55 pairs above $100. Medians on even-sized samples take the upper middle element rather than averaging the two. The Neo Destiny print run explanation is attributed as hobby consensus, not as a measured fact."
  ],
  "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."
}