Gaming Reports 
Pokémon TCG Mega Evolution’s latest expansion, Ascended Heroes, is (as per usual) increasingly hard to get hold of right now. While Ascended Heroes cards are technically already available, stock is painfully low or nonexistent in major retailers.
Moreover, several products, including the Elite Trainer Box, are part of a staggered release all the way through to April 2026. If you’re looking to bag yourself an ETB (or several) that sport a rather magnificent Mega Dragonite, in anticipation of its launch day on February 20, then here’s where you can currently pick one up, and what prices to expect at each retailer.
MSRP is $49.99, but the current market price at TCGplayer is listed at $141.11. That’s around a 186% markup. That’s a pricey increase, and even pricier compared to the $115-$120 value we were looking at just a few weeks ago.
That’s because interest has spiked since the end of January (and the set’s official release), and we’ve seen a +20.88% climb in value over the past month in total. Fans can only hope this doesn’t rise any further in the coming weeks. In my view, the market price looks to be levelling out, but for now, it still takes the ETB closer to the Phantasmal Flames’ ETB level of expensive come release day.
That was settling at around $150-$200 in November last year, but has thankfully since come down to around $82 market price, which is much better, a whole lot more what most fans would be happy/ expecting to pay for an ETB these days, even if it is above the original list price. Fingers crossed that Ascended Heroes can follow a similar trend.
In terms of where to buy, TCGplayer is the most reliable option, but also the most expensive, so proceed only with the knowledge that you’re paying a premium. Amazon is without a listing just yet, but we’re anticipating this will appear post release (so anytime after February 20).
GameStop also has preorders open for GameStop Pro members, with the listing at $99.99 / $94.99 for Pro members, plus $8.99 for delivery on top. It’s a decent enough option for those already sporting Pro memberships (there are dozens of us!) but unfortunately an added expense for everyone else.
GameStop Pro Memberships are $25/Year – so in total you’re looking at $128.97 for the ETB, Pro Membership, and shipping. Still, that’s less than the average resale listing at TCGplayer, so it’s not an entirely bad idea.
Best Buy has a “Coming Soon” listing at $49.99, but you’ll need to be ready to purchase come release day. Have your account logged in and ready to go, with credit card info saved or also nearby to ensure success. Walmart also has a listing at $138.99, but it is a third party seller, so we’d consider it unreliable/ unverified at how trustworthy this can truely be, so proceed with extreme caution.
Finishing up, if you’re after the exclusive Pokémon Center Elite Trainer Box for Ascended Heroes, you’re instead looking at around $339.85 market price right now.
It’s also somewhat down compared to its sky high $399 price point I’d seen most recently online, and, according the latest data, has dropped 10.63% at TCGplayer over the past month. That’s still pretty steep all things considered, but hardly unsurprising with how sought after these exclusive ETBs are, even years after release.
Yet, that’s the price of cards on the resale market these days! I’m sure most of us are already quite used to it, even if it’s still a mega pricey. That being said, in my opinion, you may be better off waiting for prices to come back down a bit post release day for the ETB (February 20), so a bit of patience may pay off if you can manage it.
I’d say anywhere around the $100-$110 mark is a good time to buy the standard ETB, but if you can wait a few months longer, hopefully we can see these falling to around $80 as well, just like the Phantasmal Flames ETB has.
Robert Anderson is Senior Commerce Editor and IGN’s resident deals expert on games, collectibles, trading card games, and more. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter/X or Bluesky.
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