Market
Pokémon TCG Booster Pack Prices Rising 15% in Japan Starting May 2027
Some new Japanese expansion packs will list at ¥230 instead of ¥200, the second increase announced this year and 27.8% above the ¥180 list price packs had through April 2026. No English price change has been announced.
The Pokémon Company will raise the suggested retail price of standard five-card Pokémon TCG expansion packs in Japan from ¥200 to ¥230, a 15% increase, for some new products released from May 2027. The official notice, posted Nov. 6, says some expansion packs may be priced differently and that products in other price lines will be priced one by one. It names no sets and says nothing about English cards.
Products released through April 2027 stay at ¥200.
The second increase announced this year#
This is the second pack price increase announced in 2026, and the third since 2022. In January, the company announced packs would go from ¥180 to ¥200 for products released from May 2026. Before that, packs went from ¥165 to ¥180 with the Scarlet & Violet series in January 2023.
| Releases | Pack price | Change | Announced |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sword & Shield series and earlier | ¥165 | — | — |
| Scarlet & Violet series, from January 2023 | ¥180 | +9.1% | Oct 14, 2022 |
| Some new products released from May 2026 | ¥200 | +11.1% | Jan 30, 2026 |
| Some new products released from May 2027 | ¥230 | +15.0% | Nov 6, 2026 |
Suggested retail price of a 5-card expansion pack in Japan, tax included, from The Pokémon Company's notices (checked Nov 6, 2026). Some packs are priced differently.
Measured from ¥180, the list price for packs released through April 2026, ¥230 is 27.8% higher. From the ¥165 of the Sword & Shield era, it’s 39.4% higher.
What it adds up to#
At list price, the extra ¥30 a pack adds up quickly:
| Packs | At ¥200 | At ¥230 | Extra cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | ¥2,000 | ¥2,300 | +¥300 |
| 30 | ¥6,000 | ¥6,900 | +¥900 |
| 50 | ¥10,000 | ¥11,500 | +¥1,500 |
| 100 | ¥20,000 | ¥23,000 | +¥3,000 |
Our arithmetic on the suggested retail price, tax included. Not store prices, resale prices, or the cost of importing packs.
A standard Japanese booster box holds 30 packs, so a box at list would go from ¥6,000 to ¥6,900 if its packs follow the new price.
Why the price is going up#
The notice gives one reason: rising raw material costs, among other factors. The January notice gave the same reason, and the 2022 notice cited raw material and shipping costs. The company hasn’t said more than that.
What it means for U.S. collectors#
The notice covers the Japanese Pokémon Card Game. English cards are priced separately by The Pokémon Company International, which hasn’t announced a price change. Current English booster packs list at $4.49 in our data.
When Japanese packs are sold in the U.S., the price also carries the exchange rate, shipping, and the importer’s, distributor’s, and retailer’s costs and markups. A 15% rise in the Japanese list price raises the starting point, but the price on a U.S. shelf won’t necessarily move by 15%. It could move more or less, depending on those other costs.
Will English packs cost more?#
Nothing has been announced. The three Japanese increases since 2022 show how Japanese list prices have moved, not what English prices will do, and anything beyond that is speculation. We’ll report an English price change when The Pokémon Company International announces one.
What to watch next#
- The first sets released in May 2027 or later. Their product pages will show whether their packs list at ¥230 or, as the notice allows, at a different price.
- Decks, special sets, and other products outside the five-card pack line, which the notice says will be priced product by product.
- Any notice from The Pokémon Company International about English prices.
We’ll update this story when the first affected set is priced. Japanese sets we track are on our Japanese sets page.