Knowledgebase: Learn About Collectibles, Trading Cards, Sports Cards and More
How to Buy Pokemon, Magic, One Piece and Sports Cards at Retail Prices: A Step-by-Step Guide to Saving Money With Deals on Trading Card Game (TCG) Releases, Drops and Restocks
Whether you’re a long-time collector of trading cards (TCGs) or sports cards, or just recently got into this super exciting hobby, you’ve probably realized that it’s really hard to find sealed boxes and packs in brick-and-mortar stores or online.
We’ve been collecting TCG and sports cards since the late 1990s and honestly we’ve never seen the situation be this bad in terms of out-of-stock sealed boxes and packs plus exorbitant pricing from resellers and scalpers.
In this guide, we’ll take a closer look at:
What the situation looks like in terms of actually buying trading cards (e.g., Pokemon, Magic: The Gathering, One Piece and Lorcana) and sports cards (e.g., baseball, football, basketball and hockey cards) at retail price in physical or online stores
Pro tips and useful links to free resources to help you buy sealed boxes and packs for recent TCG and sports card sets at retail (aka MSRP) price
Predictions for TCG and sports card pricing and stock in brick-and-mortar shops, big-box store retailers and internet sellers as we continue into 2026, 2027 and beyond
Is My Pokemon Card or Magic: The Gathering Card Real or Fake?: A Step-by-Step Illustrated Guide to Identifying Authentic vs. Fake aka Counterfeit Trading Cards for Popular TCGs
As collectors and players of both the Pokemon and Magic: The Gathering trading card games (TCGs) since the late 1990s, we’ve received all sorts of questions about topics like appraisal of single cards or huge collections, the most valuable Pokemon or Magic cards from the early years, metal Pokemon cards, and most commonly, whether Pokemon or Magic: The Gathering cards are real (aka authentic) or fake (aka counterfeit).
So, we decided to write this Knowledgebase article with an easy-to-understand, step-by-step guide to spotting fake cards with pictures of actual Pokemon and Magic: The Gathering cards, covering:
The difference between fake and real cards for both of these TCGs
Specific characteristics of real and fake cards to look for including up-close high-resolution photos of these features
Inexpensive tools like jeweler loupes that you can buy to help you discern real cards from fake cards
Where to purchase Pokemon, Magic, and other TCG cards to make sure you’re buying real single cards
Most Expensive Pokemon Cards from the English Black Bolt and White Flare Pokemon Sets: August 2025 Update
If you’ve been following recent releases in the Pokemon Trading Card Game (TCG) universe, then you’ve probably heard of the Black Bolt and White Flare sets, which both launched on July 18, 2025.
These are the first “dual sets“ to appear in English, which means that they have two separate groups of cards, numbered to 172 in Black Bolt and to 173 in White Flare.
Much like the Prismatic Evolutions set that came out on January 17, 2025, the Black Bolt and White flare sets also have “God Packs“, which are packs that contain all full art cards.
These God Packs are totally epic and have been taking over social media videos recently, but they’re also exceedingly rare, as estimates put them at 1 in 800 or 1,000 packs!
Let’s take a closer look at the Black Bolt and White Flare Pokemon TCG sets, including the top 5 most expensive cards in each set as of August, 2025 in PSA 10 grades, as well as our predictions about future price changes and a preview of the next Mega Evolution set that drops in late September, 2025!
To Grade or Not to Grade?: When Should You Send Pokemon, Magic: The Gathering or Sports Cards to Be Graded by PSA, BGS, or CGC?
Grading collectibles refers to the process of authenticating a collectible item as real, and then assigning a “grade“ to that item based on its condition.
Different companies use different grading scales, but most have a large range from 1 to 10 (in the case of PSA), with a “1” indicating “Poor” condition and a “10“ indicating “Gem Mint“ condition, or a card that is in perfect condition.
In in the past two decades, interest in grading has skyrocketed, driven primarily by increased demand for graded trading cards, such as Pokemon, Yu Gi Oh, One Piece, and Magic: The Gathering cards.
Let’s dive into some specifics about grading collectibles, including (1) why you might want to grade your collectibles, (2) important considerations when grading collectibles, and (3) whether grading actually increases value (aka the price you’ll get if you want to sell).
How Much Are My Pokemon Cards Worth?: A Guide to Pricing and Selling Pokemon Cards
So you found an old box of Pokémon cards in your attic or basement…score!
But what should you do next?
A recent article from Fortune showed that the average price increase in Pokémon and sports cards has outpaced the stock market, with recent annual growth of 46%!
In this helpful guide by our collectibles experts at Collectiwiz, we’ll break down the basics of how to understand (1) how much your Pokémon cards are worth, (2) the ways that condition impacts price, and (3) how to sell your Pokémon cards to get the best value.
The Only Real Metal Pokemon Cards: How to Avoid Fake Cards and Where to Buy
Despite what many sellers on eBay, Whatnot, TikTok, and elsewhere would like you to believe, there are actually only 5 (yes, 5!) real metal Pokémon cards that have ever been released as part of the Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG).
Let’s take a closer look at each of these 5 real metal Pokémon cards to see which set each one comes from, how much they cost (as of July, 2025, at a PSA 10 grade via recent eBay sold listings), and where you can buy them!
And even better, each of the card images you see below are from actual eBay sold listings in our eBay Store at Kendall Square Collectibles!