Pokemon Center Celebrations Elite Trainer Box Review

Of all the Pokemon Center exclusive ETBs, the Celebrations Pokemon Center Exclusive Elite Trainer Box is one of the most expensive and sought after. Today we are looking at this exclusive ETB and discussing its value as both an opening experience and as an investment.

 

Celebrations Pokemon Center ETB Product Overview

In October 2021, Pokemon launched the Pokemon Sword & Shield Celebrations set, which was to commemorate their 25th anniversary. This set would feature iconic cards from previous years, such as the Base Set Charizard, Blastoise, and Venusaur, the Shining Magikarp, Birthday Pikachu, and several playable cards from previous eras.

Along with the launch of Celebrations, they announced the exclusive Pokemon Center Celebrations Elite Trainer Box. Previous sets had also featured Pokemon Center exclusives, but due to the popularity of the Celebrations set, the Pokemon Center Celebrations ETB would sell out quickly and hit a premium on the secondary market.

Although the exclusive nature of the ETB contributes some to the value, much of the value of the box comes from what is included - let's go over the contents of the Pokemon Center Celebrations ETB.

What's Inside the Celebrations Pokemon Center ETB?

The Celebrations Pokémon Center Elite Trainer Box stands out primarily for its inclusion of 13 Celebrations booster packs—one of the key reasons behind its premium price. In addition, you’ll receive six more booster packs, including 3 of the popular Chilling Reign set. The full contents of the Celebrations Pokemon Center ETB include:

• 13 Celebrations booster packs, each containing 4 cards
• 6 additional Pokémon TCG booster packs
• 1 exclusive foil card featuring Greninja Star
• 65 card sleeves with the Pokémon 25th anniversary logo and lightning tail design
• 45 Energy cards
• Player's guide
• Pokémon TCG rulebook
• 6 stamped aluminum dice for damage counters
• 1 metal Pokémon coin
• 2 acrylic markers for conditions
• Deck box for your cards
• Collector’s storage box with 4 dividers for organization
• Code card for the Pokémon Trading Card Game Online

What Are The Best Pulls in Celebrations?

Before we take a look at the potential value of your box and opening experience, we need to dive into the best cards from the Celebrations set. There are plenty of popular pulls in the set, but here are the top 5 cards from Celebrations

	Charizard Classic Collection #4/102 Check eBay Check Amazon
	Mew Secret Rare #025/025 Check eBay Check Amazon
	Umbreon Gold Star #17/17 Check eBay Check Amazon
	M Rayquaza EX Classic Collection #76/108 Check eBay Check Amazon
	Shining Magikarp Classic Collection #66/64 Check eBay Check Amazon

It is also worth noting that you have 6 additional packs from 3 different sets, all of which have at least one notable chase card. With Vivid Voltage you have 2 chances at the Rainbow Pikachu VMAX, with Chilling Reign you have big hitters like the Alternate Art Blaziken and Alternate Art Galarian Moltres, and with Battle Styles you have a shot at the infamous Sleeping Tyranitar Alternate Art.

Wondering what else you can hit? Check out the following articles on the most expensive cards from each set:

Chilling Reign | Vivid Voltage | Battle Styles

How Much Does The Celebrations Pokemon Center ETB Cost?

This is where we dive into the meat of the conversation - How can we determine the value of the Celebrations Pokemon Center Elite Trainer Box as either an opening experience or a sealed investment?

At a current price of around $110, it is nearly double what you could find it for at MSRP during launch.

Let's go over the value of the individual contents of the box to see if you truly get what you pay for.

What Is The Celebrations Pokemon Center ETB Worth?

Because the set comes with 13 packs, it is crucial for the value of the box that the packs included are higher value. Thankfully, that is exactly the case with the Celebrations Pokemon Center ETB:

Product	Qty	Value	Total
Celebrations Packs	13	$7.50	$97.50
Chilling Reign Packs	3	$5.25	$15.75
Battle Styles Packs	1	$5.00	$5.00
Vivid Voltage Packs	2	$4.50	$9.00
Greninja Gold Star	1	$4.00	$4.00
Box and Accessories	1	$10.00	$10.00
Total			$141.25

Interestingly, the contents of the box are a good bit more expensive than the price of the sealed box on the open market at the moment. Typically arbitrage closes this gap, but there does seem to be some opportunity to get a better deal by purchasing the box rather than the individual components of the box.

Does this mean the box is undervalued? Not necessarily.

If your aim is to profit on breaking down the box and selling the components, you will have fees to pay and shipping costs for each sale. On the $117 you can earn on the packs and Greninja Gold Star, for example, you may be able to barely break even on your costs after paying shipping and fees. That would leave you with the TCG accessories and box itself, which would be a very slow sell.

On the other hand, this does mean that you are getting a great entry price on the Celebrations Pokemon Center ETB around $100, as the value of the components gives support for the price of the sealed box. Notably, much of the value comes from the Celebrations and Chilling Reign packs, which are regarded by many to be some of the strongest sets of the Sword & Shield era. It seems likely that these packs will at least retain their value in the short term, and probably see some upside in the future if sets like Evolving Skies are anything to go by.

But what if you are considering grading the Gold Star Greninja? Would that help or hurt your value?

Should You Grade Gold Star Greninja from the Celebrations Pokemon Center ETB?

Let's take a look at the values and odds involved in grading the Greninja Gold Star:

Grade	Pop	Price
10	15.70%	$85.00
9	59%	$13.50

This is actually a very interesting one. At only around 16% likelihood of hitting a PSA 10 (assuming average submission vetting), but a value of around $85, the premium you can get on a PSA 10 is massive. PSA grading costs have been as low as $13 in recent months with Collector’s Club exclusive specials, meaning you stand to add around $70 in value if you manage to land the PSA 10.

Of course, it can’t be overstated how difficult a 16% hit-rate is to get. Hypothetically, if you vet at least as well as the average PSA submission, and you submitted 20 of these cards, you would get around 3 PSA 10s and 17 PSA 9s or worse. On the 9s, assuming a grading cost of $15, you will lose $25.50 value after grading costs. On the 3 10s, you will earn $210 value over the grading costs.

On paper, there is definitely an opportunity to add value to your box with grading, but with the high likelihood of 9s, you are not likely to get a PSA 10 contender out of a single box.

Is The Celebrations Pokemon Center ETB Worth It?

So, what is our verdict? Is the Pokemon Center Celebrations ETB a good option if you are looking for a sealed Pokemon investment?

While we can’t speak to possible appreciation, we can suggest that the price has support and stability. The downside risk is limited due to the value of the components, and many collectors value the Pokemon Center ETBs because they are exclusive. The optics are good.

Is it a good opening value?

Yes, absolutely. You are likely to spend around the same price for 13 loose Celebrations packs, but with the Pomemon Center Celebrations ETB, you get 6 additional packs, a Gold Star promo, a very cool exclusive box for card storage, and all the TCG accessories, including card sleeves.

Final Thoughts

As a Pokemon card enthusiast, you almost can’t go wrong with the Pokemon Center Celebrations Elite Trainer Box. It looks very sleek as a display piece, it offers great pack selection with some great chase cards, it is supported by the value of the contents, and it even offers a chance to grade the included promo.

Just make sure you give your promo a proper vetting!