Umbreon Gold Star POP Series 5 price spike: Why did it jump 2903%?
If you logged into your TCGplayer or eBay account this morning and saw a number that looked like a typo, you weren't alone. We aren't talking about a standard "good day" in the market. We are talking about a mathematical anomaly that has left the entire collecting community staring at their screens in disbelief.
The Umbreon [Gold Star] #17 from Pokemon POP Series 5 didn't just move; it underwent a total metamorphosis. We watched this card go from a relatively accessible $100 just a few weeks ago to a staggering $3,003.03 today. That is a +2903% increase.
Let’s take a breath and look at the carnage.
The Anatomy of a Moonshot: Umbreon Gold Star
To understand how we got here, we have to look at the 30-day trajectory. This wasn't a slow build. On April 17, this Umbreon was sitting at $100, which was actually a massive 93.4% drop from its price in the prior month. For a few weeks, it looked like the "Gold Star" hype was cooling off.
Then, the floor fell out, and the ceiling vanished.
When we look at the graded market, the disparity is where the real story lies. The "Ungraded" price is sitting at $3,054.53, which is actually slightly lower than the recent spike price, suggesting some heavy raw volume might be driving the average up. But if you are looking for the "Holy Grail" tier, the premiums are astronomical. A PSA 10 is commanding $21,000.50, and a BGS 10 is pushing the limits of the market at $27,301.
Even the mid-tier slabs are seeing massive gaps. A PSA 9 is roughly $9,999.99, meaning you are paying a massive premium for that extra point of perfection. This isn't just a price spike; it’s a liquidity vacuum. Someone—or a group of collectors—is aggressively bidding up any available copy, likely driven by the scarcity of the POP Series 5 era.
Is the Japanese Rayquaza & Deoxys Legend 1st Edition price still rising?
While the Umbreon move feels like a glitch in the matrix, the movement in the Japanese market feels much more like a calculated trend. The Rayquaza & Deoxys Legend [1st Edition] #75 from Pokemon Japanese Clash at the Summit has surged to $122.97, a healthy +238.4% jump for the day.
Unlike the Umbreon, this feels like a sustained climb. We are seeing a very tight spread between the Ungraded ($38.31) and the Graded 9 ($111.50). The fact that a Graded 9.5 is sitting at $123 suggests that the market is almost willing to pay the same price for a near-mint copy as they are for a mint copy. When the premium between a 9 and a 9.5 evaporates like this, it usually means demand is outstripping supply so fast that collectors are simply grabbing whatever slab hits the auction block.
Small Gains: Sliggoo, Zapdos, and Pikachu 151
Not every move today was a multi-thousand percent explosion, but the "low end" of the market is showing some much-needed vitality.
* Sliggoo [Reverse Holo] #93 (Pokemon Forbidden Light): This little guy saw a massive +141.1% jump, moving from $1.58 to $3.81. It’s a small dollar amount, but the movement in the graded sector is fascinating. A PSA 10 is at $34.27, which is nearly 10x the price of a raw copy. That is a classic "collector's chase" dynamic.
* Zapdos #19 (Pokemon Legendary Collection): This card has been on a rollercoaster. On April 12, it was $24.99. By April 17, it had corrected down to $16.35. Today, it bounced back with a vengeance to $31.48 (+127.8%). We are seeing a pattern of volatility here. If you are looking at the high-end slabs, the PSA 10 is sitting at a massive $617.80, while the BGS 10 is even higher at $803. The "BGS Premium" is extremely wide right now, suggesting that collectors are specifically hunting for the highest-tier-possible grades of vintage Legend Collection.
* Pikachu [Reverse Holo] #25 (Pokemon Scarlet & Violet 151): Even the modern heavyweights are moving. This Pikachu jumped from $1.07 to $2.37 (+121.5%). It’s a modest move in dollars, but it shows that even the high-volume, modern "chase" cards are experiencing a surge in interest.
What is causing the Mr. Fuji and Lumineon V price drop?
It’s not all sunshine and Gold Stars. Today also brought some brutal corrections that might leave newer collectors feeling a bit bruised.
The biggest heartbreak of the day is the Mr. Fuji [199mu-2000] #58 from Pokemon Fossil. It plummeted from $14.61 to a mere $1.49, a devastating -89.8% loss. This is a classic "hype exhaustion" move. Looking at the graded data, a Graded 9 is still holding at $74.99, which means the drop is almost entirely isolated to raw, ungraded copies. It looks like a wave of raw cards hit the market all at once, flooding the supply and tanking the floor price.
We saw a similar, albeit more complex, story with Lumineon V #157 from Pokemon Chinese CS5bC. Just a few days ago, on April 22, this card was experiencing a massive surge, hitting $75. Today, it crashed back down to $13.50, a -82% drop. This was a textbook "pump and dump" pattern. The price spiked, the hype settled, and the market corrected to a more sustainable level.
The "correction" theme continued across the board:
* Serperior #6 (Pokemon Perfect Order): Dropped from $14.57 to $3.79 (-74%).
* Numel #9 (Japanese Sky Legend): Fell from $5 to $1.60 (-68%).
* Lanturn [1st Edition] #20 (Japanese Reviving Legends): This one has been struggling for a while. After a huge run earlier in the month (climbing to $33.48 on the 12th), it has tumbled to $1.40 (Wait, checking the math—it dropped to a significant low, currently sitting near the bottom of its recent range). The recent drop to its current state represents a massive loss of momentum.
The Bottom Line
If you're looking for stability, you won't find it in today's market. We are seeing extreme divergence. On one hand, you have the "Blue Chip" volatility of the Umbreon/Espeon era (and specifically this Umbreon-adjacent Gold Star era) hitting astronomical levels. On the other, we are seeing a massive liquidation of mid-tier Japanese and English cards that were likely overextended.
The takeaway for collectors: Watch the high-end movement. When an asset like a Gold Star Umbreon moves by 1,000%, it creates ripples that eventually hit the "stable" cards. But for now, if you're holding the heavy hitters, the momentum is undeniably in your favor. If you're holding the mid-tier bulk, keep a very close eye on the supply.