Evolving Skies In July 2022

The Pokémon TCG is an ever-changing and unpredictable market. Over the past two years, we’ve seen renewed interest in the hobby due to a number of factors including the 25th Anniversary, strong Sword & Shield-era sets featuring stunning Alternate Arts, influencers, box breaks, COVID-19 lockdown pushing people to find hobbies, and more. For a time, sets and cards that were readily available quickly became difficult to find. Now that the hype is settling down, let’s see where modern sets stand. Every month, I will do an installment of this series, Pokémon TCG Value Watch. This series is not financial advice but is rather a way to help collectors know the trajectory of a card’s availability so that Pokémon TCG completionists like myself know when to strike. Today, let’s see how the cards of Sword & Shield – Evolving Skies, which came out in August 2021 are doing now in July 2022.

Here are the top valued cards of Pokémon TCG: Sword & Shield – Evolving Skies with market values observed on TCGPlayer as of this writing:

1. Umbreon VMAX Alternate Art 215/203: $318.45
2. Rayquaza VMAX Alternate Art 218/203: $213.96
3. Sylveon VMAX Alternate Art 212/203: $131.52
4. Glaceon VMAX Alternate Art 209/203: $119.59
5. Leafeon VMAX Alternate Art 205/203: $114.04
6. Umbreon V Alternate Art 189/203: $86.02
7. Dragonite V Alternate Art 192/203: $82.18
8. Rayquaza V Alternate Art 194/203: $78.31
9. Sylveon V Alternate Art 184/203: $54.95
10. Espeon V Alternate Art 180/203: $52.26
11. Glaceon V Alternate Art 175/203: $51.15
12. Leafeon V Alternate Art 167/203: $49.78
13. Rayquaza VMAX Rainbow Rare 217/203: $43.91
14. Umbreon VMAX Rainbow Rare 214/203: $36.03
15. Noivern V Alternate Art 196/203: $29.00
16. Sylveon VMAX Rainbow Rare 211/203: $27.22
17. Duraludon VMAX Alternate Art 220/203: $25.75
18. Gyarados VMAX Rainbow Rare 207/203: $24.10
19. Umbreon V Full Art 188/203: $23.10
20. Glaceon VMAX Rainbow Rare 208/203: $19.84

Normally, a $20 drop on a $300+ card wouldn’t be notable. However, it is with Umbreon VMAX Alt Art as this is the first time we have seen the card drop since its meteoric rise. In the case of this card, anything that shows a stop to its upward trajectory is major news.

In fact, the top five cards of the set, all Alt Art VMAXes, seem to have consistently dropped $20 in value.

Other than those drops, this set is steady in its absolute insanity. One of the most stacked sets in the hobby’s history, it has five cards over $100, eleven over $50, and seventeen over $25. For a modern set, that is absolutely stunning.

However… we are about to see Sword & Shield – Evolving Skies get a big reprint. Reprints have tanked set value before. I do not see Evolving Skies tanking but I can picture value dropping. Let’s see if we have major changes in the next few installments.