Hitmonchan

The latest Scarlet & Violet expansion 'Surging Sparks' officially launched worldwide. Early chase cards include Pikachu ex SAR and several new Illustration Rares. First-week prices are inflated — expect correction in 2-4 weeks.

PSA raised their base-level grading fee from $30 to $35 for standard cards. Express and Super Express tiers unchanged. This may reduce casual submissions and tighten PSA 10 supply for modern cards.

Evolving Skies VMAX chase cards (Umbreon, Rayquaza, Dragonite) all declined 15-20% over 2 weeks as sellers undercut each other. Believed to be driven by profit-taking after December holiday spike.

As expected, the market saw a 5-10% correction across most categories following the December holiday buying surge. Vintage cards held better than modern, with Base Set holos showing minimal decline.

TCGPlayer reported record daily sales volume during the week of December 15-21. Pokémon cards were the #1 category, with Evolving Skies and Base Set seeing the highest transaction counts.

Streamer Ludwig dedicated a 3-hour stream to Pokémon card collecting and investing, showing real portfolio returns. The stream peaked at 85K concurrent viewers and drove significant new collector activity.