What to target in XY Promos

The top 10 cards are 64% of the set’s $43,835.00 estimated singles cost — plan these first and the rest follows on a normal budget.

Value here is wildly top-heavy. The Poncho-wearing Pikachu cards — the pair riding Charizard and the pair riding the Rayquaza-costume Pikachu, all originating from a Japanese promotional campaign — are the emotional and financial center of gravity, and they carry a devoted following that goes well beyond speculators. People genuinely love these cards; the artwork is charming, the crossover novelty is real, and they were never easy to get in English at all. Alongside them, the Pretend Magikarp and Pretend Gyarados Pikachu, the Mega Tokyo's Pikachu, and event cards like Champions Festival round out a chase tier that swallows the majority of the set's total value.

Below that headline group, the drop-off is steep. There's a solid middle of playable EX cards, alternate-art staples, and collector-favorite promos that hold meaningful value, but the gap between "a Poncho Pikachu" and "a nice tin promo" is a canyon. If you're chasing value, know that a large share of the set's cost lives in just a few Pikachu — everything else is comparatively attainable, which is both the good news and the trap.

#	Card	Number	Rarity	Market	PSA 10
1	Poncho-wearing Pikachu	#231	Promo	$10,000.00	$17,953.36
2	Poncho-wearing Pikachu	#230	Promo	$9,000.00	$15,600.00
3	Poncho-wearing Pikachu	#207	Promo	$2,299.00	$23,624.50
4	Pretend Magikarp Pikachu	#150	Promo	$2,000.00	$12,167.32
5	Poncho-wearing Pikachu	#208	Promo	$1,200.00	$18,211.00
6	Pretend Gyarados Pikachu	#151	Promo	$900.00	$13,200.00
7	Mega Tokyo's Pikachu	#98	Promo	$900.00	$2,352.66
8	Poncho-wearing Pikachu	#274	Promo	$799.99	$8,926.12
9	Gyarados - XY60 (Prerelease) [Staff]	#XY60	Promo	$600.00	—
10	Champions Festival - XY27	#XY27	Promo	$556.35	—

How XY Promos is built

The smart way to complete XY Promos

Treat this as a long-haul singles hunt, not a set you can shortcut with sealed product. The smart approach is to separate the run into tiers: knock out the abundant, cheap tin-and-blister promos first to build momentum, secure the mid-value EX and alt-art cards while they're around, and save the Poncho Pikachu and Pretend Pikachu group for last as deliberate, budgeted purchases.

1. Build your want-list from the full numbered checklist — because these promos came from so many products, tracking exactly which numbers you're missing is half the battle.
2. Sweep the common tin and blister promos in bulk; these are the easy wins and cost the least per card.
3. Pick up the mid-tier EX cards and alternate-art staples next, prioritizing clean copies since promo condition varies enormously.
4. Target the event and campaign cards (Champions Festival and similar) as they surface — availability, not price alone, is the constraint.
5. Budget the Poncho-wearing Pikachu quartet and the Pretend Magikarp/Gyarados Pikachu as your final, deliberate acquisitions.
6. Decide up front whether you're grading the marquee Pikachu — it changes how carefully you buy raw copies.

Collecting challenges

This is one of the hardest XY-era runs to truly complete, and the difficulty is structural rather than just financial. Cards came from wildly different sources — some English-market products, some tied to Japanese campaigns that reached English collectors only through limited channels — so simply finding certain numbers takes patience. Condition is a constant headache because promos shipped in packaging that didn't always protect them, and the top Pikachu cards command prices that force real budgeting. Add the sheer count, including a large block of higher-number secret entries, and you're looking at a multi-year project.

Singles or sealed?

There's no meaningful sealed route here — this isn't a set with a booster box, ETB, or bundle to crack, so packs simply aren't part of the equation. Everything comes down to singles. The original sealed products that carried these promos (tins, blisters, collection boxes) still exist on the secondary market, and buying an unopened tin can occasionally be a cheaper path to a specific mid-tier promo than the single itself — but for the chase cards, you buy the card. Full stop.

Sealed product comparison

Which XY Promos cards are worth grading?

Grading makes sense at the top of this set and gets shakier as you go down. The Poncho-wearing Pikachu cards, the Mega Tokyo's Pikachu, Pikachu EX, Mew EX, and the Gyarados promo are the tier where a high grade meaningfully separates a clean copy from the pack and where the price ceiling justifies the fee — these are cards people actively seek in slabs. Because so many of these promos came out of packaging that scuffed edges and surfaces, genuinely gem-worthy raw copies are less common than the print numbers suggest, which is precisely what rewards grading the right ones.

For the broad middle and bottom of the set — the common tin and blister promos — grading fees will typically outrun what a high grade adds. The live EV figures on this page will show you exactly where that line sits; use them, because in a set this top-heavy the answer flips hard between the marquee Pikachu and everything else.

Tier 1 — grade theseWorth grading

Positive expected value after ~$25 fees at live PSA prices and this set's real gem rates.

Poncho-wearing Pikachu #231raw $10,000.00 → PSA 10 $17,953.36 1.8×EV +$2,062.50Poncho-wearing Pikachu #230raw $9,000.00 → PSA 10 $15,600.00 1.7×EV +$2,797.57Poncho-wearing Pikachu #207raw $2,299.00 → PSA 10 $23,624.50 10.3×EV +$16,911.88Pretend Magikarp Pikachu #150raw $2,000.00 → PSA 10 $12,167.32 6.1×EV +$8,929.80Poncho-wearing Pikachu #208raw $1,200.00 → PSA 10 $18,211.00 15.2×EV +$14,895.06Pretend Gyarados Pikachu #151raw $900.00 → PSA 10 $13,200.00 14.7×EV +$10,627.52

Tier 2 — grade clean copiesClean copies only

Strong PSA 10 premium — the math works only on gem-worthy copies.

Greninja #XY24raw $134.05 → PSA 10 $1,164.00 8.7×Fearow #XY57raw $79.89 → PSA 10 $552.80 6.9×Kingdra - XY39 #XY39raw $77.09 → PSA 10 $534.18 6.9×M Metagross EX #XY35raw $71.02 → PSA 10 $696.00 9.8×Absol #XY178raw $70.24 → PSA 10 $2,160.00 30.8×Gym Badge #XY204raw $68.61 → PSA 10 $664.65 9.7×EV −$2.25

Tier 3 — personal collectionCollection only

Fees eat most of the margin. Grade to preserve a pristine pull, not for profit.

Champions Festival #XY176raw $420.00 → PSA 10 $1,137.50 2.7×White Kyurem - XY128 (Prerelease) [Staff] #XY128raw $116.87 → PSA 10 $277.46 2.4×Hoopa - XY147 (Prerelease) [Staff] #XY147raw $106.66 → PSA 10 $279.99 2.6×Chesnaught - XY68 (Prerelease [Staff] #XY68raw $47.11 → PSA 10 $129.97 2.8×Yveltal #XY06raw $24.86 → PSA 10 $57.00 2.3×Greninja #XY162raw $19.68 → PSA 10 $178.39 9.1×

Premiums and EV use tonight’s PSA prices and this set’s real gem rates — not projections.

What collectors say about XY Promos

Creators on XY Promos

▶COMPLETE COLLECTION OF XY BLACK STAR PROMO POKEMON CARDS!!!The Pokémon Evolutionaries▶Pokemon Promos Under $50 to Buy Now Before the Explode in Price! XY Promos! What do you guys think??The Card Science▶3 CHEAP XY Promos Ready to Explode in Price! XY Promos have a lot of sleepers!What do you guys thinkThe Card Science▶Undervalued Low-POP XY Promos??? #pokemoncardsRare Damage

Synthesized from widely-reported collector consensus — see a take that’s off? Use the report link on any card page.

Protect your XY Promos cards

This set has 49 cards worth $100+ — sleeve-and-toploader territory at minimum, and the chase cards deserve double-sleeving.

Affiliate links — purchases support CardPrice at no extra cost. Full guide: how to build & store a master set.

Where XY Promos goes from here

The defining supply feature of XY Promos is that it's done printing — these were distribution cards tied to products and events that ended years ago, and there's no reprint mechanism that brings the originals back. That gives the genuinely scarce chase cards, especially the Poncho-wearing Pikachu group and the Pretend Pikachu pair, a durable floor: fixed supply meeting a fanbase that loves the artwork, not just the resale. The Pikachu-crossover appeal in particular reaches beyond typical set collectors, which broadens demand.

The honest caveat is concentration. A large majority of the set's total value sits in a handful of cards, so the "market" for XY Promos is really the market for a few Pikachu. The long tail of common promos is abundant and unlikely to appreciate much — they're checklist filler, not stores of value. Anyone approaching this set as an investment is really making a bet on a small number of beloved cards; everyone else should collect the ones they love and treat the rest as the fun, cheap part of the hunt.

Not financial advice — live prices and trends are above, collect what you love.

Related XY sets

Kalos Starter Set2013 · 39 cardsXY2014 · 146 cardsXY Black Star Promos2013 · 216 cardsXY Trainer Kit: Sylveon & Noivern2014 · 61 cards

XY Promos — frequently asked questions