The Pull Rate — Pokemon TCG Market Brief
The Pull Rate is built to be a short, useful market brief rather than another list of products to buy. The target cadence is Sunday afternoons, Eastern Time once email delivery is fully configured.
What a free issue includes
- The week’s move: the biggest confirmed change in the tracked market data.
- Sealed index: the current index level, date, and what changed.
- One call: a buy, hold, or skip opinion with a price threshold and the risk that could make it wrong.
- Scorecard: a link back to earlier calls so the record stays visible.
No “10x” promises. No pretending an asking price is a sale. Every issue should state the data date.
This week’s free brief
Data as of: August 9, 2026. Prices are TCGplayer market prices from the Colorful Cardboard daily tracker, not seller asks.
The basket got hit, and one product took most of the damage. Destined Rivals Booster Box fell from $525.68 to $471.17, a 10.37% seven-day drop. Charizard ex (Obsidian Flames SIR) slid 3.21% to $109.32, Surging Sparks Booster Box dropped 2.92% to $292.40, Umbreon ex (SIR) lost 2.14% to $1,480.32, and Evolving Skies Booster Box declined 1.90% to $2,462.82. That is a broad red week with one especially loud warning: a recent sealed box can lose $54.51 before a buyer gets any proof that the floor is real.
The green numbers do not rescue the tape. Twilight Masquerade Booster Box rose 0.98% to $364.40, and the 151 Booster Bundle edged up 0.19% to $184.40. Those are selective moves, not evidence that modern sealed product has turned higher as a group.
The CC Modern Index is 952.53, down 1.81% week over week from 970.09 on August 2. The index is a direction check across the 12 monitored products, not a promise that every item has the same liquidity or risk.
This week’s call: SKIP Destined Rivals Booster Box at $471.17; revisit only at $425 or less after the tracker stops making new lows. A 10.37% weekly slide is evidence of pressure, not a discount code. I would not average into the one-day bounce from $468.56 on August 8 to today’s price. If the tracker closes below $400 before stabilizing, wait for a new base instead of forcing a buy. The call is wrong if Destined Rivals holds above $475 for a full week while the rest of the basket firms, which would show the selloff exhausted.
Issue archive
Week of August 9, 2026: Destined Rivals Booster Box fell 10.37%; the CC Modern Index was 952.53, down 1.81% week over week; the public call was to skip above $425 and revisit only at $425 or less after stabilization.
Scorecard, August 2 call: The call was to hold 151 Booster Bundles and buy only at $180 or less. The tracker moved from $184.05 on August 2 to $184.40 on August 9, a 0.19% gain before fees, and never reached the $180 entry line during the week. Grade: C+. Patience avoided a chase, but a flat week is not a meaningful win.
Scorecard, July 12 call: The call was to hold 151 Booster Bundles and buy only at $185 or less when the tracker read $191.46. The $185 entry triggered, but the bundle later broke the $180 warning line and bottomed at $168.13 on July 15. Waiting avoided the July 12 chase, but the hold/support thesis failed its warning line. That remains mixed at best, not a win.
No “10x” promises. No pretending an asking price is a sale. Every issue should state the data date.
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