Friday's releases
October 2 brought the second 30th Celebration wave: ten mini tin designs, each with two 30th Celebration booster packs, a sticker sheet and an art card, with the tin art combining into larger images; and the six-pack booster bundle. Pokemon Center's tin preorders sold out in July. The same day brought a Mini Portfolio (60-card capacity, one booster, Mega Greninja and Mega Zeraora on one side, Mega Darkrai and Mega Chandelure on the other) and an Enhanced 2-Pack Blister with foil Gengar, Marshadow and Team Rocket's Mimikyu promos, two packs and a coin.
The rest of October
The Deck Crafter's Collection releases October 23: 40 tournament-staple cards including a foil Meowth ex, 39 Trainer cards, a deck guide, nine dividers and one booster pack, a product aimed at players building their first competitive list before Delta Reign. On October 30 come the Espeon ex and Umbreon ex Battle Decks, two 60-card all-foil decks with deck boxes, playmats and coins, the Espeon with a Victini promo and the Umbreon with a Zeraora. Delta Reign prereleases run October 24 to November 1 and the set is November 6.
The eBay Gold Star
A 2004 Japanese Clash of the Blue Sky First Edition Rayquaza Gold Star in BGS 10 sold on eBay on October 2 for $562,650. The English printing of the same card made $1.02 million in CGC 10 Pristine on August 30 and $192,000 in a plain CGC 10 the same week; the Japanese First Edition in a BGS 10 lands between them, which is where a Japanese first print with a near-Black Label grade should sit. It is the first Japanese Gold Star we can find above half a million and the first six-figure Gold Star sale on eBay rather than at an auction house, which says something about where the buyers now are.
PSA tomorrow
PSA's fortnightly backlog update is due October 6. The September 22 figure was 9 million, down 900,000 in two weeks at roughly 450,000 a week. The Standard tier at $59.99 opened September 14 and every card submitted to it joins the same active queue; Tuesday's figure is the first that fully reflects that inflow. At the recent pace, 8.1 million would mean the clearance rate held. Anything above 8.3 million would mean the new tier is slowing the path to the 5 million threshold at which the Value tiers reopen, and would push our December estimate for that reopening later.
Sources: Zatu, October 2, 2026; SI Collectibles via Yahoo, October 4, 2026; Heavy, September 22, 2026.
Quick Hits ran in The Pack Report, October 5, 2026: A $780,000 Reverse Holo Pikachu, and Vintage Up Again. Published by Rip Station.