On September 24 and 28 we held the Index because Rip Station's pricing engine had stopped publishing new lane prices on September 15. This morning it resumed, and the first reading is against September 15, the last date with real marks, so the sixteen-day gap is covered in a single number.
- Vintage basket, September 15 to October 1: +5.2% (median of 116 cards; 85 up, 15 flat, 16 down)
- Modern basket, same window: -0.9% (median of 112 cards; 36 up, 15 flat, 61 down)
The vintage step
Vintage compounded about 4.2 percent over the ten readings from August 13 to September 14. It has now added 5.2 percent in sixteen days, which is to say the two paused weeks contained more re-pricing than the month before them. That matches what the public market printed in the window: the Torchic Gold Star at $2.7 million (September 10, feeding through late), the Legendary Collection reverse Charizard at $575,000, two Illustrators at $5 million and $2.8 million, the Mudkip Gold Star at $1.02 million, the Latias Gold Star at $456,000, the Ampharos at $600,000, and the Raincoat Pikachu at $8.4 million on Monday.
| Set | Sep 15 to Oct 1 | What landed |
|---|---|---|
| EX Team Rocket Returns | +13.5% | Torchic $2.7M (PSA 10) and $156,336 (PSA 9); Mudkip Gold Star $1.02M |
| Skyridge | +12.0% | $150,000 Gengar still re-marking the crystal-era lanes |
| EX Unseen Forces | +11.0% | Gold Star aftershocks; Lugia and Entei lanes |
| EX Deoxys | +9.7% | Latias Gold Star Pristine $456,000; Rocket's Raikou ex PSA 10 $12,100 to $25,000 |
| EX Holon Phantoms | +9.5% | Pikachu Gold Star mid-grades |
| Expedition | +7.7% | e-Reader reverse holos |
| Legendary Collection | +7.2% | $575,000 reverse Charizard; CGC 7.5 Charizard $113 to $225 |
| Neo Destiny | +4.8% | Neo-era repricing after Lugia, Typhlosion, Ampharos |
| Neo Genesis | +4.2% | $360,000 Lugia, $336,000 Typhlosion |
| Base Set | +3.1% | $1,000,953 First Edition Charizard |
| Team Rocket | -0.5% | no Pocket effect visible |
The modern step
Modern read flat or marginally negative for eleven readings before the pause, and the catch-up reading is the first clearly negative one: -0.9 percent, with 61 cards down. The sets falling are the current and recent ones, Ascended Heroes (-5.6 percent, now twelve consecutive declines), 151 (-4.6), Celebrations (-2.9), Crown Zenith and Japanese 151. The sets rising are built on old art: Evolutions +6.5 percent, Generations +2.9. 30th Celebration launched inside the window with the friendliest pull rates of the modern era, and this is what that does to the sets beside it.
Is it a rally now?
By the rule we set on September 3 (a reading over 1 percent, or breadth beyond the EX sets), yes, twice over: 5.2 percent, and nine of twelve sets up more than 3 percent. We will keep calling it what the data says. The next reading, Monday, is a normal one-week comparison again.
The Lead ran in The Pack Report, October 1, 2026: The Index Is Back: Vintage +5.2% in Sixteen Days. Published by Rip Station.