RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Target currently has Pokémon TCG's Mega Zygarde ex Premium Collection in stock, and for just $44.99, which is the MSRP in the US.
While the Mega Zygarde set is part of the far less popular Mega Evolution expansion, Perfect Order , it still feels like a minor miracle that you can find anything at the standard list price The Pokémon Company continues to set (almost too confidently, considering the state of the TCG right now).
$45 is also lower than the current market price at TCGplayer , but not by much. $54.25 is the listed median price, while the going market rate right now is $47.50 (that's also not a bad price if this ends up selling out at Target before you can get to it) . While it's minor savings in comparison, it's still saving, and hopefully a sign of things to come in the near future for other sets. If only we could get the same for Ascended Heroes!
But enough complaining about the market; let's have a quick chat on everything included in the Mega Zygarde ex Premium Collection. For your $45, you are getting a foil promo card featuring Mega Zygarde ex , alongside an oversized lenticular promo card of Mega Zygarde ex, a tech sticker featuring, you guessed it, Mega Zygarde ex, and eight Perfect Order booster packs to rip open. Not bad at all!
That's about $5.62 per pack, which is pretty good all things considered. Perfect Order Booster Bundles can still run you up to $40-$50 right now ( depending on where you buy ), and include just 6 packs. That's between $6.66 and $8.33, so however you work it out, you're getting a better deal on just the boosters with the Premium Collection right now.
What is Perfect Order?
It’s no secret to say reception to Perfect Order was a bit frosty, from investors and fans alike. The lack of immediate frenzy comes down to a simple sandwich effect. No, not the Legendary-restoring type.
Perfect Order is a smaller, more focused expansion of just 124 cards (including Secret Rares), sandwiched right between the massive, 295-card Ascended Heroes and the upcoming Chaos Rising expansion.
It doesn't have the traditional heavy hitters we’ve all come to expect that send the third party reseller sites into overdrive. There’s no Charizard , no Moonbreon , no Rayquaza, and no Pikachu to drive the mindless hype that usually clears shelves before the shop doors can even open.
While investors stock up on sealed cases of the big sets, the supply of them will slowly dwindle as they are completed and tucked away into private binders, never to see a TCGPlayer listing again.
But for genuine Pokémon fans who just want to rip packs and enjoy the art, or for people who actually want to play the game attached to these bits of cardboard, Perfect Order is actually the most rewarding set in years.
Perfect Order - Best Chase Cards
You only need to take a look at the chase cards in Perfect Order to see a clear pattern. Instead of one $500 card and 100 bulk Secret Rares, Perfect Order spreads the love across several high-tier Illustration Rares of fan favourite Pokémon like Clefairy and Meowth ex.
In the modern TCG era, "Master Setting" (collecting every single card in a set) has become a hobby for the ultra-wealthy. When Ascended Heroes dropped with nearly 300 cards, the odds of pulling the top 10 chase cards yourself were astronomical. That meant that resellers could hike up the prices on third party websites to meet demand, and people would pay.
This more manageable 124-card checklist is far easier to complete, which means more fans are encouraged to actually get involved again. Ultimately, why is Perfect Order the "best" investment set if nobody is fighting over it? It sounds sappy and cliche, but what if the most valuable thing we could get from Pokémon TCG was the memories we made along the way?
More Pokémon TCG Deals
Still, this isn't the first time Target has had a decent deal on Pokémon TCG and then quickly sold out, so let's also take a look at what other deals are up for grabs right now across other retailers.
The best, and most popular, pick right now the Pitch Black Booster Bundles for just $40 to purchase at Amazon, alongside Pitch Black ETBs for just $70 .
To see all the recently restocked items at Amazon, be sure to check out our custom search tracker to ensure you're buying sealed boosters that are only "sold and shipped" directly from Amazon itself.
IGN is the best place to find TCG deals
IGN's resident deals experts like Robert Anderson have over seven years of experience writing about gaming and TCG deals. In an era where finding advice from a real person is more important than ever, Robert’s expertise helps you cut through the digital noise to find genuine, money-saving offers. He pairs his experience and love of games with data-driven analysis and price-tracking tools to ensure he's only ever recommending something that's actually worthwhile.
If you're looking some no-nonsense help on saving money in a time where gaming and TCG hobbies have never been more expensive, then we'd highly recommend following him @robertliam21 on Bluesky and setting IGN as a preferred source in Google to make sure you're getting the latest updates, from him, and the rest of the IGN Shopping team.
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Robert Anderson is a Senior Commerce Editor for IGN. Based in London, UK, he is a qualified journalist with a First Class degree in BA Journalism and over seven years of professional writing and editing experience. You can usually find him lost in open-world RPG games like Elden Ring and Cyberpunk 2077 , or tinkering in Planet Coaster and Two Point Museum. Outside of gaming, he enjoys reading comics (especially Superman, Batman, and Spider-Man), taking photos, and keeping up with the latest in film and TV.
This article contains contributions from Sara Heritage.
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