The wide range ofPokemon Trading Card Gameproducts give options for any kind of fan to pick up what they like in different ways. From collectors to casual players, there’s something for everyone to get their TCG fill in the wide range of products.
One of the most popular products for collectors is the Elite Trainer Boxes (ETBs), which are released alongside every expansion featuring a design and packs from that expansion. The ETBs give you everything you need, from sleeves to damaged counters and a storage box with something for everyone to enjoy and the Sword & Shield era has some of the best ever made.
All product prices have been taken from their Market Price onTCGPlayer.
10Chilling Reign Pokemon Center Exclusive Elite Trainer Box (Shadow Rider Calyrex) – $151.88
A Piece Of Chilling Pain
The Sword & Shield era was the beginning of the TCG’s rise in popularity, but it was also the beginning of an increase in expansion size. Many praise this era for its beautiful cards, but some criticize the massive set lists that have poor pull rates, no other expansion is more guilty of this thanChilling Reign,with fans even nicknaming the set “Chilling Pain”.
Chilling Reign was the first expansion to introduce the Pokemon Center versions of ETBs which contain extra packs and, ever since, every set has had these premium versions of the boxes for die-hard collectors to pick up. Since they are much more limited in their print run and rarely get restocked, the Pokemon Center ETBs tend to go for more because of their scarcity.
The other version of this Chilling Reign Pokemon Center Elite Trainer Box which features Ice Rider Calyrex goes for a price of $150.65.
9Fusion Strike Elite Trainer Box – $166.93
A Fantastic Art-Filled Expansion
This genetic ETB features the bubblegum-colored mythical, Mew, all over it and contains packs from the beloved Fusion Strike expansion. One thing the Sword & Shield era failed at was its many gimmicks that the TCG always does to mix up every era.This era tried too many and only a few were actually good enough to stick around.
Fusion Strike was one of the very few sets to include Fusion Strike style Pokemon and, despite the low number of them, they saw much more use than any of the Rapid and Single Strike style Pokemon that proceeded them. Collectors have plenty of reasons to adore this set with its countless cards that are absolutely stunning with some of the best highlights of the era.
8Silver Tempest Pokemon Center Exclusive Elite Trainer Box – $173.80
The Cutest ETB
Silver Tempest was the final main expansion of the Sword & Shield era that brought wonderful V-Star cards into a snowy theming inspired by Galar’s Crown Tundra. With beautiful alternate art cards such as Lugia V and Regidrago V and unique picks such as Alolan Vulpix V-Star, this set has some wonderful Pokemon that wrap up the era in a frosted silver bow.
With this ETB, it’s themed all around the cutest little Pokemon, Alolan Vulpix. Usually, since the ETBs feature some sort of legendary Pokemon or fully evolved icon, it is unique to see a non-evolved Pokemon be the focus. Silver Tempest is a beloved set, mainly for the gorgeous Lugia V card, but it has so manyfantastic hidden-gemsthat deserve equally as much love.
7Lost Origin Pokemon Center Exclusive Elite Trainer Box – $197.49
The Return Of The Lost Zone
After the release of the Generation Four remakes and the freshPokemon Legends: Arceus,many Sinnoh and Hisui-originating Pokemon got to shine the spotlight with Lost Origin. Pokemon such as Giratina and Rotom have stunning alternate art cards that stick out in any collection and this set is just filled to the brim with Generation Four love.
Lost Origin saw the return of the Lost Zone, which comes back in every era for a couple sets. The Lost Zone has specific cards play off of how many cards are inside of it to activate powerful effects. In the Sword & Shield era especially, the Lost Zone cards became apart of one of the most dominating archetypes and Lost Origin has almost every piece these used.
6Rebel Clash Elite Trainer Box – $199.27
The Power Of An Unpopular Set
This rebellious yellow ETB featuring a G-Max Copperajah is the ETB from the expansion Rebel Clash. Fans really disliked this set when it came out, but looking back now, it actually wasn’t bad for the second expansion of the Sword & Shield era, but this product is now sparse due to how few people picked it up originally.
Since there wasn’t a Pokemon Center Exclusive version of this ETB, this version is the rarest one that exists and, since Rebel Clash had such a poor reception, it has become one of the more lucrative to find. The design of the box itself does not help as it uses outlandish colors and an unpopular Pokemon choice to be featured on the front, which does not bode well for an already unpopular expansion.
5Celebrations Pokemon Center Exclusive Elite Trainer Box – $234.10
Celebrating TCG History
Celebrations is a special set from the Sword & Shield era that was released to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Pokemon TCG. It includes a bunch of staples from across every era reprinted, keeping their original designs and even holo patterns. This set is one of the most memorable and, for long-time fans of the TCG, it is an absolute love letter to them.
Many special sets, such as this one, do not get released as individual packs or in booster boxes, meaning the easiest way to open them in large quantities is through the ETB. This does, however, make these ETBs even more valuable, and since this box includes a promo card of the ever-popular Pokemon, Greninja as a classic Shiny gold star card it is even more desired.
4Fusion Strike Pokemon Center Exclusive Elite Trainer Box – $234.10
Should You Open It Or Keep It Sealed?
In Scarlet & Violet era, fans consider that sets have become too big, but none have topped Fusion Strike from the Sword & Shield era for being the biggest expansion. With over 284 cards, Fusion Strike has tons of stunning chase cards of many fan-favorite Pokemon and it remains as one of the most popular expansions in the era.
This ETB features the most iconic Pokemon from the set,Mew,on all of its accessories and the mind-bending pattern stands out from the other ETBs. The Pokemon Center exclusive ETBs are always the rarest product of any expansion and some fans even just collect ETBs and keep them sealed due to how gorgeous the outer box is.
3Crown Zenith Pokemon Center Exclusive Elite Trainer Box Plus – $265.98
A Triumphant Finale
Crown Zenithwas the grand finale of the Sword & Shield era, and it ended it off with a spectacular bang. This special set has amazingly good pull rates and a gorgeous Galarian Gallery subset which contains over 70 art rare and full art cards of iconic cards from across the era.
This ETB is special in that it is an ETB Plus and compared to regular Sword & Shield ETBs, Crown Zenith ones include a special Lucario V-Star promo as a bonus. Following this one, ETBs in the Scarlet & Violet era would continue to include a promo and this became one of the best parts of ETBs and we have Crown Zenith to thank.
2Evolving Skies Elite Trainer Box (Glaceon/Vaporeon/Sylveon/Espeon) – $282.70
The Holy Grail Of The Sword & Shield Era
If you have ever shown even a slight sign of interest in the Sword & Shield era of the TCG there is a guarantee that you know about the expansion Evolving Skies. This expansion is a fan favorite for its many cards with out-of-this-world art featuring some of Pokemon’s most iconic creatures.
Every Evolving Skies product is dramatically worth more than any other Sword & Shield era expansion because of how hyped-up this set has become, with some of its cards reaching over $1,000 in value. Evolving Skies will likely go down as one of the best modern sets and while this ETB might already seem expensive, it is likely to keep climbing higher.
1Evolving Skies Pokemon Center Exclusive Elite Trainer Box (Glaceon/Vaporeon/Sylveon/Espeon) – $490.11
The Final Boss Of Sword & Shield Era ETBs
Evolving Skies is Sword & Shield’s most well-known expansion, containingcountless chasecards that everyone dreams they could own or pull. This expansion had the Pokemon TCG community’s number one weakness, Eevee and its Eeveelutions front and center, making for one dangerously collectible set.
Both Evolving Skies Elite Trainer Boxes have a second variation featuring Jolteon, Flareon, Umbreon and Leafeon, which go for $481.91 for the Pokemon Center exclusive and $277.87 for the regular one respectively.
Collectors will do anything to get the Umbreon V-Max alternate art card, which has become iconic for its value, but it isn’t all the Evolving Skies holds, as every single one of the hard-to-pull alternate art cards are worth ridiculous prices. The sheer number of valuable pulls in the expansion has made any product containing Evolving Skies valuable and this ETB is one of the most limited products from the set.
