Shining Fates Elite Trainer Box

Shining Fates Elite Trainer Box guide

What's inside the Shining Fates Elite Trainer Box

The Shining Fates Elite Trainer Box holds 10 booster packs plus card sleeves, energy cards, dice, condition markers and a storage box, all themed to Shining Fates.

Pokémon Center exclusive ETBs come with extra packs and a stamped promo and sell for more, so they are left out of the prices here.

Shining Fates is a special set with no regular booster box, so elite trainer boxes are one of the main ways to buy it sealed.

About Shining Fates

A special set with a Shiny Vault, topped by the shiny Charizard VMAX. Released on 19 February 2021, it belongs to the Sword & Shield era, when the collecting boom pushed print runs to record levels. It came out 5 years ago, so most sealed stock has been opened and what is left sits with collectors.

Shining Fates has 72 cards in its main numbering, plus 1 secret rare numbered beyond it, and a 122-card Shining Fates Shiny Vault subset.

What collectors open Shining Fates for

The Shining Fates cards collectors most want to pull are Charizard VMAX. 10 packs is a modest number of tries, so most ETBs are bought to collect or keep sealed rather than to chase one card.

Our catalogue lists the set's rarest tiers as 3 Secret Rares, 7 Shiny Rare VMAXs and 9 Shiny Rare Vs. Prices for every card are on the Shining Fates set page.

Shining Fates Elite Trainer Box price today

There are 167 matching listings on eBay at the moment (ebay.de from €129.99, ebay.co.uk from €162.20, ebay.com from €153.66). The lowest total with delivery to Germany is €129.99, against a typical asking price of €196.48.

These are live asking prices, not completed sales, so a good offer is usually close to the cheapest listing rather than the typical one.

Price per pack

At the typical price, each of the 10 packs in a Shining Fates Elite Trainer Box works out at €19.65, compared with €35.01 in a Shining Fates Booster Pack. That makes it the cheapest way to buy Shining Fates packs sealed right now.

Is the Shining Fates Elite Trainer Box a good investment?

Older sealed product tends to rise as boxes are opened and supply shrinks, and Shining Fates is now 5 years past release. Its price still depends on demand for its chase cards and on any reprints. ETBs are popular to keep sealed because of their box art, but they take more space than they hold in packs. Watch the price of Charizard VMAX, the set's headline card, since sealed Shining Fates tends to move with it.

Only buy a Shining Fates Elite Trainer Box to hold if you are happy to keep it either way, as prices can fall too. This is not financial advice; see should you buy sealed Pokémon products?

Before you buy

Look closely at the wrapping in the photos. Factory wrap on elite trainer boxes has neat seams, often with Pokémon logos printed on it; baggy, shiny or uneven wrap is a common sign of a reseal. For a Shining Fates Elite Trainer Box at around €196.48, ask the seller for photos of all sides and stick to accounts with plenty of positive feedback. Check the listing photos show the ETB itself and not only the packs, and that it is the standard version rather than a Pokémon Center one if you are comparing prices. Always compare totals with delivery included, and keep sealed product away from sunlight, heat and damp once it arrives.