While many people collect the most competitive Pokémon cards to power up their decks, others grab cards like Mew ex 232/091, arguably one of the most adorable Pokémon cards in recent memory. It’s a Special Illustration Rare (SIR) that came out in January 2024 with the launch of Paldean Fates and, like many other sought after cards, has seen a huge price spike during this unprecedented hype, pumping its value up 200% since it first released.
It’s easy to chase the best Pokémon cards and find a way to compete against other players in the best trading card game, but it’s equally fun to go after the cards that you fall in love with at first sight. Annoyingly, the cutest cards can often end up being some of the most expensive Pokémon cards, making it difficult to catch, or indeed collect, ‘em all.
That’s certainly the case with Mew ex 232/091, an SIR that features the mythical Pokémon sleeping within a bubble. The artwork is gorgeous, with simple designs and drawings making the colors pop with beauty, and much like the popularity and high price of Umbreon VMAX, the sought after nature of Mew ex has led to the community giving it a nickname: ‘Bubble Mew’.
It seems like any time a card receives a nickname, it sees huge price spikes. Moonbreon is currently the most expensive card in recent years, while the stupidly-titled ‘butthole Pikachu’ from Surging Sparks was released at a high price. But Bubble Mew was fairly different, reaching a comparatively reasonable price around the $90 mark when it first arrived last year.
For such a long time, the price was mostly reasonable. In fact, I was going to pick it up back in November when I started collecting Pokémon cards again. However, it’s now at an average price of $285, according to PriceCharting. That means for the exact same ungraded card I could’ve bought two months ago, I’d now be paying triple what I was going to.
Considering the fact that Journey Together pre-orders sold out almost instantly, and the newest Pokémon set, Prismatic Evolutions, is already being scalped, Bubble Mew’s sudden increase in price shouldn’t be too surprising. It’s an eye catching chase card that had a decently high price out of the gate, so seeing it shoot up in value is nothing out of this world. I’m just annoyed I left it too long.
You can also find your copy of Bubble Mew over on eBay or TCGPlayer. To avoid the nightmare of opening the mail and finding fake Pokémon cards, I suggest going with sellers who have largely positive feedback, alongside plenty of similar listings for Pokémon or TCG cards. The biggest sign of a real card is the texture looking how it should, but admittedly, some of the Bubble Mews were textureless, meaning they’re an error or ‘misprint’ and can sometimes go for higher value depending on the seller.
I’d also avoid sellers who have many, many graded cards on their seller’s page. If they’re usually grading cards but refused to grade that shiny Bubble Mew you’ve got on your watchlist, chances are they believed it wasn’t worth grading. That should tell you a fair amount about the quality of condition that the Bubble Mew (or other card you’re looking at) is in.
In any case, it seems like plenty of the most exciting Pokémon cards are going up in price, including the adorable Mew ex SIR. Make sure to look over the entire Pokémon sets in order list to find other worthwhile cards before they also shoot up in price, or take a look at the best Pokémon packs for other cards you should attempt to chase.
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Source: Wargamer
