This Psyduck Card May be the Sleeper Chase in Ascended Heroes
Ascended Heroes has released everywhere worldwide, yet one sleepy Illustration Rare is batting way above its rarity average. Behold the Psyduck Illustration Rare – a secret rare version of a promo card originally released in Mega Evolution that is worth a whopping $95 on secondary card markets like TCGPlayer. This solid price point puts it above much rarer cards from the set, including notoriously hard-to-pull SIR cards and new Mega Attack Rares.
What is it about this sleepy Pokemon that’s causing such a stir on the secondary card market? Is Psyduck such an irresistible Pokemon or is this artwork just so good that collectors can’t keep their hands off of it?
Or perhaps it’s a little bit of both with something more mixed in.
Psyduck is the Illustration Rare “It” card of Ascended Heroes
As tempting as it is to see the Psyduck IR as something of an anomaly given its seemingly exaggerated price-to-rarity ratio, this trend has actually been a growingly present one in the Pokemon TCG for some time.
For those not familiar with the different rarities in the Pokemon TCG, an Illustration Rare falls within the “secret rare” camp of card, meaning it’s not part of the main set and much harder to find. Yet being only an Illustration Rare (IR) makes it considerably easier to pull than the likes of a Special Illustration Rare (SIR).
However, in the Pokemon TCG hobby, rarity does not always directly correlate with value. Indeed, many modern Pokemon TCG sets have one runaway Illustration Rare that outperforms all expectations.
The first instance that comes to mind when an IR card gained noteriety for being outrageously valuable is when this Magikarp Illustration Rare from Paldean Fates shot up crazily in price.
Currently, this Magikarp is worth over $200 – an insane price for an Illustration Rare card. Many Special Illustration Rare cards never reach that kind of value despite being much more rare.
Similar artworks for Illustration Rare cards penned by legendary artist Shinji Kanda have also gained a boost on the secondary card market, with the likes of this Seismitoad IR from Mega Evolution fetching a whopping $120 right now on TCGPlayer.
As the Psyduck from Ascended Heroes – among many other hit Illustration Rare cards – prove, however, it’s not just IR cards illustrated by Shinji that can end up being quite valuable. No, there are other factors at play here. For example, this Groudon from the Pokemon pack with almost a cult following behind it – Paradox Rift – wasn’t created by Shinji but also fetches a high price for an IR – $74 on TCGPlayer!
As a general rule, one IR per modern Pokemon set seems to outperform expectations, and it seems Psyduck is likely to be “that” IR from Ascended Heroes. Which begs the question – what’s so great about Psyduck?
Psyduck invokes incredible nostalgia
Ascended Heroes is a set with a very broad appeal. It’s got the favorites from recent Pokemon sets all rolled into one. But it also has many nostalgic favorites features heavily in it – from the bankable Mega Charizard Y ex to the memorable Dragonite in its Mega form. However, Psyduck is perhaps just as tied to nostalgia as these more epic dragon type Pokemon, given it was not only an original Kanto Pokemon but the memorable and dopey sidekick to Misty.
Speaking of which, Misty’s Psyduck from Destined Rivals is another IR that’s done well in value since the set released, currently sitting at nearly $60 on TCGPlayer. However, this sleepier take on the head-ache prone Pokemon could end up outperforming even that gorgeous card, showing that sometimes all it takes for a card to really take off among collectors is a close-up of a memorable Pokemon basking lazily in the summer sun.
