Card Types · Updated August 2026

Special Illustration Rare (SIR)

Pokémon · The modern chase card · Full-art masterpiece · about two years

Appreciation94/100
Liquidity88/100
Accessibility25/100
Risk18/100
Perfect Order SIRs Highest since Mega Evo151 SIRs +5-15% quarterly

This is the Pokémon cards entry for Special Illustration Rare (SIR) — one of 75 card types rated on appreciation, liquidity, accessibility and risk instead of being given one vague grade.

Both of the upside numbers are strong here — appreciation 94, liquidity 88. That pairing is rare enough to be the reason this entry exists, and rare enough that the price normally reflects it.

Accessibility of 25 is the catch. That score tracks whether you can buy near MSRP or you're already paying a premium to someone else, and at 25 you are paying up. A card with real upside bought at double MSRP is a worse purchase than an ordinary one bought at retail.

Set against the 8 Pokémon card types scored here, its appreciation of 94 ranks 3rd of 8, liquidity 88 ranks 2nd, accessibility 25 ranks 6th, and risk 18 is the 4th-lowest. The closest thing to it on the numbers is Sealed ETBs at MSRP, which scores 92 and 90 on the same two axes — if you're weighing one against the other, the difference is in the reasoning rather than the scores.

Two years gives the situation time to develop past its first impression, which is usually when the price is set by whoever shouted loudest. It also means two years of not touching it, including through the stretch where it looks wrong.

At 18, this is one of the calmer entries in here. Read that as relative: the floor under any card is whatever the next person will pay, and that number can move a long way in a month.

Price range $—–$— · verdict — · full reasoning, entry timing, what would change our mind, and the specific cards this applies to
Three things are behind the login for this entry: the price range we think is fair, the buy, hold or sell call, and the full reasoning — including what would change it.
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How to read these four numbers

Every entry gets four separate scores instead of one grade, because a single grade hides the thing you needed. Full explanation in the guide: what Kabooms, Downtowns and Color Blasts are worth.

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Or browse all card types · how these scores are built

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