The Character-Card Myth: are Trainer alt-arts really the chase?
“The character cards are the real chase” is a popular take. We tested it: every Special Illustration Rare split into Pokémon vs Trainer, same rarity. The Pokémon win, and it is not close.
The top of each, side by side
The priciest Special Illustration Rares of each supertype. The Trainer ceiling barely reaches the Pokémon median.
- Team Rocket's Mewtwo ex€571
- Mew ex€507
- Ethan's Ho-Oh ex€284
- Team Rocket's Moltres ex€275
- Pikachu ex€273
- Perrin€56
- Ethan's Adventure€54
- Team Rocket's Giovanni€48
- Carmine€43
- Morty's Conviction€42
A few loud whales, not a higher floor
The character-card reputation is built on a handful of famous chases. But the priciest Trainer SIR in the data, Perrin at €56, barely clears the Pokémon median of €31, while the top Pokémon SIRs run past €571. Only 20% of Trainer SIRs beat the typical Pokémon. It is the same lesson as our other studies: the median tells you what a card is really worth, and by the median, the Pokémon are the chase.
Method & sources
- We pulled every Special Illustration Rare with a Cardmarket price via the open pokemontcg.io API (90 Pokémon, 45 Trainer).
- We split by card supertype (Pokémon vs Trainer) and took the median of each. Holding the rarity tier constant isolates the supertype effect.
- Median, not average, is the point: it strips out the handful of whale cards that create the perception.
- Cardmarket EUR trend price via the open pokemontcg.io API. Valued 2026-07-05. Reference estimates, not sold records; prices move. Reproducible from the open API.
FAQ
Are Trainer (character) alt-art cards worth more than Pokémon alt-arts?
Not at the median. At the Special Illustration Rare tier, Pokémon SIRs trade at a median €31 while Trainer SIRs sit at €14, so a typical Pokémon alt art is about 2.3× a typical Trainer one. Only 20% of Trainer SIRs even clear the Pokémon median. The idea that character cards are the real chase is mostly a median-versus-mean illusion, a few famous Trainers get all the attention.
But aren't some character cards famously expensive?
Yes, a handful are, and that is exactly what fuels the perception. The priciest Trainer SIRs in the data (Perrin, Team Rocket's Giovanni, Carmine) run in the €43–€56 range. But the priciest Pokémon SIRs clear €571, and the whole Pokémon distribution sits higher. A few whale Trainers create a loud impression that the median does not support.
So should I chase Pokémon alt-arts over character ones?
If you are collecting for value, the data says the Pokémon alt-arts are the stronger hold at this rarity, both a higher typical price and a much higher ceiling. Character cards are cheaper to complete and can be great to collect for the art, but as an asset the top of the market is dominated by Pokémon, not trainers.
Where does this data come from, and is it reliable?
We pulled every Special Illustration Rare with a Cardmarket price via the open pokemontcg.io API (90 Pokémon, 45 Trainer), split by card supertype and took the median of each (Cardmarket EUR trend price via the open pokemontcg.io API, valued 2026-07-05). Holding the rarity tier constant isolates the Pokémon-versus-Trainer effect. These are reference estimates, not sold records, and prices move. We never scrape marketplaces and never invent a number; the figures are reproducible from the open API.
Got alt-arts, Pokémon or Trainer? See what they're worth.
Foilio values any card across Pokémon, Magic, Yu-Gi-Oh, One Piece, Lorcana and more, live prices in EUR & USD, your whole collection tracked. Free, no signup.
Cite or embed this study
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Source: <a href="https://foilio.net/studies/character-card-myth?utm_source=share&utm_medium=study_embed&utm_campaign=viral">The Character-Card Myth: are Trainer alt-arts really the chase?, Foilio</a> · data CC BY 4.0
</p>Foilio (2026-07-05). The Character-Card Myth: are Trainer alt-arts really the chase?. Retrieved from https://foilio.net/studies/character-card-myth