Rocket Gang Strikes BackJPN

What to target in Rocket Gang Strikes Back

The top 10 cards are 87% of the set’s $7,617.00 estimated singles cost — plan these first and the rest follows on a normal budget.

Value here is almost comically top-heavy. Mudkip Star is the set — a Shiny Rare that commands more than the rest of the meaningful chase cards combined, and it's the card that turns a "finish the set" goal into a real financial commitment. Everything below it is a much gentler climb. The Rocket's Pokémon-ex tier — Suicune ex, Entei ex, Scizor ex and Scyther ex — is where the collector affection lives; these are the cards people want on their merits, not just because the checklist demands them, and Dark Tyranitar sits right alongside them as a fan-favorite heavy.

The lower band — Dark Ampharos, Rocket's Celebi, Dark Slowking, and the oddly popular Togetic holo — is where the set stays approachable. These are the cards that make a mid-tier run feel achievable and let you build most of the set's identity without touching the Star. In short: nearly all of the money is in the top handful of cards, the emotional core is the Rocket's-ex bracket, and if you skip the Shiny you can assemble a very satisfying Rocket display for a fraction of the true master-set outlay.

#	Card	Number	Rarity	Market	PSA 10
1	Mudkip Star	#33	Shiny Rare	$3,774.01	$12,750.00
2	Rocket's Snorlax ex	#62	Holo Rare	$950.00	$4,020.58
3	Rocket's Scizor ex	#66	Holo Rare	$460.00	$941.15
4	Rocket's Mewtwo ex	#64	Holo Rare	$300.00	$4,581.85
5	Rocket's Suicune ex	#69	Holo Rare	$284.99	$3,199.99
6	Rocket's Entei ex	#68	Holo Rare	$255.00	$1,440.05
7	Togetic	#57	Holo Rare	$212.50	$579.69
8	Rocket's Scyther ex	#61	Holo Rare	$166.00	$699.99
9	Dark Tyranitar	#70	Holo Rare	$160.00	$500.00
10	Dark Slowking	#44	Holo Rare	$100.00	$836.19

How Rocket Gang Strikes Back is built

The smart way to complete Rocket Gang Strikes Back

Approach this as two projects stacked on top of each other. The base and Dark/Rocket's holo checklist is a normal, if occasionally slow, Japanese ex-era set to hunt; the Mudkip Star is a separate, save-up-for-it acquisition that you should treat as the finish line rather than a routine pickup. Decide early whether you're building the full master set or the more sensible 'everything but the Star' version, because that single choice reshapes the entire budget.

1. Lock in the base commons, uncommons and non-holo Rocket's/Dark cards first — they're cheap and clear the checklist volume fast.
2. Work through the low-band holos: Dark Ampharos, Rocket's Celebi, Dark Slowking and Togetic, where condition-hunting is realistic.
3. Move to the mid-band Rocket's Pokémon-ex — Scyther ex, Scizor ex, Entei ex and Suicune ex — plus Dark Tyranitar, buying the best centered copies you can find.
4. Verify every holo for the surface and edge wear typical of 2004 Japanese cards before committing.
5. Save the Mudkip Star for last as a single deliberate purchase, ideally a graded or gradeable copy given its weight in the set.
6. If master-set completion is the goal, budget the Star as roughly the whole project and the other 84 cards as a rounding error by comparison.

Collecting challenges

The difficulty is Extreme for one reason: the Mudkip Star dominates the cost curve so heavily that finishing the set is essentially finishing that one card. Beyond it, the challenge is the usual Japanese-2004 reality — no sealed product in circulation, thinner supply than English equivalents, and holos that are prone to edge whitening and surface scratches that make clean copies genuinely scarce. The mid and low tiers are patient hunting; the top is a single big decision.

Singles or sealed?

This is a singles set, full stop — there's no booster box, ETB or bundle route in normal circulation for a 2004 Japanese release, so the question of packs versus singles is largely academic. Even if sealed surfaces, the value is so concentrated in a few cards that buying exactly what you want is far more efficient than gambling on the checklist. Build it card by card, and prioritize condition on the holos.

Sealed product comparison

Which Rocket Gang Strikes Back cards are worth grading?

Grading makes the most sense at the top of the checklist, where the difference between a raw and a high-grade copy is meaningful enough to clear the fee. The Rocket's Suicune ex, Rocket's Entei ex and Rocket's Scizor ex are the ex-tier cards where a clean grade pays for itself, and Dark Slowking and Rocket's Celebi round out the group worth submitting when you find crisp copies. These are cards with real collector demand and enough age that mint survivors are scarce, which is exactly the combination grading rewards.

The Mudkip Star is its own conversation — as the set's white whale, it's almost always bought and held in graded form regardless of the math, because provenance and condition assurance matter more on a card at that value tier. For the mid and low holos below the ex bracket, grading is mostly a personal-preference call: submit them if you want a uniform slabbed set, but the raw-versus-graded spread there rarely justifies the cost on its own.

Tier 1 — grade theseWorth grading

Positive expected value after ~$25 fees at live PSA prices and this set's real gem rates.

Mudkip Star #33raw $3,774.01 → PSA 10 $12,750.00 3.4×EV +$7,407.94Rocket's Snorlax ex #62raw $950.00 → PSA 10 $4,020.58 4.2×EV +$1,133.06Rocket's Scizor ex #66raw $460.00 → PSA 10 $941.15 2×EV +$232.81Rocket's Mewtwo ex #64raw $300.00 → PSA 10 $4,581.85 15.3×EV +$1,541.31Rocket's Suicune ex #69raw $284.99 → PSA 10 $3,199.99 11.2×EV +$1,019.08Rocket's Entei ex #68raw $255.00 → PSA 10 $1,440.05 5.6×EV +$514.65

Tier 2 — grade clean copiesClean copies only

Strong PSA 10 premium — the math works only on gem-worthy copies.

Quagsire #27raw $30.00 → PSA 10 $260.00 8.7×Magby #19raw $29.99 → PSA 10 $102.51 3.4×EV +$5.33

Tier 3 — personal collectionCollection only

Fees eat most of the margin. Grade to preserve a pristine pull, not for profit.

Kingdra #32raw $49.99 → PSA 10 $130.67 2.6×EV +$3.51Rocket's Wobbuffet #65raw $29.00 → PSA 10 $79.00 2.7×EV −$6.31Ledian #6raw $18.00 → PSA 10 $81.00 4.5×EV +$22.38Dark Arbok #12raw $15.95 → PSA 10 $65.00 4.1×EV −$8.87Seadra #23raw $14.04 → PSA 10 $45.00 3.2×EV −$8.28

Premiums and EV use tonight’s PSA prices and this set’s real gem rates — not projections.

What collectors say about Rocket Gang Strikes Back

Creators on Rocket Gang Strikes Back

▶ROCKET RETURNS - ROCKET GANG STRIKES BACK - STARTER DECK #pokemoncards #openingpokemoncardsTheCardconomist▶Booster Pack Frenzy! (Episode 90)WakeRunCollapse▶RARE HOLOGRAPHIC POKEMON CARDS IN *EVERY PACK!* / Opening Team Rocket Gang Booster Box!PokeRev▶Should I Open it? Or Should I Keep it Sealed? - Episode 180 - Team Rocket Gang Returns #pokemonShortPocketMonster

Synthesized from widely-reported collector consensus — see a take that’s off? Use the report link on any card page.

Protect your Rocket Gang Strikes Back cards

This set has 10 cards worth $100+ — sleeve-and-toploader territory at minimum, and the chase cards deserve double-sleeving.

Affiliate links — purchases support CardPrice at no extra cost. Full guide: how to build & store a master set.

Where Rocket Gang Strikes Back goes from here

Supply is the defining fact here: this is a 20-year-old Japanese set with no sealed product feeding fresh copies into the market, so what exists is what exists, and clean holos only get scarcer as the years pass. That underpins the Rocket's-ex and Dark holo tier, which combines genuine thematic demand — the Team Rocket villain fantasy has an enduring fanbase — with a shrinking pool of well-kept cards. Those fundamentals are healthy without being hype-driven.

The Mudkip Star is the wildcard. As a Shiny Star chase from a beloved theme, it carries both the upside and the volatility of any single-card centerpiece: its trajectory is tied to a narrow buyer pool willing to pay for the top of the set, which can move sharply in either direction. Reprint risk is essentially nil for the Japanese originals, so scarcity is durable; just recognize that so much of this set's value living in one card means your exposure is really exposure to that card. Collect the Rocket's cards because you love the theme, and treat the Star as the deliberate, eyes-open splurge it is.

Not financial advice — live prices and trends are above, collect what you love.

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Rocket Gang Strikes Back — frequently asked questions