Price Charting for EX Ruby and Sapphire Shedinja

Identifying card #28/109 correctly and cross-checking TCGplayer against eBay sold listings is the key to pricing this first-era Rare.

The Shedinja card from EX Ruby & Sapphire is card #28/109, a non-holographic Rare from the very first main expansion of the Pokémon TCG’s EX Series, released in English on June 18, 2003. If you are trying to chart its price, the most important thing to understand up front is that this is a standard Rare, not an ultra-rare or holo, which places it firmly in the affordable, collector-accessible tier of the set rather than the high-dollar chase-card category. Live market prices for the specific #28/109 printing are tracked on the TCGplayer Ruby & Sapphire price guide, and confirmed sold listings on eBay are the most reliable way to pin down what a given copy is actually worth today. A word of caution before you anchor to any number: when searching for this card, it is easy to grab the wrong figure.

A commonly surfaced price of $17.27 is attached to card #9/109, a different card entirely, and should never be applied to Shedinja. The only dependable approach is to confirm the price against the exact card number, #28/109, on a live guide or in completed sales. For example, a raw, lightly played copy will sit at the low end of the set’s Rare pricing, while a PSA-graded gem mint version can command a substantial premium because of how this set is graded and collected. Because EX Ruby & Sapphire holds historical significance as the first Nintendo-issued Pokémon set, even its commons and rares carry collector interest beyond pure gameplay value. That status shapes how Shedinja is priced, traded, and graded, and it is the backdrop for everything that follows.

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How Do You Price Chart the EX Ruby and Sapphire Shedinja Card?

price charting the Shedinja #28/109 starts with correctly identifying the card. It is a Rare rarity card, marked with a black star symbol, and it is non-holo, which distinguishes it from the reverse-holo and holo-rare cards that share the set. Getting the card number right is the single most important step, because the EX Ruby & Sapphire set contains 109 cards and several share the Shedinja name across other expansions. The card-codex Shedinja card list, for instance, shows how many different Shedinja printings exist across the years, and mixing them up is the most common pricing error collectors make. Once the card is identified, the actual charting comes from two main sources: live marketplace guides and completed sales.

The TCGplayer Ruby & Sapphire price guide aggregates current seller listings and recent transactions to produce a market price, while eBay’s filter for sold and completed listings shows what buyers have genuinely paid. Comparing the two is useful: TCGplayer’s market price tends to smooth out outliers, while eBay sold data captures real-world swings, including the premium that graded copies pull versus raw ones. As a comparison, consider how a raw Rare like Shedinja behaves against a holo from the same set. The non-holo Rare typically trades in the low single-digit to low double-digit dollar range when ungraded, whereas holos and EX cards from the set climb much higher. That spread is why correctly classifying Shedinja as a standard Rare, not a holo, keeps your price expectations realistic.

Why the EX Ruby and Sapphire Set Context Drives Shedinja’s Value

Understanding the set is essential to understanding the card. EX Ruby & Sapphire was released in Japan on January 31, 2003, and in English on June 18, 2003, and it stands as the first main expansion of the EX Series. More notably, it was the first Pokémon card set issued by Nintendo after the Wizards of the Coast era ended. That transition point gives the set a documented place in TCG history, and historically significant sets tend to retain collector demand for their entire card list, not just the marquee cards. This context matters for Shedinja because a card’s value is never set in isolation.

When a set carries first-of-its-kind status, sealed product and graded singles draw sustained interest, which props up the floor under even mid-tier rares. Sealed EX Ruby & Sapphire booster packs have sold in the roughly $25 to $35 range, and a sealed booster box was listed near $1,599, figures that signal how much collectors still value untouched product from this era. The limitation to keep in mind is that set prestige does not lift every card equally. A sealed pack commanding $30 does not mean a single raw Shedinja is worth a proportional fraction of that, because singles and sealed product follow different demand curves. Sealed product is valued for the gamble and the preservation; a single common-tier Rare is valued only for what that specific card is worth to a player or set collector. Do not assume a strong set price tag automatically inflates the individual card.

EX Ruby & Sapphire Market Reference PointsBooster Pack (low)25$ and unit (mixed)Booster Pack (high)35$ and unit (mixed)Sealed Booster Box1599$ and unit (mixed)PSA 10 Share of Submissions33$ and unit (mixed)Total Submissions Referenced1613$ and unit (mixed)Source: PSA Set Registry, EX Ruby & Sapphire

What Grading Population Data Tells You About Shedinja Pricing

Grading data is one of the most useful tools for understanding why prices move, and EX Ruby & Sapphire has a revealing population profile. Of roughly 1,613 EX Ruby & Sapphire submissions referenced by PSA, more than one-third earned a PSA 10 Gem Mint grade. That is a high gem rate, and it tells you the set’s cards are frequently found in excellent condition, which has direct consequences for how much a graded Shedinja is worth. When gem mint copies are relatively plentiful, the premium for a PSA 10 shrinks compared to sets where PSA 10s are scarce.

In practical terms, a PSA 10 Shedinja will still sell for more than a raw copy, but the multiple is smaller than it would be for a card that rarely grades a perfect 10. For example, if a raw Shedinja trades in the low double digits, the graded gem mint version commands a premium, but collectors should not expect the explosive multipliers seen with notoriously condition-sensitive vintage cards from the Wizards era. The practical takeaway is to weigh grading costs against the realistic graded value. If submitting a raw Shedinja for grading costs more than the gap between its raw and PSA 10 price, grading destroys value rather than creating it. With a high-gem-rate set like this one, that math frequently does not favor grading a common Rare unless you already hold a visibly flawless copy.

Where Should You Track EX Ruby and Sapphire Shedinja Prices?

The two primary venues for tracking this card are TCGplayer and eBay, and each has tradeoffs. TCGplayer’s Ruby & Sapphire price guide gives you a clean market price and lists condition tiers from damaged through near mint, which is convenient for a quick read. The downside is that the guide reflects the U.S. marketplace and TCGplayer’s seller base, so it may not capture international sales or the full range of graded transactions. eBay’s completed and sold listings, by contrast, show actual buyer behavior across raw and graded copies, and they capture the real spread between a near mint raw card and a PSA or CGC slab.

The tradeoff is noise: eBay listings include misidentified cards, lots, and the occasional inflated Buy It Now that never sold. You have to filter carefully to sold listings and verify each result is genuinely the #28/109 Shedinja and not another printing or a bundle. A balanced approach uses both. Pull the TCGplayer market price as a baseline, then cross-check against the last several eBay sold listings to confirm the baseline is current. If the two diverge sharply, the sold data usually reflects reality faster than an aggregated guide, especially during periods of sudden demand. Never rely on a single source or a single listing to set your expectation for the card.

Common Pitfalls When Charting Shedinja’s Price

The most frequent and costly mistake is conflating Shedinja #28/109 with a different card number from the same set. As noted, a $17.27 figure circulating in search results belongs to card #9/109, not Shedinja, and using it would misstate the card’s value. Always verify the card number against the image and set symbol before recording any price. This single check prevents the majority of pricing errors. A second pitfall is data freshness. Pricing for vintage singles can shift with sudden collector interest, reprints of related products, or grading trends, and a number captured months ago may no longer hold.

A specific, current dollar figure for Shedinja #28/109 should be confirmed directly on TCGplayer or in recent eBay sold listings before you treat it as accurate. Stale guide prices are a real limitation, particularly for lower-volume cards that may go weeks between sales, making any single data point less reliable. Finally, be wary of condition assumptions. Two raw Shedinja cards can differ dramatically in value based on centering, edge wear, and surface, and a listing that simply says near mint without photos is not verifiable. Because this set grades a PSA 10 more than a third of the time, buyers are discerning about condition, and an honestly graded near mint copy will not fetch gem mint money. Treat any unverified condition claim with skepticism.

How Shedinja Compares to Other EX Ruby and Sapphire Rares

Within the set’s Rare tier, Shedinja sits alongside other non-holo rares that share a similar pricing band, well below the holo rares and the EX cards that anchor the top of the set. The value driver for any of these standard rares is condition and the broader prestige of the set rather than individual card scarcity, since rares from this era were printed in quantity relative to the holos.

As an example of how tiering works, a collector assembling a complete EX Ruby & Sapphire master set will need Shedinja as one of many non-holo rares, and these cards are typically acquired affordably in bulk lots or as singles in the low dollar range. The cards that consume most of a set-builder’s budget are the holos and EX cards, not rares like Shedinja, which is why this particular card is usually one of the easier and cheaper boxes to check off.

The Role of Sealed Product Reference Points

Sealed product prices provide useful context even when you are only valuing a single card. For EX Ruby & Sapphire, booster packs have changed hands in the roughly $25 to $35 range, and a sealed booster box was listed near $1,599.

These figures reflect the preservation premium and the historical weight of the first Nintendo-issued set rather than the expected value of any single card pulled from a pack. For a concrete illustration, opening a $30 sealed pack does not guarantee a Shedinja, and even if it produced one, the raw single would carry a fraction of the pack’s price. That gap is exactly why sealed product and singles must be charted separately, and why a Shedinja price should always come from singles data, not from working backward off a sealed pack or box figure.


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