Elite Trainer Box (ETB): What's Inside and Is It Worth Buying

An Elite Trainer Box (ETB) is an official Pokémon product released for most sets. It contains 9 booster packs, a promo card, sleeves, Energy cards, dice and a storage box. The Pokémon Center version has 11 packs. An ETB suits new players or collectors who want a sealed product. If you only want to open packs, you'll pay less per pack with a booster box.

What's inside an Elite Trainer Box

An Elite Trainer Box, or ETB for short, is an official product released for almost every main Pokémon TCG set. It's aimed at players who want to start with a new set, so it includes both packs to open and the accessories you need at the table.

This is the standard contents of Scarlet & Violet era boxes:

• 9 booster packs. Sword & Shield era boxes had 8
• One promo card from the set, with a promo stamp
• 65 sleeves in the set's design
• 45 basic Energy cards
• Dice and markers: damage counter dice, a coin-flip die and acrylic condition markers
• A printed player's guide with the set's card list
• A storage box with dividers for organizing cards
• A digital code for Pokémon TCG Live

Contents vary slightly between sets, so read the list printed on the back of the box for the set you're buying. The box itself holds a few hundred sleeved cards and is a handy place to store the cards you play with.

The sleeves in the box are fine for play. A valuable card that comes out of a pack needs a quality sleeve and a toploader. The details are in the card storage guide.

Regular ETB vs Pokémon Center

The Pokémon Center version is an ETB sold only in the official Pokémon store. From the outside it looks almost the same as the regular version. Inside there are a few differences, and they affect the price.

• More packs: 11 packs in Scarlet & Violet boxes, compared with 9 in the regular version
• Stamped promo: the promo card carries a Pokémon Center stamp
• Box marking: the Pokémon Center logo is printed on the packaging

The Pokémon Center store doesn't ship directly to Israel. This version reaches Israel through sellers who brought it in themselves, package forwarding services or private importers. Each step adds cost, so the price in Israel is higher.

Is the extra cost worth it? If you open, compare the price per pack. If the extra you pay for two more packs and the stamped promo is small, the purchase makes sense. For sealed collecting, Pokémon Center versions are usually in higher demand on the secondary market, but not always.

ETB vs booster box: price per pack

The simple way to compare is to divide the price by the number of packs. An English booster box has 36 packs and no accessories. An ETB has 9 packs, and part of the price pays for the box, sleeves, dice and promo.

So a pack in an ETB almost always costs more than a pack in a booster box of the same set. If you only want to open packs and fill a binder, you'll pay less with a booster box. The full comparison is in the booster box guide.

When an ETB is the better choice:

• Your budget is smaller and you don't want to pay for a whole box at once
• You're starting to play and need sleeves, Energy and dice anyway
• You want the promo card that comes in the box
• You're buying a gift: a complete package that looks good and has several kinds of items
• You're buying a special set with no English booster box, such as some Special Sets. For these sets, an ETB is one of the main ways to buy packs

There's also a 6-pack bundle, and in some sets the price per pack is lower than in an ETB. Check the prices of all three products on the board before you decide.

Open it or keep it sealed

Many sealed product collectors keep ETBs sealed. They're compact, look good on a shelf and are tied to a specific set. Some boxes from older sets have gone up in value over the years. Others stayed at the same price or dropped, mostly after reprints.

In recent years Pokémon has printed large quantities and reprinted popular sets. With plenty of supply, there's no reason to expect a quick price rise. If you're thinking of keeping an ETB as an investment, read the card investing guide first. The risks are covered there.

Questions to ask before you decide:

• Do you have a dry, cool place to keep the box for several years?
• Is this spare money, or will you need it soon?
• Is the set in demand because of specific cards, or only because it's new?
• Do you actually want to open it? If so, open it and enjoy.

Many collectors buy two boxes. They open one and keep the other sealed. That way they enjoy the opening and still have a sealed box.

How to spot an ETB that was opened and resealed

Some sellers open an ETB, take out the good packs and rewrap it in shrink wrap. Sometimes they put in packs that were weighed in advance or already opened. Sometimes they put in packs from a cheaper set. Checking starts with the wrap.

• Shrink wrap: original wrap is tight, clear and smooth, with neat folds at the edges. Home wrapping is usually loose, with wrinkles, thick spots or heat marks
• Seams: check the short sides of the box. If the seam is crooked, doubled or torn, look further
• Comparison: find an opening video of the same product and compare the wrap, especially at the edges
• Price: if a sealed ETB sells for much less than the price anchor on the board, ask the seller why
• Source: ask the seller where they bought it and whether they have a receipt

One sign alone doesn't prove a box was resealed. Original wrap also varies a little between sets and factories. Look at all the signs together. If you have doubts about the cards themselves after opening, the checks are in the fake card guide.

A fair price in Israel

There's no single price for an ETB. The price depends on the set, how long it has been out, how many copies were printed and demand. In the first weeks after a set comes out, prices change fast. Boxes from sets that are no longer printed are priced as collectibles.

That's why there's no fixed price here. Listings on the board show a live price anchor from the global market, with a fairness tag next to it. The tag shows whether the price is above the market, within its range or below it. The full explanation is in the card pricing guide.

The price in an Israeli store already includes costs that someone ordering from abroad pays separately: shipping, VAT and sometimes customs. When comparing with buying abroad, calculate the total cost to your door. The exemption thresholds for personal imports have changed several times recently. So don't guess: check the customs calculator and the guide to customs and VAT on card imports.

An ETB is bigger and heavier than loose packs, so shipping from abroad adds to its cost. When you order a single box, shipping sometimes cancels out the gap between the price abroad and the price in Israel. More stores and ways to buy are covered in the guide to buying cards in Israel.

Storing a sealed ETB

A sealed ETB holds its value only if the box and wrap are in good condition. A crushed box or torn wrap lowers the price on the secondary market, even when the packs inside are fine.

• Heat: don't leave the box in a car in summer, or in a hot storage room or attic. Heat can make the wrap shrink and crush the box
• Sun: direct light fades the print on the box. A shelf in a shaded room is better than a windowsill
• Humidity: cardboard absorbs moisture. In a damp room, put silica packets in the storage bin
• Pressure: don't stack many boxes on top of each other. Stand them up, or arrange them in low layers
• Protection: acrylic and plastic cases in ETB size are available. They keep out dust and protect the corners from knocks

Don't put price stickers on the wrap or write on it. Keep the receipt separately, as it helps when you sell. The rest of the rules for storing cards and sealed products are in the card storage guide.

Frequently asked questions