Traveling Merchant

Celebi XY187 stands out as a vibrant piece of modern Pokémon TCG history, originally released as a Black Star Promo in the Volcanion Mythical Collection on January 11, 2017. In Japan, this specific illustration debuted earlier in the Mythical & Legendary Dream Shine Collection. The card itself, which you can see in image features the time-traveling Pokémon soaring through a deep, textured forest backdrop, rendered in a style that is immediately recognizable to longtime collectors. The Art and the Artist The visual appeal of Celebi XY187 is entirely driven by its illustrator, Tomokazu Komiya. Komiya has been illustrating Pokémon cards since the Japanese Expansion Sheet 1 and the English Neo Genesis expansion, making him one of the most prolific and distinctive artists in the hobby. His style is rooted in Primitivism, an art movement that draws inspiration from prehistory, tribal cultures, and children's art. This intentional approach results in loosely colored images, exaggerated facial and bodily proportions, and vibrant, contrasting tones that make the Pokémon pop against their environments. Komiya frequently uses soft color blotches to convey peace, or rapid brushstrokes and deep colors to project dominance. Beyond this Celebi, he has illustrated hundreds of cards and is celebrated for high-profile projects, most notably his contributions to the 2023 "Pokémon x Van Gogh" collaboration, where he illustrated Sunflora and Smeargle in the styles of Van Gogh's Sunflowers and Self-Portrait as a Painter. Performance in Competitive Play While the artwork is stellar, Celebi XY187 was essentially a non-factor in competitive Pokémon TCG formats. The card is a Grass-type Basic Pokémon with a frail 70 HP and a weakness to Fire. Its primary attack, "Time Call," requires a coin flip to search your deck for an evolution card and place it on one of your benched Pokémon. Relying on a coin flip for a setup mechanic is generally avoided in competitive play, as consistency is king. Its secondary attack, "Leech Seed," heals a measly 10 damage. During the XY and Sun & Moon eras, players had access to vastly superior consistency engines and setup options, leaving this Celebi strictly in the binders of collectors rather than in tournament decks. Scarcity and Distribution Because Celebi XY187 was guaranteed as a promotional pull inside the Volcanion Mythical Collection, it was not particularly rare upon its initial 2017 release. Anyone who purchased the box at retail price received the card. However, scarcity in modern Pokémon is tied to the passage of time and the consumption of sealed products. As the XY era recedes further into history, sealed Volcanion Mythical Collection boxes have become expensive and scarce. Consequently, crisp, well-centered, Near Mint copies of this promo are becoming much harder to find in the wild, slowly transitioning it from a common box-topper to a sought-after mid-era artifact. Pricing Data and Growth Projection Upon release, promo cards from widely available collection boxes typically hover in the $1 to $3 range. Over the years, however, Celebi XY187 has experienced steady, significant growth as fans circle back to Komiya’s unique artwork. Recent market data from August 2026 shows Near Mint raw copies regularly selling between $25.00 and $32.52 on platforms like TCGPlayer, while eBay sales for lightly played or moderately played copies fluctuate between $14.99 and $20.00. Graded copies command a premium, with PSA 10 slabs having sold for over $90, though they appear on the market infrequently. Projecting forward, Celebi XY187 is uniquely positioned for continued growth. It sits at the intersection of a popular Mythical Pokémon and a cult-favorite artist whose reputation only continues to climb following the Van Gogh collaboration. Given that the raw card has already climbed past the $30 threshold for Near Mint copies, a conservative projection suggests a steady 10% to 15% annual increase.