Player’s Ceremony (398/SM-P)

Worlds, events and city launch · No. 105 of 195 by PSA 10 value

Player’s Ceremony is card 398/SM-P, from the SM-P series of Japanese promo cards. It sits at No. 105 of the 195 celebration, collaboration and event cards in our index, and is catalogued as an event, championship or city release. The card face credits Kagemaru Himeno as the illustrator.

Card facts

What the market says

PSA 10 copies are valued at $1,488. An ungraded copy sits at $841, so the top grade carries a 1.8× premium. A PSA 9 is at $555, so the PSA 10 is 2.7× the PSA 9. 10 individual sales are on record for this card, from $108 to $1,725, with a median of $670.

Over the 40 months of monthly market values we hold, the PSA 10 figure has moved from $988 (June 2023) to $1,488 — +50.6%, including +50.6% over the last twelve months and +50.6% over the last twenty-four.

What each grade is worth

Recent recorded sales

The eight most recent sales of any grade in our record. 10 sales in total.

How many are graded

PSA has graded 528 copies of Player’s Ceremony, and 268 of them came back a PSA 10 — 50.8% of everything PSA has graded. A PSA 9 accounts for 187 of them.

A population count is every copy the grading company has ever seen, not the number available for sale, and is republished monthly. Half grades are counted in the grade below, so an 8.5 is included in Grade 8.

About the artist

A manga artist for Shueisha’s Ribon before she turned to the TCG, and one of the very few illustrators who has drawn cards in every era since Jungle. Known to fans as Himeru.

In our illustrator index: Kagemaru Himeno — every credited Simplified Chinese card we hold for this artist, in price order.

Other cards by Kagemaru Himeno in this index

• Birthday Pikachu · 24$15,500
• Pikachu Birthday · 25$7,501
• Birthday Pikachu · 24$2,275
• Pikachu · 224/SM-P$1,136

Showing the four highest-value of the 5 cards by this illustrator in our 195-card index; the rest are on the card index.

Across those 5 cards PSA has graded 17,639 copies, of which 5,205 are PSA 10.

Artist credit as printed on the card face (Illus.), confirmed against the official Pokémon card database.

Where this card came from

Player’s Ceremony is a Japanese promo card, as part of World Championship promo. It carries the card number 398/SM-P, from the SM-P-series Japanese promo line.

Promo cards are not sold in booster boxes. They reach collectors through a specific campaign — a store, a museum, a film, an anniversary or a championship — which is why the printed number is the only reliable identifier: the same Pokémon can appear on dozens of promo cards across the same era, and the number is what separates them.

That is also why this card appears in our celebration, collaboration and event index rather than in a set list: nothing here came out of a booster box.

Frequently asked questions

How much is Player’s Ceremony worth?

PSA 10 copies are valued at $1,488, against $841 for an ungraded copy and $555 for a PSA 9. That is our most recent recorded market value, not an asking price.

How many Player’s Ceremony cards are there in a PSA 10?

PSA has graded 528 copies of Player’s Ceremony and 268 of them carry a PSA 10 grade, which is 50.8% of everything PSA has graded. A PSA 9 accounts for 187 copies.

Who illustrated Player’s Ceremony?

The card face credits Kagemaru Himeno. We hold 4 other cards by this illustrator in the same index. Every illustrator we can verify is listed on our illustrator page, card by card.

Has Player’s Ceremony gone up in value?

Over the last twelve months the recorded PSA 10 value moved +50.6%, from $988 to $1,488. Over twenty-four months it moved +50.6%.

How often does Player’s Ceremony come up for sale?

10 individual sales are on record for this card, from $108 to $1,725, with a median of $670. Thinly traded cards can go a long time between sales.

How much does the grade change the price of Player’s Ceremony?

An ungraded copy is at $841, a PSA 9 at $555 and a PSA 10 at $1,488. The PSA 10 figure is 1.8 times the ungraded figure.

Illustrated by Kagemaru Himeno — every card credited to them, by language and by era.

Sources

Sources and further reading

1. Pokémon Card Game official card database — card name, printed card number, series and illustrator credit for 398/SM-P. This is the source for every identity detail above.
2. CardSpicy — every illustrator, card by card, for the artist entry and the count of cards we hold for that illustrator.
3. Recorded secondary-market sales for 398/SM-P — the value, grade ladder and sale list on this page. Figures are documented results at the dates shown, updated as new sales are recorded.
4. Published population report for 398/SM-P — PSA and CGC graded counts by grade, republished monthly. This is the source for the population table and chart above.
5. CardSpicy — card grading: how it works, for the grade scale used in the table above.

Related reading

• Celebration, collaboration and event cards — the full ranked index
• Every illustrator behind the cards we track, card by card
• Card grading: how to read a PSA, BGS or CGC label
• Why we only sell PSA 10
• The most expensive Pokémon cards, with sale dates and venues
• Pokémon set codes, decoded

Shop cards and protection

• All PSA 10 graded cards
• PSA 10 — Simplified Chinese exclusive — our highest-premium line
• Penny sleeves, 35 PT to 360 PT — 100 per pack, acid-free and PVC-free
• Toploader 3" x 4" rigid card holder
• All card protectors

Want to know whether this card fits a particular holder, or looking for a copy? Find this Card for Me, and we will tell you what fits it.