2007 POP 5 Gold Star Umbreon PSA 9 Sells for $28k

2007 Pokémon POP Series 5 Gold Star Umbreon PSA 9 Sells for $28,671 at Goldin

On May 18, 2026, Goldin closed a notable Pokémon sale: a 2007 Pokémon POP Series 5 #17 Gold Star Umbreon graded PSA MINT 9 realized $28,671. For many collectors, this is one of the defining non-holo-era chase cards, and its performance offers a useful snapshot of where the high-end Pokémon market stands.

Card overview

Let’s start with the basics:

• Card: 2007 Pokémon POP Series 5 Gold Star Umbreon
• Card number: #17
• Character: Umbreon (Eeveelution)
• Set: POP Series 5 (Pokémon Organized Play promo set)
• Year: 2007
• Variant: Gold Star (shiny Pokémon depicted, with the gold star by the name)
• Grading company: PSA (Professional Sports Authenticator)
• Grade: PSA MINT 9
• Key issue: Yes – regarded as one of the premier non-tournament Gold Star chase cards

This is not a rookie card in the sports sense, but within Pokémon it functions like a key “grail” issue: the combination of a late-era Gold Star, POP pack distribution, and a fan-favorite Eeveelution makes it one of the most pursued Umbreon cards in the hobby.

Why POP Series 5 Gold Star Umbreon matters

POP Series 5 was a reward and promotional set distributed through Pokémon Organized Play around 2007. These packs were not released like a standard booster box product. They were usually earned through league participation, events, or certain promotions, with limited pack contents. That structure matters for collectors:

• Constrained distribution: Fewer packs in circulation compared with mainline sets.
• Low pull rates: Gold Stars were already tough hits in regular sets; in POP Series 5, they are widely considered extremely difficult pulls.
• Late Gold Star era: 2007 sits at the tail end of the Gold Star period, bridging the ex-era and what many consider the end of the original “vintage+early 2000s” run.

Umbreon is also a top-tier fan favorite. Among Eeveelutions, Umbreon and Espeon usually lead demand when it comes to high-end cards. The POP Series 5 Gold Star pair is widely viewed as:

• A cornerstone card for Umbreon collectors
• A top grail for Gold Star-focused collections
• A key target for anyone building a high-end Eeveelution run

That mix of character popularity, set difficulty, and late Gold Star timing underpins the long-term collector interest in this card.

Grading and scarcity context

PSA’s population report (often called the “pop report”) tracks how many copies of a given card have been graded at each grade level. While exact numbers change as more cards get submitted, the basic pattern for POP Series 5 Gold Star Umbreon has been:

• Low overall population relative to many other 2000s-era cards
• A small number of PSA 10s, with PSA 9s forming the main high-grade segment
• Noticeably fewer high-grade copies than mass-distributed EX or DP-era holos

A PSA 9 in this case represents a strong condition card with only minor flaws under scrutiny. For many collectors, PSA 9 is the realistic target given how tough it is to find clean, well-centered copies from pack or long-term raw storage.

Market context and recent sales

When we talk about “comps,” we mean comparable recent sales—same card and grade when possible, or close substitutes (like the same card in PSA 8 or PSA 10) when exact matches are scarce.

For this card, public auction records over the last few years have shown:

• PSA 10 Gold Star Umbreon POP 5: Often multiple times the PSA 9 price, reflecting both scarcity and top-grade premium.
• PSA 9 Gold Star Umbreon POP 5: Historically clustered in the mid–five-figure to high–four-figure range, depending on timing, auction venue, and overall Pokémon sentiment at the moment of sale.

The $28,671 result at Goldin on May 18, 2026 sits in the upper part of that general band for PSA 9s in recent years. It is not a shock outlier for the card, but it does confirm that:

• Demand for high-grade Gold Star Umbreon remains firm.
• The market continues to differentiate POP 5 Gold Star Umbreon from more common Umbreon issues.
• Quality auction houses like Goldin can still draw strong participation for iconic Pokémon lots.

Because this card does not trade in high grade every week, price discovery is somewhat lumpy. Individual results can vary with factors like eye appeal, centering, and who happens to be bidding that night. Against that backdrop, this sale appears healthy and in line with recent strong comps, rather than a one-off spike.

How this sale fits into the broader Pokémon market

The Pokémon market has gone through several phases over the last decade:

• A long period of underappreciation for mid-2000s sets
• A sharp COVID-era boom in 2020–2021
• A correction and stabilization phase

Gold Star cards—particularly the marquee characters—have generally settled into a role similar to “blue-chip” pieces in sports cards:

• They represent a finite, well-defined era.
• They are hard to replace with newer printings because the Gold Star style was a distinct mechanic.
• They have a strong collector identity beyond any short-term price moves.

Within that slice, POP Series 5 Umbreon and Espeon are widely regarded as some of the toughest and most desirable.

This sale at $28,671 in PSA 9 suggests that, post-boom and post-correction, serious collectors are still willing to pay meaningful premiums for:

• Scarcity that is tied to original distribution, not just a serial number on the slab
• Aesthetic and character appeal (shiny black-and-blue Umbreon with a gold star is instantly recognizable even to casual fans)
• Cards that anchor high-end themed collections (Eeveelutions, Gold Stars, 2000s promos)

What collectors can take away

This is not financial advice, but there are a few practical takeaways for collectors watching this market:

1. Understand the set and distribution. POP Series 5 is not just another EX-era set. The Organized Play distribution, limited pack counts, and Gold Star odds contribute to real scarcity.

2. Grade tiers matter. PSA 9 is the main battleground grade for this card. PSA 10s are more of a trophy segment with much thinner liquidity, while PSA 8 and below tend to trade at clear discounts but can still be strong collector pieces.

3. Auction venue can influence realized prices. Premium houses like Goldin tend to draw a concentrated audience of high-end bidders. That can help cards like POP 5 Umbreon realize strong, well-publicized results, which then become reference points for future comps.

4. Condition and eye appeal still drive premiums. Even within PSA 9, centering, print quality, and edges can nudge final prices up or down. Serious buyers often review high-resolution images before assigning their own internal value range.

Final thoughts

The May 18, 2026 Goldin sale of a 2007 Pokémon POP Series 5 #17 Gold Star Umbreon in PSA MINT 9 for $28,671 reinforces the card’s standing as a core piece of the mid-2000s Pokémon landscape. It also underscores the broader point that, even as the hobby matures and cools from its peak, historically important, truly scarce issues continue to command attention—and serious bids.

For Umbreon fans, Eeveelution collectors, or anyone building a focused Gold Star run, this result is another data point showing how the market currently values one of the era’s defining chase cards.