Two Japanese booster boxes, back to back on our shelves: Storm Emeralda (M6), Mega Rayquaza’s flagship set, and 30th CELEBRATION (M6a), which released worldwide on Wednesday, September 16, 2026. Both are current, both are sealed product we ship out of Tokyo, and both sit well above their printed MSRP on the secondary market.
This guide lines up the two boxes side by side — card count, MSRP, our current listing prices and September 16, 2026’s SNKRDUNK asks — so you can see exactly what each ¥ buys before choosing between them.
M6 Storm Emeralda (73+ cards, ¥6,000 MSRP) is currently listed No Shrink at ¥11,040 (~$71); its Sealed option is sold out. M6a 30th CELEBRATION (165 numbered cards plus 8 Basic Energy, ¥7,200 MSRP) is currently listed as a pre-order at ¥25,000 (~$162) sealed / ¥23,000 (~$149) no-shrink.
Prices are live listings on samuraiswordtokyo.com and release-day SNKRDUNK asks as of September 16, 2026, converted at ¥154/USD, approximate.
The Two Sets at a Glance
M6 Storm Emeralda is Mega Rayquaza’s flagship set: 73 or more cards, ¥6,000 tax-in MSRP. Our full breakdown of the set is in our Storm Emeralda complete guide and full 73-card list.
M6a 30th CELEBRATION is Pokemon’s 30th-anniversary flagship: 165 numbered cards plus 8 Basic Energy (173 in all; PokeBeach’s headline figure is 176), ¥7,200 tax-in MSRP. It released worldwide on Wednesday, September 16, 2026. See our booster box guide and full card list page.
Price Comparison: MSRP, Our Listings, Market Asks
| M6 Storm Emeralda | M6a 30th CELEBRATION | |
|---|---|---|
| MSRP | ¥6,000 | ¥7,200 |
| Our listing — Sealed | Sold out at the time of writing | ¥25,000 (~$162) |
| Our listing — No Shrink | ¥11,040 (~$71) | ¥23,000 (~$149) |
| SNKRDUNK ask, shrink (Sep 16, 2026) | ¥10,250 | ¥17,500 |
| SNKRDUNK ask, no-shrink (Sep 16, 2026) | ¥8,300 | ¥13,290 |
M6a’s box costs ¥1,200 more at MSRP and currently lists on our site for roughly 2–2.3x what M6’s no-shrink listing does. On SNKRDUNK’s release-day asks, both boxes are listed well above their printed MSRP — M6 at roughly 1.4–1.7x its ¥6,000 MSRP, M6a at roughly 1.8–2.4x its ¥7,200 MSRP (SNKRDUNK lowest asks, September 16, 2026) — but M6a’s premium over MSRP is the wider of the two. These are asking prices, not sale prices, and both move quickly during release windows; see our 30th CELEBRATION release-day market report for the fuller price history on the M6a side.
The lowest shrink-wrapped ask on SNKRDUNK moved on different tracks into release day: M6’s box went from roughly ¥12,000 (September 10) to ¥10,250 on September 16, 2026, while M6a’s box fell from ¥47,200 (September 1) to ¥28,200 (September 10) to ¥17,500 on September 16, 2026. The no-shrink listings moved too — M6’s from no dated figure before September 16 to ¥8,300, M6a’s from ¥25,800 (September 10) to ¥13,290 (September 16, 2026). All figures are release-day asking prices, dated, not sale prices.
What’s Inside Each Box
M6a’s headline gimmick is its 30-Pikachu subset (017–046, one per pack, each by a different illustrator with a fireworks-style holofoil) plus a YOSHIROTTEN Basic Energy in every pack; see our Pikachu-30 illustrator hub. Its top chase tier is the two FUR (Futuristic Rare) cards, Mewtwo ex (134) and Mew ex (135), both by YOSHIROTTEN. PokeBeach reported, from an official box opening shown before release, that one 20-pack M6a box held 20 of the 30 Pikachu, 2 Classic Collection cards, 4 AR, 1 SAR and 1 FUR — one opening, not a published rate.
M6 Storm Emeralda is built around Mega Rayquaza ex as its headline card; its full rarity structure is covered in our Storm Emeralda pull rates and best cards guide and booster box buying guide. The two sets don’t share a chase-card structure — M6a spreads its top tier across the 30-Pikachu subset, the AR/SAR/FUR block and the Classic Collection.
M6a’s rarity block runs deeper than M6’s: on top of the 103-card main set, M6a adds a 20-card AR block, a 10-card SAR block, 2 FUR chase cards and a 30-card Classic Collection reprint tier, all compiled from official images and PokeBeach’s list rather than the official database. All 32 of M6a’s secret rares have now been seen, the last five surfacing with release-day SNKRDUNK listings on September 16, 2026, though the block is still not in the official card database. For the full breakdown of how that block is organised, see our secret-rare numbering guide.
Which One Should You Buy
If your interest is Mega Rayquaza specifically, M6 is the only place to get it, and the No Shrink listing at ¥11,040 (~$71) is the one currently listed; the Sealed option is sold out at the time of writing. If your interest is the 30th-anniversary release — the 30 Pikachu, the Mewtwo/Mew FUR pair, or the Classic Collection reprints — M6a is the set, and it’s the newer release of the two, having gone on sale September 16, 2026.
Budget-wise, M6’s no-shrink listing is the cheaper entry point of the two by a wide margin. M6a currently lists higher per box than M6, both on our site and on SNKRDUNK’s September 16, 2026 asks. The two sets share no chase cards and no theme, so the choice is which set you are collecting rather than which one is the “better deal” — they’re not interchangeable products.
Anyone building out a broader 30th-anniversary collection alongside M6a may also want to compare it with the set’s own companion releases — the FUTURISTIC BOX and the Premium Deck Set Espeon & Umbreon, both Japan-only Pokemon Center products that released the same day. Our FUTURISTIC BOX guide and Premium Deck Set guide cover those separately from the standard booster box compared here.
Where to Buy
We ship both sets out of Tokyo with tracked delivery.
The M6 Storm Emeralda Booster Box (No Shrink) is currently listed at ¥11,040 (~$71). Browse the full sealed booster box collection or the Japanese Pokemon card collection. For anything not currently listed, use Quick Order to build a mixed order.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the difference between M6 Storm Emeralda and M6a 30th CELEBRATION?
M6 Storm Emeralda is a 73-plus-card set built around Mega Rayquaza ex, MSRP ¥6,000. M6a 30th CELEBRATION is Pokemon’s 30th-anniversary set with 165 numbered cards plus 8 Basic Energy, MSRP ¥7,200, released worldwide September 16, 2026.
Which box is cheaper right now?
M6 Storm Emeralda’s No Shrink listing, at ¥11,040 (~$71), is currently the cheaper of the two. M6a’s Sealed listing is ¥25,000 (~$162) and its No Shrink listing is ¥23,000 (~$149).
Is M6 Storm Emeralda still available sealed?
Our Sealed listing for M6 is sold out at the time of writing. The No Shrink version is currently listed at ¥11,040 (~$71).
Which set has the bigger price premium over MSRP right now?
Based on SNKRDUNK’s September 16, 2026 lowest asks, M6a is listed at roughly 1.8–2.4x its ¥7,200 MSRP, while M6 is listed at roughly 1.4–1.7x its ¥6,000 MSRP — M6a’s premium is currently the wider of the two. These are asking prices, not sale prices.
What’s the chase card in each set?
M6’s top chase card is Mega Rayquaza ex. M6a spreads its top tier across the 30-Pikachu subset and the FUR chase cards Mewtwo ex (134) and Mew ex (135), both by YOSHIROTTEN.
Where can I buy both sets?
Both are currently listed on our site, shipped from Tokyo with tracked delivery. M6a is a pre-order; see the product page for the current dispatch date.
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Sign in or create an account to claim · One use per account · One coupon per order · Not valid on pre-order items · Ends Sep 24, 2026, 23:59 JST · Import duties, taxes and customs charges are not included in the price and are collected on delivery, except for destinations we ship duty-paid.
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