30th Celebration ex Boxes: What Greninja ex and Sylveon ex Contain, and Who Should Buy Each
By Dexhaul Team · August 27, 2026
The 30th Celebration set drops September 16, and its ex Boxes come in two waves: one with no character focus and two character-specific boxes built around Greninja and Sylveon.
Wave 1 at $65 is the cheapest path into the set if you want packs without a character preference. Wave 2 boxes run $5–$10 more and each include a character-specific promo card alongside the same set packs.
What an ex Box actually is
An ex Box is one of the standard mid-range launch formats for a Pokémon TCG set. The 30th Celebration version follows the same structure as recent ex Boxes: a set of booster packs from the featured release, one oversize promo card, and a collector coin.
For the 30th Celebration, that means packs pulling from the same pool as the ETB and UPC. The only structural difference between Wave 1 and Wave 2 is the promo card enclosed.
These are pre-orders. All three wave formats ship on or after September 16.
Wave 1 vs Wave 2: the practical difference
Wave 1 carries no character branding and no named promo.
It is the default entry format: you get packs from the set at a lower price than the character boxes, with a generic coin. Dark Vassal Gaming has it listed at $65.00, which is the tightest price in the catalog for a confirmed Wave 1 listing.
Wave 2 splits into two boxes. Both cost more than Wave 1 by a small margin, and that margin buys you one thing: the promo card for the character on the box.
The Greninja ex Box
Greninja is one of the most-played Water types in TCG history.
First printed in the English XY base set in 2014, Greninja has appeared in dozens of sets across every era since. The 30th Celebration version includes a Greninja ex promo card produced for this launch, making it the character box for Water-type collectors and competitive players who favor the Kalos starter.
Across the UCP catalog, Greninja ex Box pricing runs from $49.99 (Many Realms) to $97.00 (Banana Games), with most sellers clustered between $63 and $70. Shopville at $69.95 and Cardboard Hero at $63.00 are the two cleanest options at the time of writing.
The spread between cheapest and most expensive Greninja ex Box listings is nearly $50. Checking a few sellers takes two minutes and can save the equivalent of a booster pack.
The Sylveon ex Box
Sylveon carries the heaviest collector demand of the Fairy-type Eeveelutions.
Introduced alongside Greninja in Generation 6, Sylveon was the eighth and final original Eeveelution. It has built a strong collector following across the Sword and Shield and Scarlet and Violet eras, where Eeveelution sets and promos routinely sell out fastest in their release windows.
The 30th Celebration Sylveon ex Box includes a Sylveon ex promo exclusive to this launch. Galactic Toys and Collectibles has the September pre-order at $74.95, and Baker Breaks lists at $74.99, putting both sellers at essentially the same price.
Sylveon runs about $5 more than Greninja across most sellers. That gap reflects higher base demand, not a meaningful content difference between the two boxes.
Buying both: does the bundle actually save money?
MHDEALSPLUS bundles both Wave 2 boxes for $139.95.
Buying Cardboard Hero's Greninja ($63.00) and Galactic's Sylveon ($74.95) separately comes to $137.95. The bundle saves less than $2 against the cheapest combination of individual listings, and it locks you into a single seller for both.
(Pre-Order) Pokemon 30th Celebration ex Box Set of 2 (Greninja ex/Sylveon ex)
$139.95 USD
The case for the bundle is convenience: one checkout, one shipment, one expected arrival date. The case against it is flexibility: buying separately lets you choose the cheapest seller for each box independently and adjust if one ships later than expected.
Which one?
Three clean scenarios cover most buyers.
You want packs without a character preference
Take the Wave 1 box at $65. You get the same packs as Wave 2 at the lowest price in the format, with no markup for a promo you may not keep.
You collect or play Greninja
The Greninja ex Box is the obvious call. Greninja's history in the game runs back to the XY era, and the 30th Celebration promo adds a set-specific card not found in generic Wave 1 boxes. Shopville at $69.95 is the current best price among established sellers.
You are building an Eeveelution collection
Sylveon ex is the pick. The Fairy-type promo connects to one of the most actively collected Pokémon lines in the game. At $74.95, you are paying a $10 premium over Wave 1 for a promo that collectors in this niche consistently value.
All three box formats ship September 16. DexHaul is an independent site and is not affiliated with The Pokémon Company or any of the sellers listed here. Browse the full range of 30th Celebration ex Box pre-orders from independent shops at DexHaul, where results update as new listings come in from sellers across every region.