One of the most popular Yu-Gi-Oh! products in a long time are the Legendary Collection 25th Anniversary Edition. It's clear that people love opening these old packs for the nostalgia and to hopefully pull some iconic cards. You also get seven promos, which, right off the bat, nets you plenty of value.
There are so many great cards spread across each of these six seats, which also means tons of expensive ones. Remember that you don't get a foil in every pack like you get today. This means getting holos can be more difficult than what you'd normally be used to.
All values are based on TCGPlayer's market prices at the time of writing.
Updated on July 13, 2023, by Dominic Allen: Legendary Collection 25th Anniversary was already a massive success in terms of sales, but what's even cooler is that five of the sets included are getting their own booster box. Legend of Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Metal Raiders, Spell Ruler, Pharaoh's Servant, and Invasion of Chaos are getting a reprint booster box for the first time in about 20 years. This will take many people back to the past, and it's a great reason to revise this with current prices.
12 Time Wizard (UR) - $17.52
This first card comes from Metal Raiders, the second set of Yu-Gi-Oh!. Time Wizard is one of Joey's most iconic cards in the anime, fitting his often luck-based tactics. With a coin flip call, you can destroy all your opponent's monsters if you guess it right. Guess wrong, and it's likely game ending. Joey seemingly wins this every time in the anime, but that isn't consistent in real life.
Regardless, this card's worth a decent amount due to how important of a monster it is in the anime. One common trait throughout the rarest cards is that most of them are Ultra rares, not the highest rarity Secrets. This is because pulling one specific Ultra you're looking for is much harder to do. Plus, with these new booster boxes, you get a Secret in every one.
11 Summoned Skull (UR) - $20.99
A great card back in the day was Summoned Skull, first printed in Metal Raiders. This fiend boasts 2500 ATK, which is massive for a level six monster. This means you only need one tribute to summon it. Back then, that mattered a lot.
It makes you wonder why Yugi always went for Dark Magician instead in the anime's Battle City arc, when it needs two tributes. With Summoned Skull being an excellent early-era card and it being one of Yugi's most iconic monsters, this makes it the second most valuable card in Metal Raiders.
10 Jinzo (ScR) - $21.38
Pharaoh's Servant brought three big, game-changing cards into Yu-Gi-Oh! While Imperial Order is probably the most impactful, Jinzo is the most iconic. The ability to negate trap cards was a lifesaver back in the day, often winning games. At 2400 ATK, Jinzo held its own in battle, and with 1500 DEF, it was searchable with Witch of the Black Forest.
This made it more consistent with bringing out Jinzo onto the field. The card looks great, impacted the game's meta, plus was one of Joey's ace monsters in the anime during the Battle City arc. All of this makes Jinzo a highly valuable card.
9 Black Skull Dragon (UR) - $23.04
Black Skull Dragon is the most valuable card in Metal Raiders. It was actually called B. Skull Dragon in its original printing. Konami must have gained enough funds to print those four extra letters since then. One of the more iconic and sweet-looking fusion monsters in the early era of the game, Black Skull Dragon is a fusion between Red-Eyes Black Dragon and Summoned Skull.
It was famously used in the anime by Joey and Yugi to defeat the Paradox Brothers, the duelists who played Gate Guardian, which also appears in Metal Raiders. The Ultra rare foiling looks great here, and combined with its iconic factor, it makes this card rather valuable.
8 Delinquent Duo (UR) - $23.38
Another card people are buying to use in decks is Delinquent Duo from Spell Ruler. One of the most powerful spells ever printed, for the cost of 1000 LP, your opponent randomly discards one card from their hand, and then must discard another of their choice.
It's a hard plus one, and there's no way the card can come back today. However, it is limited to one copy in Goat format. This, along with the small number of reprints, make this the second most valuable card in Spell Ruler.
7 Dimension Fusion (UR) - $23.52
Invasion of Chaos brought a truckload of extremely powerful monsters that ended up creating the banlist. Based on this, it might be surprising to hear that the most expensive card is actually a spell. Dimension Fusion is an extremely powerful spell that, for 2000 LP, allows both players to special summon every removed-from-play monster. The card's banned today for good reason, but it's unlimited to three copies per deck in Goat format.
Dimension Fusion is also scarce in reprints, with it only being available in IOC and Dark Revelation Volume 2. Both of these sets are from the mid-2000s. This is a card people are buying to actually play with it, which makes Dimension Fusion more unique than most of the other valuable cards here.
6 Dark Magician (UR) - $23.72
By far, the most valuable set in Legendary Collection 25th Anniversary Edition is Legend of Blue Eyes White Dragon. The most iconic cards in all of Yu-Gi-Oh! appear here, as it was the first set in the game. Dark Magician is the least expensive but still rather pricey.
Yugi's ace monster from the anime, it's the ultimate wizard in terms of attack and defense, even though Cosmo Queen exists. The LOB printing doesn't use the classic anime artwork but still contains one of the more fan-favorite designs. Dark Magician has its own deck around it that still sees support to this day, and along with his high iconic quality, it's easy to see why the card is so valuable.
5 Exodia Necross (UR) - $24.45
One of the rarest cards in this Legendary Collection is from Dark Crisis, a set that didn't receive a reprint booster box. This fact is important as Exodia Necross has been skyrocketing in price, likely due to the 25th Anniversary packs being exclusive to the Collection. Exodia Necross is by far the most valuable card in Dark Crisis, and once again, an Ultra rare, as it's tough to pull the one of ten total you're looking for.
It's a glorious Ultra rare, plus Exodia with a black motif just looks awesome. The card's not great in terms of effect and not that iconic in the anime, but it is the Dark Crisis foil to get. With not as many Dark Crisis 25th Anniversary packs printed compared to others, this card will likely continue to go up in value.
4 Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon (ScR) - $25.87
The most expensive Secret rare out of Legendary Collection 25th Anniversary is Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon from Spell Ruler. First, the card looks gorgeous with the refinements to the Secret rares in this collection. Looking similar to Speed Duel Secrets, this card pops out so well.
It's also likely the most iconic Toon monster. The moment when Pegasus summons Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon against Kaiba in a mocking form was a notable moment in the anime. Blue-Eyes cards tend to always sway to the more expensive side of things in various sets, and it's no different here.
3 Exodia The Forbidden One (UR) - $28.59
Exodia is a monster not only iconic in Yu-Gi-Oh! but iconic in all of card games. The first alternative win condition; if you have all five pieces of Exodia, you instantly win the game, and the opponent can't do anything about it. Five of ten Ultras in Legend of Blue Eyes are Exodia pieces, making the complete set tough to obtain.
The head piece, though, is by far the most expensive as it is the literal face of the monster. Exodia was key to one of the best moments in the anime, and especially the manga when Yugi pulled the final piece against Kaiba. It's probably the most iconic moment in Yu-Gi-Oh!, making the head slide into the top three most valuable cards.
2 Red-Eyes Black Dragon (UR) - $30.40
The second most iconic dragon in the game, Red-Eyes Black Dragon is one of the most badass-looking cards, no matter the artwork. Joey's ace monster in the anime, the card's iconic quality is very high. The LOB version of Red-Eyes contains the anime artwork, which isn't the case for the other two main character's ace monsters.
This makes it more expensive than Dark Magician but still doesn't dethrone its white dragon counterpart. Red-Eyes also has its own deck built around it, with cards like Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon being legitimately great to use.
1 Blue-Eyes White Dragon (UR) - $49.78
Since the name of the first set of Yu-Gi-Oh! is Legend of Blue Eyes White Dragon, the card itself has to be in there. While not the anime artwork, Blue-Eyes is in the name, and it's also historically difficult to pull. To date, there is only two recorded first-edition LOB Blue-Eyes White Dragon pulls ever.
Its pull rate from reprint packs is also smaller in size. If you pull a Blue-Eyes from a LOB pack, that's frankly quite a feat. The card is the most iconic in the game's history, and with it being so tough to get, Blue-Eyes White Dragon earns its nearly $50 price tag.