Prior to its 25th anniversary in 2024, Yu-Gi-Oh! started the celebration early in 2023 with the Legendary Collection: 25th Anniversary Edition. This collection comes with six packs, all hailing from the early years of the game in order to get the nostalgia train rolling.
But nostalgia isn't the only thing to be bundled in this pack: alongside the older groupings of cards, there will also be one card of a new rarity called Quarter Century Secret Rare, emblazoned with a special watermark and characteristic foiling. More cards of this rarity will come out as the anniversary inches closer, promising to be extremely valuable markers of the time that'll allow you to savor the occasion for years to come.
The following card images are not of the exact Quarter Century Secret Rare foiling.
6 Obelisk The Tormentor - $9.83
Though it's by far the cheapest of the current Quarter Century Secret Rare cards, any Yu-Gi-Oh! fan worth their salt will know the importance of Obelisk the Tormentor not only in the game's history but also in its accompanying media.
This Egyptian God card is one used by Seto Kaiba during the anime's extremely popular Battle City arc, playing a legendary role in the exchange between himself and Yugi. This isn't the first time Obelisk the Tormentor has received recognition for its storied history, but it more than deserves its spot among the most popular cards to come out of the 25-year-old game.
5 Red-Eyes Black Dragon - $10.62
While another dragon with brighter eyes and a paler complexion often overshadows this card, it's hard to forget the role that Red-Eyes Black Dragon has played in Yu-Gi-Oh!'s history. Even near the start of the anime, it was a staple of Joey Wheeler's deck that he used to pull himself out of sticky situations.
The main draw of Red-Eyes Black Dragon is its high attack value, and though over the last 25 years many cards have been released to make this value look less and less impressive, it can still pull its own weight even today. Additionally, the card has a role in the Red-Eyes archetype, being a requirement for summoning the potentially devastating Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon.
4 The Winged Dragon Of Ra - $12.62
The Winged Dragon of Ra is another card in the Egyptian God archetype, famous for its role in the anime's Battle City arc: the threat that it posed to every foe that Yami Marik faced over the course of the tournament made it both mysterious and exciting in the lead up to his duel with Yami Yugi.
This card is particularly sought after due to its immense potential, as if you offer up enough of your life points, the Winged Dragon of Ra can wield an attack value unbeatable by almost every other monster in the game. Since its summoning cost isn't overly resource intensive, it slots into a variety of decks easily – if you decide to build a deck specifically for it, though, you can focus on building up spare life to crush any enemy that crosses your path.
3 Dark Magician - $14.55
Dark Magician is a card that started the archetype of the same name, which has spawned a number of the most popular cards in Yu-Gi-Oh!'s history (like the famous Dark Magician Girl). Given its status in the eyes of Yu-Gi-Oh! fans everywhere, it's no surprise that it's on the higher end of pricing among the Quarter Century Secret Rare cards.
The Dark Magician can form the core of an entire strategy thanks to its importance to the archetype, as many cards have effects that rely on it being in your deck. Since it has solid attack and defense, Dark Magician is a good card that doesn't need very much to be valuable. Beyond its role in forming one of the foundational archetypes in the entirety of Yu-Gi-Oh!, Dark Magician was also one of Yugi Muto's most frequently used cards.
2 Slifer The Sky Dragon - $16.88
Slifer the Sky Dragon is the third of the three Egyptian God cards, being the first that Yugi obtains during the Battle City arc. In Yugi's fateful battle with Seto Kaiba's Obelisk the Tormentor, Slifer played a major role that ended with both Egyptian Gods being knocked-out at the same time.
The likely culprit for Slifer the Sky Dragon's price, though, is likely its effect rather than pure nostalgia. This card's abilities are the most consistent out of the three Egyptian Gods, gaining 1,000 attack and defense for each card in your hand on top of cutting 2,000 from the attack of monsters summoned by your opponent. What's more brutal is that if a monster goes to zero attack from this effect, it's destroyed.
1 Blue-Eyes White Dragon - $28.34
What more can be said about Blue-Eyes White Dragon? It's one of the best known cards in Yu-Gi-Oh!, only challenged by the ever-present Kuriboh and Pot of Greed (which will receive a Quarter Century Secret Rare with the launch of the Pot Collection).
Being Seto Kaiba's ace in the hole, it's near-impossible for a fan of the anime series to have missed seeing this card at least once – not only does his deck focus on getting it out as soon as possible, but he's also built statues of it in front of all his buildings. Since it's one of the most important cards to exist in Yu-Gi-Oh!, there are plenty of ways to build decks around it to take full advantage of its beefy stats.