Red-Eyes Black Dragon is the second most famous dragon card in all of Yu-Gi-Oh, coming after only Blue-Eyes White Dragon in terms of how iconic it is.
It was first printed all the way back in the first set, Legend of Blue-Eyes White Dragon, and has seen multiple different reprints over the years, yet has never quite managed to take the top spot from its older, blue-eyed, white-coloured sibling.
Though Red-Eyes Black Dragon may not be as popular overall as Blue-Eyes White Dragon, it still has its fans and still maintains a certain level of popularity; you’ll see from this list that there are numerous versions of the card that sell for quite a bit more money than you may expect!
We took a look at the current average selling prices on TCG Player in order to put this list together, so come with us as we check out the most valuable Red-Eyes Black Dragon cards!
1. Red-Eyes Black Dragon – Magnificent Mavens, Ultra Pharaoh’s Rare ($170)
Magnificent Mavens was the very first set in the TCG to get Pharaoh’s Rare versions of popular cards. These cards from the set have tended to increase significantly in value, despite the fact that the set is only a few years old, having released in 2022.
Currently, this version of Red-Eyes Black Dragon is selling for an average of $170, putting it firmly at the top of the list for the most valuable versions of this particular monster!
There’s not much else to cover when it comes to the Red-Eyes Black Dragon in general; like the older, more iconic Blue-Eyes White Dragon, it’s a very simple and straightforward, Dragon/Normal type monster, with no abilities (the flavour text simply states ‘A ferocious dragon with a deadly attack’). It has a solid, if unspectacular, 2400 Attack and 2000 Defense.
So, with that all covered, what other Red-Eyes Black Dragon cards have made it onto this list?
2. Red-Eyes B. Dragon – Retro Pack 1, Ultra Rare ($130)
It’s worth noting that originally, Red-Eyes Black Dragon was referred to as Red-Eyes B. Dragon on its cards. Regardless of whether the card states ‘Black’ or ‘B’, it’s exactly the same monster, with identical stats, however, so even though there’s a slight difference in naming, we’re including Red-Eyes B. Dragon cards on this list!
Back when Yu-Gi-Oh was just entering into the Synchro era with Duelist Genesis, Konami decided to print a collection of hard-to-find cards from earlier sets in a set that they dubbed a ‘Retro Pack’. This pack was entirely made up of cards from the original Yu-Gi-Oh anime, with no focus given to the Yu-Gi-Oh GX era of Yu-Gi-Oh, and included cards such as Relinquished, Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, Dark Magician, and Red-Eyes Black Dragon.
As this was only the second time that Red-Eyes had been printed in a European set (third if you count a Swedish Shonen Jump promo from 2005), it’s worth a decent amount of money and was considered one of the chase cards of this specific set. If you want this printing of Red-Eyes Black Dragon, which features the original artwork for the card in an Ultra Rare printing, then you’re looking at a current average asking price of around $130.
3. Red-Eyes B. Dragon – 2002 Collector’s Tin, Secret Rare ($77)
This version of Red-Eyes Black Dragon is from the very first Collector’s Tin, which was released in 2002. Each tin featured one of six promo cards as a ‘Secret Rare’ variant, one of which was Red-Eyes Black Dragon.
Though, as you’d expect, the cards that proved most sought after were the unquestionably iconic Dark Magician and Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Red-Eyes Black Dragon does still have its fans, and that means that this card is currently selling for an average of $77.
It’s interesting to note that these first collector tins were released at the absolute pinnacle of Yu-Gi-Oh’s popularity, when it was a phenomenon that rivalled Pokemon as its own peak. At the time, these Collector Tins quickly sold out, and even the lowliest Secret Rare card in the set, Lord of D., sells for an average of around $18 these days.
4. Red-Eyes Black Dragon – Ghosts From The Past: The 2nd Haunting, Ghost Rare ($60)
Each Ghosts From The Past: 2nd Haunting box contained 4 booster packs, each of which contained just 5 cards. However, the set consisted only of Ultra Rare and Ghost Rare cards, making them quite an attractive proposition!
Though the Ultra Rare cards from the set haven’t particularly held any value, the Ghost Rare cards have become highly sought after, with this Red-Eyes Black Dragon being no exception. Ghost Rare cards have a striking, almost monochromatic look, with the illustration of the monster itself being ‘split’ to give it an almost three dimensional appearance.
This Ghost Rare variant of Red-Eyes Black Dragon currently has an average selling price of $60; considering the Ghosts From The Past: 2nd Haunting set was only released in 2022, we can see this card rising in value over the next few years!
5. Red-Eyes Black Dragon – Magnificent Mavens, Secret Pharaoh’s Rare ($53)
In at number five is another variant of Red-Eyes Black Dragon from the Magnificent Mavens set; this time, it’s the Secret Pharaoh’s Rare, rather than the Ultra Pharaoh’s Rare. Though lesser in value, with a current average selling price of $53, that’s still not bad for a card that only released in 2022.
Given its age and how quickly this card has risen in value over the last few years, we’re likely to see this card becoming even more sought after (and therefore valuable!) as time goes on.
6. Red-Eyes B. Dragon – Anniversary Pack, Ultra Rare ($43)
The Anniversary Pack was released to celebrate the first decade of the Yu-Gi-Oh card game, though it coincided with the Japanese, rather than Western, 10th anniversary. All of the cards it featured were variants of existing cards, aside from one entirely new monster: Shiba-Warrior Taro.
The cards in the set are unique in that there’s no border surrounding the artwork, and the illustrations for each monster are also new, giving this Red-Eyes Black Dragon a striking and unusual look. Currently, this Red-Eyes Black Dragon sells for an average of $43, and it’s not hard to see why it’d become one of the most desirable versions of this card!
7. Red-Eyes B. Dragon – The Legend of Blue Eyes White Dragon, Ultra Rare ($30)
Hailing from The Legend of Blue-Eyes White Dragon, the set that kicked off the Yu-Gi-Oh Trading Card Game phenomenon, this Red-Eyes Black Dragon is the classic, original version of the card. As such, there’s nothing fancy about it; no special Ghost Rare treatment or unique illustration.
Of course, just the prestige of it being the OG is enough to keep this particular card in the top 10 of the most valuable Red-Eyes Black Dragon cards, with a current value of $30 on average. It’s not the last card from The Legend of Blue-Eyes White Dragon set you’ll see on this list either, as we head towards the final few of the most valuable Red-Eyes Black Dragon cards on our list!
8. Red-Eyes B. Dragon – Power of Chaos: Joey the Passion, Promo ($28)
Given that Konami tend to be more widely known as a video game developer and publisher, it’s unsurprising that they made use of their skills and reputation in this area to bring Yu-Gi-Oh into the digital world many times over, and with a speed that eclipsed the likes of Magic: The Gathering and Pokemon’s proper adaptations in video game form.
Joey the Passion was a version of the Power of Chaos PC game, which had three different editions: Yugi the Destiny and Kaiba the Revenge being the other two. Each came with their own physical, promotional cards; Joey’s edition was packaged with Red-Eyes B. Dragon, Sebek’s Blessing and Sword of Dragon’s Soul.
It’s the Red-Eyes B. Dragon from the Joey the Passion edition of Power of Chaos that we have here, and it currently sells for an average of $28. Though you’d expect these to be widely available, the chances of fans actually keeping them in decent condition, or keeping them at all, may be lower than you’d think, which definitely helps to keep the value of this card relatively steady!
9. Red-Eyes B. Dragon – The Legend of Blue-Eyes White Dragon (Worldwide English), Ultra Rare ($25)
There’s a bewildering number of different versions of The Legends of Blue-Eyes White Dragon sets, which Konami rolled out to different territories as and when they could meet demand, at a time when said demand was absolutely through the roof, and supply was fairly scarce. Whether they’re in different languages or simply reprinted in English as they were able to reach different markets, it can be a bit of a challenge to identify each one.
However, you’ll see from this ‘Worldwide English’ release, which followed the North American and European (ie UK, mostly) releases of The Legend of Blue-Eyes White Dragon, that it’s missing the ‘1st Edition’ text from the bottom left of the image. If you take a look at the number 7 entry on this very list, you’ll instead see that one does have the ‘1st Edition’ text!
That aside, this is the same, basic, original version of Red-Eyes Black Dragon, right down to it saying ‘B’ instead of ‘Black’. Perhaps because the only difference is the 1st Edition text, it’s not too different in value, with this Worldwide English printing currently having an average selling price of $25.
10. Red-Eyes Black Dragon – Legend of Blue Eyes White Dragon: 25th Anniversary Edition, Ultra Rare ($21)
Yes, it’s the third Red-Eyes Black Dragon from The Legend of Blue-Eyes White Dragon set to make it onto this list, but there’s a few things to distinguish this card from the others we’ve featured so far.
First up, you’ll notice that, despite the artwork and stats being the same, it now features the more modern Red-Eyes Black Dragon name at the top of the card, rather than Red-Eyes B. Dragon. This card also features the Dragon/Normal types, rather than just Dragon.
Finally, another distinguishing point is the copyright date and information, which states 2020 instead of 1996. So it’s quite clear that this one, despite having the classic card number of LOB-EN070 (which all of the Red-Eyes Black Dragon cards from The Legend of Blue-Eyes White Dragon sets have), is quite an easy card to tell apart from the others!
With a current selling price of $21 on average, it’s also one of the cheapest variants of the card to get hold of, at least from this specific set. So if you are looking for this particularly iconic version of Red-Eyes Black Dragon but don’t want to break the bank, this might be the one you’re looking for.
It’s definitely worth noting that, with all of these cards, if you happen to find a very highly graded copy, you’re likely to see the price significantly jump; sometimes into the hundreds or thousands of dollars. However, there are Yu-Gi-Oh cards which sell for thousands of dollars as an average selling price, rather than just as the highly graded exception. You can see examples of those on our list of the overall most expensive Yu-Gi-Oh cards!
