So, you decided you want to start or get back into collecting “Pokémon” cards, eh? You picked the absolute worst time. With scams and scalpers doing their absolute best to ruin the hobby for everyone, the Wall Street Journal telling everyone how much “Pokémon” card values have outpaced the S&P 500 over the last 20 years, and the general increase in prices for about, well, *gestures to everything*.

But fear not! Video Game Town has got your back. We have a three-part series here that will give you all the basic information you need to start your collection. We’ll be covering the main groups of rarities, how to protect your collection, and finally where to find cards and not get ripped off.

Let’s start with card rarities. Back in 1999, when the first set of “Pokémon” cards were released, there were essentially four levels of rarity:

• Common indicated with a black circle in the bottom right corner of the card
• Uncommon indicated with a black diamond in the bottom right corner of the card
• Rare indicated with a black star in the bottom right corner of the card
• Holo rare, which was the same card as a regular rare, but the picture of the Pokémon had a holographic effect in the background of the picture

Nowadays, cards have a lot more rarities to be on the lookout for. Sure, the common, uncommon, and rare are still present, but they don’t really matter anymore. In most modern sets, all rare cards are, at minimum, holo rare, and there are even more special rarities.

As a bonus fun fact: Every modern booster pack of “Pokémon” cards will come with at least one energy card, seven regular cards (or “bulk”), two reverse holo cards, and one holo rare.

To keep this simple, we’re going to divide up the rarities into the seven different categories that started in the “Scarlet and Violet” series. We will consider sets from this series and the new “Mega” series as “modern.”

Below, you will find the types of cards in order from least rare to most rare:

1. Bulk

The first is “Bulk”. Bulk refers to your standard card — nothing fancy. Just a normal card that pads out your collection of a set. Take this Hoothoot card for instance. All of the Hoothoot is in the frame of the picture.

Surrounding the picture, you have the details about the card on a basic color background. At the bottom left you can see the word “PRE” in a black box. This is referring to which set this card is from, in this case the 151 set.

Next to that, you can see the numbers “077/131,” meaning this is the seventy-seventh card in the set out of a total of 131. You will end up with a lot of these cards, and we recommend keeping at least one in a binder to build a master set.

What’s that? A master set is a completed set of cards. You’re gonna want that if you’re taking the collecting part seriously.

2. Holo Rares

Holo rares are the most common form of rares in modern “Pokémon” card sets. They are distinguished by the holographic effect in the background of the picture of the Pokémon. These card holos are more subtle than the original set, but the border of the card carries the holographic around the card while leaving the information about the card still on a basic color background. Notice how the Pokémon continues to stay within the frame of the picture. These cards are not that special in terms of rarity but essential for completing your master set.

3. Reverse Holos

Now is where we start getting into the fun stuff. Any card that isn’t an EX can become a reverse holo, and no card is ever guaranteed to be a reverse holo. Meaning reverse holos are the first type of rarity that has any real sort of value.

For reverse holos, the area of the card that has the information about the card is holographic, but the picture is not. Any common (black circle), uncommon (black diamond), or rare (single black star) card can come in a reverse holo.

Now, reverse holos have two even rarer subtypes: Pokémon reverse and masterball reverse. In these cases, any card that is your standard common, uncommon, or rare can be a reverse holo.

Certain sets contain the pokéball and masterball reverse holos. For example, the recent English language sets that have them are Prismatic Evolutions, Black Bolt, and White Flare. Notice the clear patterning on the card, and how it differs from a standard reverse holo.

It’s important to know that the pokéball and masterball pattern differs from set to set, but it’s always obvious what you’re looking at.

4. EX Cards

We have now entered into the upper echelon of rarities. EXs are the most common of these, and are the rarest basic cards in a set. In the most recent series, these are the core cards for competitive decks for those who actually play the trading card game.

These are most-easily distinguished by the “EX” next to the Pokémon’s name at the top of the card above the picture’s frame. You will also notice the picture of the Pokémon itself.

The picture is often a close up of the Pokémon in a dynamic pose bursting out of the frame of the picture. While the picture is dynamic, it is still largely within a frame in the top half of the card.

Notice at the bottom there are two black stars? This is another way for you to identify if a card is an EX of a modern set.

5. Full Art Cards (Ultra Rares)

Here come the secret rare cards. All secret rare card numbers will be larger than the set total in the modern sets. Full art cards, also called ultra rares, are EX cards that are the most easily identified by the picture of the Pokémon taking up the entire card.

The pose of the Pokémon in full art cards tends to be more static, and these cards are rarer than a standard EX.

Another way to check whether the card is an example of full art is that you’ll see two silver stars in the bottom corner. You can compare this card below with the EX example above and notice how the picture of Garchomp takes up the entire card instead of just the framed top half.

6. Illustration Rares and Secret Illustration Rares

Here are the heavy hitters! The big boys. The cards that will actually allow the millennial generation to retire. These are the illustration rares (IRs) and the special illustration rares (SIR). These cards are some of the rarest cards in a set, and are often the most expensive.

Both IRs and SIRs are easily identified by their art. The art in IRs and SIRs often depicts the Pokémon in a full scene. While EXs show the Pokémon erupting out of their picture frames and full arts are a clear picture of the Pokémon across then entire card, IRs and SIRs will show the Pokémon doing something.

They can be battling, eating, sleeping, or just frolicking with some friends. Nothing is off the table when it comes to IR and SIR art.

The major difference between IRs and SIRs is that SIRs are almost always EX cards whereas IRs can be of any other cards. The only time this is not the case is with Trainer cards. In some sets, there are IR and SIRs of the same Trainer card.

The best way to differentiate these cards is by looking at the stars at the bottom left corner. IRs will have a single gold star, but SIRs will have two gold stars.

7. Hyper Rares

The final and rarest kinds of Pokémon cards in a set are the hyper rares. These cards have some of the greatest variation from set to set, but are typically gold in color.

Almost the entire background will be gold, and the Pokémon will have the same art that is in their full art version. If it is a hyper rare trainer card, whatever the subject of the trainer card is will be presented in the full art format. In the two most recent sets, Black Bolt/White Flare and Megas, this trend ended with the hyper rare cards having their own unique pose but still in a full art style.

If you were to check the stars at the bottom of the card, you will see three gold stars for every set except Black Bolt/White Flare — they have two stars one black and one white — and the new Megas set which just have one big diamond.

Below, you will see a traditional sample of a hyper rare, a Black Bolt sample, and a Mega sample.

This concludes our simple overview of the various rarities in modern Pokémon cards.

Join us next time where we discuss the best way to store, protect, and grade your collection.

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Image credit: Giorgio Trovato