So you have several cards in your possession, and you would like to know if they are rare or not? In this page i will explain everything there is to know about the pokemon card rarity and symbols.
Let’s start with the basics:
Where To Look For Pokemon Rarity?
The rarity of a pokemon card is marked at the bottom of each card.
For older pokemon sets they are at the bottom right corner, and for modern cards they are on the left side of the card (right next to the set number)
Pokemon Card Symbols
There are several icons that indicate what rarity is the card:
Common Card – Marked with a small black circle – The lowest rarity card you can have.
Uncommon Card – Marked with black diamond – The second lowest rarity card you can get.
Rare Card – Marked with black Star – Rare cards that are not holographic or shiny.
Reverse Holo – A reverse holo card can be any common,uncommon or rare pokemon card, the frame of the card is holographic and some sets have special designs on them.
Holo Rare – Marked like any other rare card with a black star, the photo section of the card is covered with a holographic pattern.
Ultra Rare Card – Pokemon cards with a higher rarity, they are also marked with a black star and they usually named in several ways (changing over time with new versions): GX,EX,V,VMAX
Full Art Card – A Pokemon or trainer that the art is covering the full width of the card, the surface of the card is textured and they are marked with a black star icon that sparkles a bit.
Rainbow Card – Same as full art cards, just the surface of the art is rainbow like style with texture, these cards usually go over the original set number.
Golden Card – A full art card with texture that the whole borders and art is golden.
Secret Rare Cards – Cards that go over the original number of the set, the secret cards are very hard to pull compared to other pokemon cards, (secret rare cards also include rainbow and golden cards).
Alternative Art Cards – ALT pokemon cards showcase a certain pokemon card with the same text and abilities but with an amazing full art style card, texturized and hard to get, the cards are marked with the letter A at the bottom.
Promo Cards – Marked with a black star with promo text on it- cards that are marked as promo cards have their own set numbers, you can get them in several special products such as tins, pre-release boxes, premium editions and Elite trainer boxes.
Amazing Rare Cards – These cards are marked with a colorful rainbow A icon, they are textured with a rainbow swirl and are pretty rare to get.
So now that you know the card symbol rarities, you may ask how to know a pokemon card value?
Pokemon Cards Value
A pokemon card can be with the same rarity icon but have a different value, some pokemon cards are more desired and popular so their value may be higher than other cards.
For example a normal modern holographic rare card can be worth around 1-2$, but the same holographic modern charizard card can be worth 10-15$ or much more.
To pokemon cards prices change all the time, depending on the demand and supply in the market, a vintage older pokemon card like first editions may be harder to find these days so it’s value can be significantly higher than a newer one.
Which Pokemon Cards Should You Protect For The Future?
When collecting pokemon cards you will get some rare cards from packs, i would recommend you to protect and sleeve any card with holographic pattern and above (holo rare and above).
You can get popular and cheap sleeves by ultrapro called penny sleeves, use them to protect the card surface from scratches (link below).
You can take the pokemon card protection a step further with a pokemon binder that lets you store the cards in a protective binder that’s also easy to browse (link below).
And finally when you want to protect the cards you love with a harder case protection, you can use ultra pro top loaders to display the cards and protect them for long in mint condition (link below).
Hope you enjoyed this informative article about pokemon cards rarities and symbols, and that you have learned a thing or two about the pokemon cards collecting.