TOP 5 Rarest Shiny Pokemon Cards

Which are the most expensive shiny pokemon cards in 2022?

What is a shiny Pokemon?

Contents

Shiny Pokémon are a type of Pokemon found in the Pokémon TCG where a Pokemon appear in an alternate color variation.

Which were the first shiny Pokemon cards released?

The first most expensive and rarest shiny Pokemon cards appeared in Neo Revelation. These cards were idetified by the name ‘Shining’ in the Pokemon name. Thier introduction was a revolution in the TCG community, for both their rarity and use of multiple Energy-type attacks. They were also bound by a special rule that allowed only 1 Shining Pokemon in a deck.

The probability to find a shiny Pokemon card.

Perhaps chosen because of their appearances in the Pokemon anime and Pokémon Gold and Silver, Magikarp and Gyarados were the first Shining Pokemon featured in the TCG, included in Neo Revelation as secret cards. When released in Japan, their prices skyrocketed overseas, with collectors paying $320+ for them each. The probability of finding a shiny Pokemon card was about the 0.3%, corresponding to about 1 booster pack in over 300 attempts. Their prices came down with the English set release, but the cards remained difficult to obtain.

Which are the rarest shiny Pokemon cards?

The rarest shiny Pokemon cards in 2022 are:

Gold Star Espeon and Gold Star Umbreon: These cards are so rare because originally the Espeon card was only given out to members of the Pokemon Players Club. The value of Umbreon and Espeon gold star stands between $5000-$6000, depending also on condition and grade.
Charizard Gold Star 100/101 Holo Ultra Rare EX Dragon Frontiers: this Gold star Charizard was the first black Charizard. It’s value goes from $200 to over $9000.
Rayquaza Gold Star Holo Pokemon Card Deoxys 107/107: Rayquaza become a very popular Pokemon after the release of Pokemon Emerald for Game-Boy. Rayquaza Gold Star edition (in proper condition) can be worth over $17000.
Hidden Fates Shining Charizard GX: it’s one of the most recent release of Charizard in its black skin after the Gold edition so much appreciated by collectors. It is worth between $200 and $8000.
Shining Charizard: this card is the first ever Charizard to appear as shiny Pokemon card. Having this card in great condition and graded, maybe in first edition (see here to understand How to evaluate your Pokemon cards) is equivalent of a $7000 treasure!

rarest pokemon cards espeon umbreon gold star

The most desired Pokemon cards by collectors because of their rarity

The price of the rarest shiny Pokemon cards.

The price we reported above for the shiny Pokemon cards depends on multiple factors. In general, if one of the shiny cards reported is not graded, its value can be estimated in about $200, with the exception for Umbreon and Espeon Gold Star whose value (in standard condition, not graded card), is over $1000. By grading your Pokemon cards, the value can rise up over 20X-30X times the original worth of the non-graded card. The higher the worth of a Pokemon card the better the condition of the card (the max is grade is 10 GEM). Some of the most famous company which perform card grading are BGS, PSA and SCG.

The most known shining Pokemon cards: the Neo Destiny set

Shining Pokémon appeared again in Neo Destiny set and once again showing an unsual color for these ‘shiny’ Pokémon. In addition, the character art was given a reflective foil treatment, making the Pokémon literally “shine” (the only exception to this is Shining Mew, which was released as a promotional card in Japan, this card is also referred as Mew Coro Coro beacuse of the magazine in which it was released with). In this expansion set we find one of the most desided shiny Pokemon card: Shining Charizard. These cards were featured by the presence of 3 stars reminiscent of the , a unique characteristic which would never re-appear in future TCG Pokemon sets.

A shining charizard graded by PSA and in first edition.

The concept of Shining card is further extended in ‘Shiny’ Pokemon card

The concept of Shining Pokemon was further extended in the following Pokemon card releases. In fact, we have better refer to this rare Pokemon card as ‘shiny’ Pokemon cards rather than ‘Shining Pokemon’ cards (with the latter we identify the ones of Neo Destiny and Neo Revelation.

In fact, we saw the form of Crystal Pokemon in the Aquapolis and Skyridge Expansions and the Pokemon Star in the card set EX Team Rocket Returns.

In recent years, shiny Pokemon returned in Shining Legends subset of Sun and Moon, no longer with the restriction of 1 per deck.

The first ‘black’ Charizard in Gold star version.

rayquaza gold star most expensive pokemon card

The powerful Gold Star Rayquaza (Ex Deoxys)

More about Pokemon Gold Star cards.

You’ve, for sure, noticed that most of the rarest shiny Pokemon cards belong to the so called ‘Gold Star‘.

Gold Star are, in general, super sought after by collectors. The Gold Star Pokémon cards were around in 2004-2007. They were very rare, which means having one of these cards in good condition can still reach some high prices on eBay.

rarest pokemon hidden fates charizard GX

One of the most recent shiny Pokemon: Charizard GX

But one of the more interesting of the Gold Star selection is the Espeon. In Japan, this card was only available to members of the Pokémon Daisuki Fan Club who had earned 50,000 points. The short time frame given to reach this goal meant that very few of these cards were distributed.

The only way to get this card in English was in POP series packs, which you received via the Pokémon Organised Play system at events. So due to the inconvenient way of obtaining Espeon, it’s one of the rarest Shiny Pokémon cards out there.