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A Holographic History Of The Pokémon TCG: Shiny Pokémon-GX

Over the years, the Pokémon TCG has featured many different patterns used on their holographic cards. Some patterns lasted for years, while others had short stays, making them markers for their short time in the franchise. In this next installment of A Holographic History of the Pokémon TCG, let's take a look at a variation on the Sun & Moon era the Pokémon-GX Full Art cards. These cards, exclusive to the special set Hidden Fates which came out at the tail end of the Sun & Moon era, reimagined Shining Pokémon as Full Art cards.

Hidden Fates Shiny Charizard GX. Credit: Pokémon TCG
Hidden Fates Shiny Charizard GX. Credit: Pokémon TCG

Like standard Full Art GXs, the Shiny GXs depict the Pokémon with blue foil linework. The difference between these and standard GX cards is that they depict Pokémon in their color-variation Shiny Form. Also, the background of these cards is pure textured, white foil which takes on a silvery look when it hits the light. A sparkle effect bursts from the Pokémon to emulate the effect that happens when one encounters a Shiny in the game.

These are some of the most beautiful, popular, and valuable cards from the Sun & Moon era. The crown jewel of Hidden Fates is the Shiny Charizard GX, which is one of the biggest fan-favorite Charizard cards ever released in the hobby. The card is just a few years old and has a current market value of $445.37 as of this writing. Other major pulls in the set are Shiny Mewtwo, Shiny Scizor, and the Shiny Eeveelutions including Umbreon, Sylveon, Espeon, Leafeon, and Glaceon.

Hidden Fates Shiny Sylveon GX. Credit: Pokémon TCG
Hidden Fates Shiny Sylveon GX. Credit: Pokémon TCG

This type of card was so popular that it was adapted into the Sword & Shield era, which replaced GX cards with Pokémon-V and VMAX. Shining Fates, a sequel set to Hidden Fates, debuted a similar style of Shiny Full Arts with these mechanics. They're different enough, though, that we'll cover them in their own installment. Outside of promo cards from Hidden Fates products that aren't technically in the numbered set, Hidden Fates is the only proper Pokémon TCG set to include Shiny Pokémon-GX.


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Theo DwyerAbout Theo Dwyer

Theo Dwyer writes about comics, film, and games.
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