Guide
The Pokémon TCG, to get started.
How the game is organised, how to read a card, what the boxes contain, and what makes one card worth more than another. Every figure quoted comes from CardoMint's catalogue — you can check them by opening it.
Blocs, sets, expansions: how it all fits
Three levels, widest to narrowest. It is the hierarchy every filter in CardoMint follows.
The bloc — an era
« Scarlet & Violet », « Sword & Shield », « Mega Evolution ». A bloc covers two to three years of releases and carries its own card style. CardoMint counts 33 of them, from the first Wizards cards of 1999 to today.
The set — an expansion
« Black Bolt », « Ascending Chaos », « Paldean Fates ». This is what a player calls « a set »: one hundred to three hundred cards released together, with their own logo and symbol. 1 009 sets in the catalogue.
The card — a number within its set
A card only exists through the triple name, set, number. « Pikachu » on its own designates 98 different cards — which is why CardoMint identifies everything by all three fields at once.
Reading a card
Everything that identifies a card is printed on it, along the bottom.
- The number, bottom left
- 013/094: the thirteenth card of a set holding 94. The denominator is the one of the printed numbering — secret rarities go past it, hence cards reading « 097/094 ».
- The rarity symbol
- Right next to the number: a circle, a diamond or stars. It is what states the rarity, not the word written on websites.
- The set symbol
- A small logo particular to the set. Two cards of the same Pokémon with the same number are told apart by it.
- The illustrator
- « Illus. takuyoa », very small. 30 761 cards in the catalogue carry their illustrator's name, and you can search by it.
- The set code
- « PFLn », « ME05 »: two to six letters abbreviating the set. It is what sellers write in their listings.
- HP and type
- Top right. The type — Fire, Water, Grass… — is used in play, and also to filter a collection.
Rarities, most common to rarest
The printed symbol is the only reliable source: one card is called « rare » or « ultra rare » depending on the site talking about it.
- CommonThe filled circle. The most frequent cards in a set.
- UncommonThe diamond. Roughly one per booster.
- RareThe black star. One per booster, guaranteed.
- Double rareTwo black stars — the « ex » cards of the current era.
- Illustration rareOne gold star: the card puts its Pokémon in a scene.
- Special illustration rareTwo gold stars, full-card artwork.
- Hyper rareThree gold stars in a triangle — the « gold » card.
CardoMint draws these symbols on every card in the catalogue, and lets you filter a set by rarity.
The printings of one card
A card can exist in several printings. They carry the same number and are not worth the same.
- Normal
- The base printing. It is the one you find most often.
- Reverse
- The card's background is glossy, the artwork stays matte. One per booster. Often more sought after than the normal one.
- Holo
- It is the artwork itself that shines. Reserved for rare cards, and comes in patterns — Cosmos, Poké Ball, Master Ball…
- 1st edition
- A stamp on the cards of the first print run, on older sets. It is the heaviest factor of all on cards from 1999-2002.
- Why it matters
- Two copies of one card, one normal and one reverse, can run from single to triple. CardoMint keeps the printing of every copy bought.
- The stamp
- A set logo, « Staff », a player's name: some cards carry a distribution mark that changes their value entirely.
Sealed products, smallest box to largest
The catalogue counts 24 families. Here are the six you meet first.
The booster
The base pack: around ten cards, one rare guaranteed. It is the unit every other box contains.
The blister
One or two boosters under plastic, often with an exclusive promo card and a coin.
The Elite Trainer Box (ETB)
Eight to eleven boosters, card sleeves, dice and a storage box. The format most often given as a gift.
The display
Thirty-six boosters of one set, in their original stand. It is the format investors follow.
The collection box / tin
Two to five boosters around a promo card — often a figure or a jumbo card.
The Ultra-Premium Collection (UPC)
The largest format: some twenty boosters, exclusive cards and rigid storage.
1 089 of these boxes declare in the catalogue what they contain, booster by booster, and 1 575 guaranteed cards are named there one by one.
Grading
Having a card assessed by an independent company, which grades it and seals it in a slab.
- What it changes
- A card graded 10 can be worth several times the same ungraded card. Below 8, the gap narrows a great deal.
- The companies
- PSA, BGS, CGC, PCA, CCC, CollectAura. CardoMint knows 6 of them, with their 113 real grades.
- Each company has its own scale
- PSA runs 1 to 10; BGS adds a « 10 Black »; CCC writes « 10 Neuf+ ». Seven different grades start with « 10 » — a plain number would conflate them all.
- When it is worth it
- A grading fee is fixed. On a card worth a few euros, it often exceeds the value added.
- On an ungraded card
- You talk about « condition »: 9 levels, Mint to Poor. It is the owner's judgement, not a verdict.
- In CardoMint
- A graded card shows its grade in place of its condition — the slab carries the verdict, and it is not retyped.
What makes one card worth more than another
Six factors, most to least decisive.
1. The card itself
The Pokémon, the artwork, and the demand they create. A Charizard never has a Rattata's price.2. The printed rarity
The symbol at the bottom of the card. A special illustration rare comes out of about one booster in a hundred.3. The condition or the grade
The factor that multiplies all the others. A creased card loses most of its value.4. The printing
Reverse, holo, 1st edition — same number, sometimes triple the price.5. The language and the market
A Japanese, Chinese or French card from the same set has neither the same print run nor the same audience.6. The moment
A reprint, a tournament, an anime: the going rate moves. That is why a price always shows with its date.
Three markets, three catalogues
International, Japanese and Chinese are not three translations of one game.
International
25 567 cards across 336 sets in the catalogue.
Japanese
27 080 cards across 462 sets in the catalogue.
Chinese
14 601 cards across 211 sets in the catalogue.
Japan releases its expansions first, with a division of its own: a Japanese set does not always match an international one. Taiwan follows the Japanese calendar and codes. The cards themselves are different objects — same Pokémon, other card.
Where to start
Four pieces of advice that avoid the costliest mistakes.
- Pick a direction
- A set, a Pokémon, an era. Collecting « everything » means chasing 67,000 cards.
- Write down what you pay, from the first card
- The date, the price and the place. Reconstructing that two years later is impossible — and it is exactly what CardoMint records.
- Protect before you store
- A soft sleeve, then a rigid one. Condition is the factor that multiplies all the others.
- Always check two prices
- The asking price and the price actually paid are two different quantities. Look at completed sales before concluding.
The other games will come
This guide covers the Pokémon TCG, because that is what the catalogue carries today — 69 139 products across three markets. Magic, One Piece and Lorcana will follow when their catalogues are there.