A full art Pokémon card is a card whose picture covers the whole card instead of sitting in a window above the text. "Full art" names a look, not an official rarity: on cards since 2023, the full art of a Pokémon ex or a Supporter is called an Ultra Rare and carries two silver stars. Its picture is redrawn over the whole card, usually by the regular card's artist and in the same style, with the Pokémon alone on a patterned background. An Illustration Rare (one gold star) and a Special Illustration Rare (two gold stars) cover the whole card too, but with a new illustration, often a scene, by another artist: the Illustration Rare for a Pokémon that is not an ex, the Special Illustration Rare for an ex or a Supporter. One card cannot be both: the rarity symbol says which it is.
The new illustration is what collectors pay for. As of November 10, 2026, over the 23 English sets from Scarlet & Violet (2023) to 30th Celebration (2026), the median raw (ungraded) Ultra Rare sold for $2.95 (351 cards, 9,037 sales), the median Illustration Rare for $10.36 (510 cards, 12,637 sales) and the median Special Illustration Rare for $28.98 (232 cards, 5,277 sales). The gold Hyper Rare, $8.11 (74 cards, 1,081 sales), sold for less than the Special Illustration Rare in all 14 sets that have both.
| Rarity, since 2023 | What the card shows | Which cards | Symbol | Japanese code | Median price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Double Rare | The regular ex | Pokémon ex | Two black stars | RR | $1.99 (319 cards, 5,000 sales) |
| Ultra Rare, the "full art" | The Pokémon or Supporter redrawn over the whole card, alone on a patterned, textured background, usually by the regular card's artist | Pokémon ex and Supporters; since 2025 also Items, Stadiums, Tools and some Energy | Two silver stars | SR | $2.95 (351 cards, 9,037 sales) |
| Illustration Rare | A new illustration over the whole card, often a scene, by another artist | Pokémon that are not ex | One gold star | AR | $10.36 (510 cards, 12,637 sales) |
| Special Illustration Rare | A new illustration over the whole card by another artist, textured | Pokémon ex and Supporters | Two gold stars | SAR | $28.98 (232 cards, 5,277 sales) |
| Hyper Rare, 2023 to 2025 | An art the set already has, reprinted in gold | Pokémon ex, Trainers and Energy | Three gold stars | UR | $8.11 (74 cards, 1,081 sales) |
| Mega Hyper Rare, since 2025 | A gold, etched Mega Evolution card | Mega Evolution Pokémon ex | A four-pointed gold star outlined in black | MUR | $154 (8 cards, 106 sales) |
Median: the middle price of the rarity's cards over the 23 sets, real completed sales of raw cards in US dollars, as of November 10, 2026. Every rarity in the table except Double Rare is a secret rare, numbered above the set total, like 227/198. An ex (EX, GX, V or VMAX in earlier years) is a stronger Pokémon card that gives up extra Prize cards when it is Knocked Out; a Supporter is a Trainer card played once a turn.
Two Pokémon, six cards: the number and the stars at the bottom left tell the rarities apart, and the artist credit singles out the new illustrations. Enlarged from our scans.What is a full art Pokémon card?
The full art arrived with Black & White. Japan printed the first ones in Black Collection and White Collection (December 17, 2010), and the first English ones were Reshiram 113/114 and Zekrom 114/114 in Black & White (April 25, 2011), both Ultra Rares. The first full art Trainer followed in Noble Victories (November 2011): N, 101/101. From Next Destinies (February 2012) the full arts went mostly to Pokémon-EX, then to the GX, the V and, since 2023, the ex, alongside a few Supporters per set. Since Mega Evolution (September 2025), Items, Stadiums, Tools and some Energy cards get Ultra Rares too.
As of November 10, 2026, the regular Zekrom sold for $8.76 (10 sales) raw and the full art for $59.86 (7 sales).
The art alone does not always tell a full art from a regular card. Sword & Shield's regular V and VMAX cards, and the Tera ex of Scarlet & Violet, already run their picture edge to edge. What sets a full art apart is its textured foil, its stylized background and, on cards since 2023, its rarity: two silver stars and a number above the set total.
Two other details change with the era. From Black & White to Sword & Shield, most English full arts are numbered inside the set total, like 114/114, while Japanese ones sit above it; since Scarlet & Violet, every Ultra Rare sits above the total. And the word has spread: the publisher's own 2023 description calls Ultra Rares, Illustration Rares, Special Illustration Rares and Hyper Rares all "full-art foil" cards, and collectors often say "full art" for any card whose art covers it. When this guide says full art without more, it means the Ultra Rare.
Illustration Rare and Special Illustration Rare
Both became English rarities with Scarlet & Violet (March 31, 2023), after Japan introduced them as AR and SAR in VSTAR Universe (December 2, 2022). The publisher defines the Illustration Rare as an alternate-art version of a common, uncommon or rare Pokémon, with a full-card illustration that often shows the Pokémon's personality or surroundings, and the Special Illustration Rare as the alternate-art card of a Pokémon ex or a Supporter. A Special Illustration Rare also has a textured surface.
The rarity symbol settles which one a card is; the artist credit is the quickest clue. In our catalog of those sets, an Illustration Rare or a Special Illustration Rare is almost never drawn by the artist of the regular card, while most full arts are (85%):
| Clue | Full art (Ultra Rare) | Illustration Rare | Special Illustration Rare |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rarity symbol | Two silver stars | One gold star | Two gold stars |
| Which cards | Pokémon ex and Supporters | Pokémon that are not ex | Pokémon ex and Supporters |
| The picture | The Pokémon alone on a patterned background | A new illustration, often a scene | A new illustration, often a scene |
| Artist credit, bottom left | The regular card's artist on 85% of them | Another artist on 99% of them | Another artist on every one |
| Number | Above the set total | Above the set total | Above the set total |
Artist credits in our catalog, 23 English sets from Scarlet & Violet to 30th Celebration, counting the cards that also have a regular version in the same set: 273 of 323 Ultra Rares, 43 of 44 Hyper Rares, 3 of 501 Illustration Rares and 0 of 215 Special Illustration Rares share the artist of the regular version.
One illustration can outweigh the rarity. As of November 10, 2026, the Illustration Rare Magikarp, one gold star, sold for $289 (12 sales), about ten times the median Special Illustration Rare, while the common Magikarp went for $1.49 (4 sales). In the 151 set (2023), the common Charmander sold for $2.12 (10 sales) and its Illustration Rare for $83.60 (19 sales); the full art Iono for $11.62 (6 sales) and the Special Illustration Rare Iono for $44.62 (11 sales).
Which one is worth more?
On the medians since 2023, Special Illustration Rares come first; Illustration Rares and gold Hyper Rares come next, close together (the Illustration Rare median is the higher one in 8 of the 13 sets that have both); full arts sit barely above the regular ex. The firm rule is the Special Illustration Rare against the Hyper Rare: wherever a card comes as both in the same set, 31 times out of 31 in our sales, the Special Illustration Rare sold for more.
In the Mega Evolution sets, Illustration Rares sell close to full arts: $3.97 (100 cards) against $2.96 (102 cards) at the median, as of November 10, 2026. Of the rarities in the table, the Mega Hyper Rare sells highest: one or two per Mega Evolution set, $154 (8 cards, 106 sales). Two one-off rarities sold for more: the four Black White Rares of Black Bolt and White Flare (2025), median $482 (31 sales), and the three RGB Mews of 30th Celebration, $3,108 to $3,910 each (5 to 8 sales). In Sword & Shield the same logic held, with alternate arts in the place of Special Illustration Rares, as the Umbreon and Rayquaza of Evolving Skies show below.
Gold and rainbow: the secret rares
Secret rares are numbered above the set total and printed with a special finish. The Rainbow Rare, from Sun & Moon (February 2017) to Silver Tempest (November 2022), reprints an art the set already has in a textured, silvery rainbow finish; Japanese cards mark it HR. Gold secret rares are older: gold-bordered Items and an all-gold Reshiram 114/113 in 2013, gold-bordered secret rares through XY, entirely gold cards from Sun & Moon on, gold Pokémon V such as Zacian V 211/202 in Sword & Shield. Scarlet & Violet's gold card is the Hyper Rare, three gold stars, UR in Japan; the Mega Evolution sets replaced it with the Mega Hyper Rare, MUR in Japan.
Both reuse an art the set already has, and in our sales both sell below the new illustration of the same card: the gold Charizard ex of Obsidian Flames sold for $29.81 (15 sales) as of November 10, 2026, against $82.06 (26 sales) for its Special Illustration Rare.
Alternate arts: Sword & Shield
"Alternate art" is a collectors' name, not a rarity printed on the card. In Sword & Shield (2020 to 2023), some Pokémon V and VMAX got a second version with a new illustration, usually a scene by another artist, carrying the same white star as the other ultra rares of the time. The first ones came in Battle Styles (March 19, 2021); Sun & Moon's Team Up (2019) had already paired Tag Team full arts by two artists. V alternate arts are numbered inside the set total, next to the regular full art; VMAX alternate arts sit above it, among the secret rares.
| Evolving Skies (2021) | What it is | Artist | Raw price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Umbreon V 94/203 | The regular V | 5ban Graphics | $7.50 (70 sales) |
| Umbreon V 188/203 | Full art | 5ban Graphics | $49.86 (7 sales) |
| Umbreon V 189/203 | Alternate art | Teeziro | $313 (35 sales) |
| Umbreon VMAX 95/203 | The regular VMAX | AKIRA EGAWA | $28.92 (7 sales) |
| Umbreon VMAX 214/203 | Rainbow Rare | AKIRA EGAWA | $79.64 (12 sales) |
| Umbreon VMAX 215/203 | Alternate art | KEIICHIRO ITO | $1,902 (5 sales) |
Medians of real completed sales of raw cards in US dollars, as of November 10, 2026.
As of November 10, 2026, Rayquaza V of the same set sold for $66.90 (5 sales) as a full art and $354 (11 sales) as an alternate art, Rayquaza VMAX for $99.90 (6 sales) as a Rainbow Rare and $912 (11 sales) as an alternate art. Collectors often extend the name "alt art" to Special Illustration Rares, their successors.
Trainer Gallery, Galarian Gallery and Character Rares
Two Sword & Shield subsets bridged the alternate arts and the Illustration Rares. The Trainer Gallery, a 30-card subset numbered TG01 to TG30 in Brilliant Stars (February 25, 2022) and three sets after it, through Silver Tempest, shows Pokémon with their Trainer; its Japanese counterparts are the Character Rares (CHR, since Dream League in 2019) and Character Super Rares (CSR, since VMAX Climax in 2021). Crown Zenith's Galarian Gallery (January 20, 2023), 70 cards numbered GG01 to GG70, brought the first AR and SAR illustrations of VSTAR Universe to English cards, before Scarlet & Violet made them rarities of their own.
Older art rarities
Collectors sometimes group these with the full arts. Each has its own look:
| Name | Years | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Shining Pokémon | 2001 to 2002, and 2017 | A Pokémon in its shiny colors, from Neo Revelation; revived in Shining Legends |
| Gold Star | 2004 to 2007 | A shiny Pokémon whose art breaks out of the illustration window |
| Prime and LEGEND | 2010 | Ultra rare HeartGold & SoulSilver cards; a LEGEND is two cards played as one |
| Radiant Collection | 2013 and 2016 | A numbered RC subset with its own holo pattern |
| Shiny Vault | 2019 and 2021 | Shiny reprints in Hidden Fates and Shining Fates |
| Amazing Rare | 2020 to 2021 | Etched foil, with a rainbow background that spills past the art |
| Radiant Rare | 2022 to 2023 | A shiny Pokémon in etched art, one per deck |
Our rarity symbol guide shows the symbol of each modern rarity up close, and our holo patterns guide the foils.
FAQ
Is a full art the same as an Illustration Rare?
Not in the usual sense. Both cover the whole card, and the publisher calls both "full-art", but a full art (Ultra Rare, two silver stars) redraws a Pokémon ex or a Supporter in the regular card's style, while an Illustration Rare (one gold star) is a new illustration of a Pokémon that is not an ex, usually by another artist.
Is a Special Illustration Rare an alt art?
Yes, in the publisher's own words: its 2023 description calls Special Illustration Rares the alternate-art cards of Pokémon ex and Supporters. "Alt art" is not printed on the card, though; the printed rarity is two gold stars. The name first described second illustrations of the same card in Sun & Moon (2019), then on Sword & Shield V and VMAX cards (2021 to 2023), which had no rarity of their own.
Are full art Pokémon cards rare?
They are secret rares, numbered above the set total since 2023, but not the most expensive: as of November 10, 2026, the median Ultra Rare of the 23 sets from Scarlet & Violet to 30th Celebration sold for $2.95 (351 cards, 9,037 sales) raw, against $1.99 (319 cards, 5,000 sales) for the regular ex.
Which art rarity is worth the most?
Of the rarities in this guide since 2023, the Mega Hyper Rare, with a median of $154 (8 cards, 106 sales), then the Special Illustration Rare, $28.98 (232 cards, 5,277 sales), as of November 10, 2026. Between the Special Illustration Rare and the gold Hyper Rare of the same card, the new illustration sold for more in all 31 cases in our sales.
What do SR, AR, SAR and UR mean on Japanese cards?
They are the Japanese codes printed at the bottom of the card: SR for the full art (Ultra Rare), AR for the Illustration Rare, SAR for the Special Illustration Rare, UR for the gold card (Hyper Rare), and MUR for the Mega Hyper Rare. HR marked the rainbow cards, and some alternate arts, until 2022; CHR and CSR mark the Character Rares.
