Pokémon cards have been around since 1996 in Japan and 1999 in the U.S. and continue to be released to this day. There are currently 119 Pokémon card sets that have been released in the US at the time this article was written and they have once again surged in popularity among kids and adults alike.
With that growth and popularity comes a lot of questions regarding the game, collecting, and trading overall. Some of those questions tends to be around the card sets in particular. What do they mean? Why are there so many? Why is my child asking for a particular set?
Regardless of where you are in your Pokémon Card Set knowledge, you have come to the right place! This article will answer all of your FAQ’s and more!
How Many Pokémon Card Sets Are There?
As of April 19th, 2025, 119 English Pokémon card sets have been released. This does not include promo card sets. Those 119 sets fall under different “series” of cards, each of which have particular Pokémon with particular special cards.
There are 14 “series” of Pokémon cards as of writing this article, and we are currently in the Scarlet & Violet series of Pokémon cards. The “Sword & Shield” era was before this one and the “Sun & Moon” was before that.
Why Are There Different Pokémon Card Sets?
When Pokémon cards first released, they and Wizards of the Coast (the first manufacturer of Pokémon cards) entered into an agreement to start printing cards. To keep the game evolving and keep interest high among collectors and players, Pokémon Card sets were born.
Since then, there have been a few Pokémon card manufacturers that have consistently released between 1-6 sets per year. This number has fluctuated year to year but has been much higher in recent years. Pokémon released 6 new sets in 2024, 6 in 2023, and 5 in 2022.
New Pokémon card sets then allow the Pokémon company to introduce new Pokémon, new art, and new variations to the game!
Why Are Some Pokémon Card Sets More Expensive Than Others?
There are a few factors that determine how expensive a Pokémon card set is:
- The quantity or amount of cards that were printed in that set
- The pull rates and availability of the rarest cards
- The popularity and interest of that set
Let’s go through a few examples.
With the original 1st Edition Shadowless set, it has all of those things mentioned. It is incredibly rare, hard to find, and unbelievably popular among collectors. Because of that, it is the most expensive Pokémon card set ever released.
The Evolving Skies set wasn’t incredibly difficult to get your hands on, but the rarity of the rarest cards and the popularity of the set were sky high. Even today, the Evolving Skies set remains incredibly popular and sought after.
The Japanese 151 set was unbelievably popular upon release and had “Master Ball” cards that were unavailable in the English version. Because of that, it was originally more expensive than the English. Once reprinted though, the ability to get the set and the rarest cards from it went way up and the price decreased. Despite that, it is still very popular and has kept a solid price overall.
As of April 19th 2025, the Prismatic Evolutions set is one of the most expensive sets of all time, considering the criteria in the article above. If the Pokémon Company prints a lot more of it though, we will absolutely see the price tank for the set.
What Are The Rarest Pokémon Card Sets?
It’s hard to say what the rarest Pokémon card sets are. Specific information about the number of printed cards aren’t publicly available and it’s otherwise impossible to know how many have been bought, found, or damaged. That said, there are a few ways we can make an educated guess about it.
To start, the rarest Pokémon card sets (and the cards that are within it) will be lower population, and will usually (but not always) be more expensive. This is absolutely not a hard and fast rule and there are a number of exceptions. That said, rarity and price do absolutely have a correlating trend with Pokémon cards.
On top of that, the grading companies PSA and BGS have population reports of the number of cards that have been sent in for grading. While this is also not a perfect rule for the total number of these cards that are in the market, it does give some general guidance.
Based on these factors then, some of the rarer Pokémon card sets are:
- 1st Edition Neo Destiny Set
- Skyridge Set
- Deoxy’s Set
- Japanese Base Set (No Rarity Symbol)
- 1st Edition Shadowless Set
Based on the factors mentioned above, a lot of modern Pokémon card sets that have value have much higher population counts than their vintage counterparts. And while that isn’t a perfect measure, Pokémon popularity has absolutely grown in recent years and Pokémon continues to print more than ever before.
How Do I Identify The Set My Pokémon Card is From?
All Pokémon cards have a symbol on the card that identifies which set the card is from. The only exception is the original Base Set Pokémon cards, which have no symbol. But while the symbol will help you to identify the set, it’s not exactly easy to search up a card based on a symbol.
To find the set your Pokémon card is from then, you should identify your Pokémon card using the name and numbers on the card. Simply search those two items and you will be able to find your card online with the correlating set it is with!
If you’re trying to identify the value this article gives a number of options to do so. If you have an alternate language card, check out the “Identify your Pokémon card” article above as it gives instructions on how to do that too!
Sometimes though, the name and number isn’t enough. In that case, you will use the set symbol, which is found either on the right central part of the card or the bottom edge.
Take the original Charizard for example. There are a LOT of different Pokémon cards with the original Charizard picture that are from completely different sets. In that case you would need to identify the card and number, then find the set symbol from there!
Should I Buy Different Pokémon Card sets?
As a collector, it is completely up to you to decide what cards you want to collect. Some Pokémon card collectors like to get a “master set” which means they find every card from the set (which unfortunately doesn’t add a premium when selling them), while others like to hunt a particular Pokémon.
With the amount of cards and different arts out there, you should absolutely try to find some different packs from different sets to expand your collection. If you want to do some research, look into the cards that are in each set and find your favorite that you want to try and hunt down!
Summary
There are a tremendous amount of Pokémon cards and Pokémon card sets on the market. Some are more rare, some have more value, and all of them have different cards for you to add to your collection.
Hopefully this article gave insight into all of your questions regarding Pokémon card sets. If anything was missed, send me an email at [email protected]!
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Thanks for reading!