Pokémon TCG: The 10 most valuable Gold Star cards

The Pokémon TCG is no stranger to rare and valuable chase cards. Even from the beginning, cards such as Base Set Charizard, Base Set Blastoise, and Base Set Alakazam boasted tremendously high price tags, and they’ve retained them well into the third decade of the Pokémon franchise’s existence.

But the Neo era sets introduced “Shining” cards, which represented Shiny versions of Pokémon for the first time in the TCG (Shiny Pokémon feature alternate colorations and were also introduced in Generation Two, Gold and Silver, of the mainline Pokémon games).

The Shining cards from the Neo sets remain a popular series that holds an incredible cachet among collectors and fans, but there’s another set of cards featuring Shiny Pokémon spread across several sets that’s even more beloved and far rarer: Gold Star cards.

Gold Star cards (officially dubbed “Pokémon Star” cards in the TCG) could be found in many sets, including Team Rocket Returns, Deoxys, Unseen Forces, Delta Species, Legend Maker, Crystal Guardians, Holon Phantoms, Dragon Frontiers, Power Keepers, POP Series 5 and, as one-offs, in Celebrations.

With beautiful artwork illustrated by Masakazu Fukuda and unusual, striking colorations on all the cards, it’s no wonder they’re hugely attractive to collectors and fans. Of course, the supreme scarcity of these cards—they were only found in roughly one out of every two booster boxes—is the main reason for the sky-high price points that all Gold Star cards boast. Let’s peep the top 10.

Note: All prices come via PriceCharting, as TCGPlayer does not have listings for many of these eminently hard-to-find pieces of Pokémon-related cardboard.

10. Holofoil Metagross (Star) – Delta Species

Market Price: $646.65

The list kicks off with an amazing card featuring the stunning Shiny version of one of Generation Three’s stage two Pseudo-Legendary Pokémon: Metagross. This Psychic/Steel-type ‘mon boasts terrific all-around stats and a wonderful type combination, making it a favorite of many trainers.

This gorgeous gold-and-silver version of Metagross looks terrific in the moody, beautiful artwork delivered by Shiny Pokémon expert Masakazu Fukuda. In front of a blood-red background, this Metagross is ready to deliver a powerhouse Meteor Mash to its foes. Seeing as this is the least valuable card on this list—at a staggering price point near $650—that gives you an idea of the tremendous median value of Gold Star cards for Pokémon TCG collectors and fans.

9. Holofoil Mudkip (Star) – Team Rocket Returns

Market Price: $662.67

This adorable card happens to be one of the most valuable Water-type cards of all time and features Shiny Mudkip (one of the starter ‘mon from Generation Three’s games). It's supremely tough to find and, thus, features a price tag approaching $700 on the secondary market.

The main delineating factor for these cards is they're meant to feature Shiny versions of the ‘mon featured, but instead, this card features a blue Mudkip (its standard coloration) instead of a Shiny, purple-hued one. However, its tail is the yellowish one that shiny Mudkip has. Curious.

8. Holofoil Latias (Star) – Deoxys

Market Price: $671.35

One of the most valuable Colorless cards of all time features a Shiny version of the female roaming Legendary Pokémon from Generation Three: Latias. Latias has been found on several notable chase cards over the years, including in 2024’s Surging Sparks set, but this one takes the cake.

Gold Star cards were printed so sparingly, and it’s no wonder only 22 copies of this card have been graded out as a PSA 10. The most recent sale of one cost over $20,000! That’s an amazing number for a small piece of cardboard featuring a fictional character.

7. Holofoil Charizard (Star) – Dragon Frontiers

Market Price: $738.98

One of the most famous, if not the most famous, Pokémon of all time is Charizard, the final evolution of original Fire-type starter Charmander in the first games released in the franchise. That fame continued into the Pokémon TCG, as Base Set Charizard remains, perhaps, the most recognizable card across the TCG, and perhaps across all TCGs.

As such, the Gold Star version of Charizard from Dragon Frontiers showcasing a fire-breathing ‘Zard boasts an impressive price point for an ungraded copy that approaches $750. Looking for a graded copy? Even PSA 1s go for roughly the same amount as a raw version, and PSA 10s are worth close to $20,000 on the secondary market, seeing as only 99 exist in the world.

6. Holofoil Pikachu (Star) – Holon Phantoms

Market Price: $745.25

This focused-looking Shiny Pikachu with attitude walked so that “Chonkachu” from Vivid Voltage could run. While Pikachu’s Shiny coloration isn’t that engaging (just a slightly darker, redder version of standard ‘Chu), this card is certainly eye-catching.

With striking artwork from Fukuda of a Pikachu enveloped by electricity with its arms folded defiantly, it’s no surprise this ultra-rare card is worth nearly $750 close to 20 years after release.

5. Holofoil Treecko (Star) – Team Rocket Returns

Market Price: $861.65

The second of three Generation Three starters that appear on this list, this Shiny version of Ruby and Sapphire’s Grass-type starter features a blue-tinted body and a bright-red tail, making it a wonderfully intriguing card for Gold Star fans (and Treecko fans to boot).

This Treecko does, admittedly, look a little threatening, which is fitting for a card from the Team Rocket Returns set, which featured the return (fittingly) of cards with the “Team Rocket’s” Pokémon moniker. With those cards making an appearance in upcoming Japanese and English sets, expect Gold Star cards from that set, such as this Treecko, to skyrocket in popularity and price in the near future.

4. Holofoil Torchic (Star) – Team Rocket Returns

Market Price: $973.73

The final Generation Three starter on this list is the Fire-type starter from the mainline games, Torchic. Arguably the most adorable of the three, Torchic evolves into the chicken-like Combusken and then into the majestic and powerful Blaziken.

However, it's Torchic that's featured on this eminently valuable card with a lighter coloration representing its Shiny form. All three starter Gold Star cards are worth a pretty penny, but this winking Torchic takes the cake with a massive value just shy of $1,000 in today’s market.

3. Holofoil Rayquaza (Star) – Deoxys

Market Price: $1,615.87

The most valuable Colorless card of all time also hits the top three among Gold Star cards. Rayquaza Gold Star features brilliant Fukuda artwork of the massive, terrifying presence of Rayquaza—so big, in fact, that this legendary ‘mon juts out of frame due to its sheer scale.

This card is truly a grail, as its baseline price point for an ungraded copy is well above $1,500—already a staggering sum. But once you get into graded copies, you’re truly looking at “price of a new car” levels. For instance, the most recent sale of a PSA 10-graded copy of this card was $34,440! While that’s a small fortune, it’s understandable as only 48 copies with that grade exist.

2. Holofoil Umbreon (Star) – POP Series 5

Market Price: $2,198.12

Eeveelutions are always a hot commodity among Pokémon TCG fans and collectors. Seeing as Eevee has turned into the nominal second mascot for the entire Pokémon franchise, Eevee’s evolutions are at least equally as popular as their pre-evolutions, if not more so.

As such, the two most valuable Gold Star cards both feature Eeveelutions, and they also happen to be the most valuable Eeveelution cards of all time. In a surprising twist, Umbreon (of Moonbreon and Sunbreon fame) actually is worth quite a bit less than its Psychic-type sibling.

1. Holofoil Espeon (Star) – POP Series 5

Market Price: $2,495,80

Espeon Star from POP Series 5 is the most valuable Gold Star card of all time, with a price point reaching a skyscraping $2,500 on the secondary market. Both Espeon and Umbreon Gold Star hail from POP Series 5, which was a special set that was released for the Pokémon Organized Play program, which featured organized official tournaments and events.

Seeing as the small sum of 17 cards are featured in the set, the booster packs released for the set only contained two cards. As such, the odds of pulling either the Umbreon or Espeon were infinitesimal—hence the massive price points for these cards from 2007.

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