Pokémon Guide: Gold Full Art Cards - Everything You Need to Know!

Hello to all, I am Rodrigo, bringing news about Pokémon TCG.

In this article, I'll delve into Pokémon TCG's history, and show you the Gold Full Art cards, which started out as a very shy rarity type in the Black/White era. Afterward, they gained strength as the years passed and became something a lot more common in recent sets.

Let's remember how it all went down!

The Unova Dragons

The first time Gold Full Art cards appeared were in this block's last set, a special set called Legendary Treasures.

In this set, there were cards that were successful throughout previous editions, and some unseen cards as well. To close out the set, there were the "signature" legendary Pokémon from this region in this rarity: Reshiram and Zekrom.

Keep in mind that these cards weren't "ultra rare", that is, they didn't have the "EX" suffix (this block worked with this mechanic), but rather were versions of the Base Set's regular cards; Reshiram BLW 26 and Zekrom BLW 47, respectively.

The Trigger to Trainer Gold Ideas

Still in the Black/White block, in the Dark Explorers set, we had the glimpse of an item, Pokémon Catcher DEX 111, which was considered a secret card in this set. This was quite common in this era, but the difference was its golden hue, which many considered to be a "Gold" card type, even if the correct term was just a "secret" card. This eventually got adopted by players as a "Gold version", and didn't go unnoticed. It was the first inspiration for this type of rarity, which would begin to come more often in the future.

The next card graced with this rarity was Rocky Helmet BCR 153, in Black/White: Crossed Boundaries.

The following card with this rarity was Random Receiver PLS 138, in Black/White: Plasma Storm.

And the following cards came as a duo: Ultra Ball PLF 122 and Max Potion PLF 121, in Black/White: Plasma Freeze.

Closing out this block, in the last base set, we had the iconic card Rare Candy PLB 105, which is currently very useful to skip evolution steps of stage 2 basic Pokémon.

The Return of Gold Items

In the 5th edition of the X/Y block, Primal Clash, these cards returned, now with a star: Dive Ball PRC 161, Enhanced Hammer PRC 162, Weakness Policy PRC 164 and Switch PRC 163.

In the 6th edition of the X/Y block, Roaring Skies, we had a pair: Energy Switch ROS 109 and VS Seeker ROS 110. The latter, which adds a Supporter card from the discard pile to your hand, was one of the best cards in the Expanded format.

In the 7th edition of the X/Y block, Ancient Origins, we had another pair: Energy Retrieval AOR 99 and Trainers' Mail AOR 100. The latter, which is useful to filter the top four cards in your deck and get any Trainer card you find over there (except any card that has Trainers' Mail written on it), was another great card in the Expanded format.

From this block onward, Gold cards were modified, and now filled out the entire artwork on the card. This gave them an air of "grandeur" and "preciousness", and practically every set started to have their fill of these cards.

Energies

They also became a part of this set as secret arts, but they had a golden border, which would also classify them as "Gold Full Art".

"Common" Energies

In block order:

1) In Sun/Moon: Base Set (S/M 1): Psychic Energy SUM 162 and Metal Energy SUM 163.

2) In Sun/Moon: Guardians Rising (S/M 2): Grass Energy GRI 167, Lightning Energy GRI 168 and Fighting Energy GRI 169.

3) In Sun/Moon: Burning Shadows (S/M 3): Fire Energy BUS 167, Darkness Energy BUS 168 and Fairy Energy BUS 169.

4) In Sun/Moon: Crimson Invasion (S/M 4): Water Energy CIN 124.

Special Energies

We had for the first time a "Gold Full Art" version of Double Colorless Energy GRI 166, in Sun/Moon: Guardians Rising (S/M 2)!

Besides, in other sets, like Sun/Moon: Crimson Invasion (S/M 4), there were two other cards in the record:

Going beyond, in the Sun/Moon: Ultra Prism (S/M 5) set, we also had another pair:

Following the same reasoning as the Unit energies, the third copy appeared in Sun/Moon: Forbidden Light (S/M 6):

Next, in Sun/Moon: Celestial Storm (S/M 7), the special energy, Rainbow Energy, was reprinted in this rarity. This has been a classic card ever since the early days of this TCG:

In the Sun/Moon: Unbroken Bonds (S/M 10) set, we had a special energy released in this rarity to help evolution Pokémon:

As for the Sun/Moon: Unified Minds (S/M 11) set, there was a pair:

Finally, in Sun/Moon: Cosmic Eclipse (S/M 12), there was the last Gold Full Art special energy:

Trainers

Sun/Moon: Base Set

Sun/Moon: Guardians Rising

Sun/Moon: Burning Shadows

Sun/Moon: Crimson Invasion

Sun/Moon: Ultra Prism

Sun/Moon: Forbidden Light

Sun/Moon: Celestial Storm

Sun/Moon: Dragon Majesty

It's worth pointing out that this is the first special set in this block that had in its record "Gold Full Art" cards, considering this set is the second special set in this block. The first was Shining Legends, which didn't have any "Gold Full Art" card.

Sun/Moon: Lost Thunder

Sun/Moon: Team Up

Sun/Moon: Unbroken Bonds

Sun/Moon: Unified Minds

In this set, we started seeing the stadium versions in this rarity, which was:

Sun/Moon: Hidden Fates

In this special set, the third of this block, besides the Tapu Pokémon which received the "Gold Full Art" treatment (which I'll discuss later on), the focus were precisely stadiums:

Sun/Moon: Cosmic Eclipse

Reaching the end of this block, we had these cards:

The stadiums which got this rarity were:

Pokémon

The Alola Main Characters

The first time we had "Gold Full Art" Pokémon was in the Sun/Moon: Ultra Prism (S/M 5) set, with main characters Solgaleo-GX and Lunala-GX.

The Hidden Fates promotional boxes also had these legendary Pokémon, but in their promotional versions:

As for the Sun/Moon: Dragon Majesty (S/M 7.5) special set, we had the illustrious presence of Ultra Necrozma-GX in this rarity:

Finally, in the more "traditional" sets, in the last special set, Sun/Moon: Hidden Fates (S/M 11.5), we had the four Alola guardians, Tapu, in their GX form:

Pokémon Tag Team, from the Tag All Star Set

Very few know about this, but in the Sun/Moon block, there was a version of TAG TEAM Pokémon in "Gold Full Art" rarities. They focused exclusively on Japan for the most part, in the Tag All Stars set (in Japanese: ハイクラスパック TAG TEAM GX タッグオールスターズ High Class Pack TAG TEAM GX: Tag All Stars).

However, just two cards from this special set would get overseas to the west in promotional and special boxes: Reshiram & Charizard and Pikachu & Zekrom boxes.

To guarantee these products, however, you could buy them in the following way:

In Reshiram & Charizard's cases, it was only possible to buy them at Wallmart stores.

In Pikachu & Zekrom's case, it was only possible to get them at Game Stop stores.

About the Eastern Set

Other exclusive Pokémon TAG TEAM on Japanese soil were:

With the consolidation of this concept in Sun/Moon, the Sword/Shield block followed these same steps for each set, be it with Pokémon (not limiting themselves to "ultra rare" Pokémon but also "baby Pokémon"), Trainers or energies (basic or special).

However, I need to point out that in this block there was a new rarity. It was a "Gold Full Art" variant called "Black Gold Full Art", like the examples below with the promotional versions of Zacian V and Zamazenta V:

"Common" Energies

Observation: because the Fairy type was removed from the format, there is no secret Gold version of it. In this block, there is only one simple foil version of the basic energy in the special set, Champion's Path.

In block order:

1) In Sword/Shield: Chilling Reign (SW/SH 6): Water Energy CRE 231, Fighting Energy CRE 233 and Psychic Energy CRE 232.

2) In Sword/Shield: Evolving Skies (SW/SH 7): Lightning Energy EVS 235, Darkness Energy EVS 236 and Metal Energy EVS 237.

3) In Sword/Shield: Fusion Strike (SW/SH 8): Grass Energy FST 283 and Fire Energy FST 284.

Sword/Shield: Base Set

Pokémon

Trainer

Sword/Shield: Rebel Clash

Pokémon

Trainer

Energy

Sword/Shield: Darkness Ablaze

Pokémon

Trainer

Energy

Sword/Shield: Champion’s Path - 1st Special Set

Trainer

Sword/Shield: Vivid Voltage

Pokémon

Trainer

Sword/Shield: Shining Fates - 2nd Special Set

Pokémon “Black Gold Full Art”

Sword/Shield: Battle Styles

Pokémon

Trainer

Energies

Sword/Shield: Chilling Reign

Pokémon

Trainer

Sword/Shield: Evolving Skies

Pokémon

Trainer

And the stadiums:

Sword/Shield: Celebrations - 3rd Special Set

Pokémon

This set exclusively had four special cards to celebrate the 25 years since Pokémon's initial release: two metallic cards featuring Pikachu and Charizard as "reprints" from Wizards' Base set in a UPC (Ultra Premium Collection) (which doesn't say they are "Gold Full Art"). Finally, we had two Gold Full Art cards that came in a promotional box (with a rarity below UPC): a Pikachu V and a Poké-Ball with the logo celebrating the 25 years of the franchise:

Sword/Shield: Evolving Skies

Pokémon

Trainer

And the stadium:

Sword/Shield: Brilliant Stars

Pokémon

Pokémon “Black Gold Full Art”

Trainer

And the stadium:

Sword/Shield: Astral Radiance

Pokémon

Pokémon “Black Gold Full Art”

Trainer

And the stadiums:

Energy

Sword/Shield: Pokémon GO - 4th Special Set

Pokémon

Trainer

Sword/Shield: Lost Origin

Pokémon

Pokémon “Black Gold Full Art”

Trainer

And the stadium:

Sword/Shield: Silver Tempest

Pokémon

Pokémon “Black Gold Full Art”

Trainer

And the stadium:

Energy

Closing out this article with the most recent block, which started its cycle in early 2023, we have the Paldea region, which has, at the moment this article is written, four base sets and one special set, "151" (or "151" Kanto Sub Set", Pokémon Card "151" - call them what you want). Soon, at the end of January and early February 2024, we'll have the second special set, Paldean Fates (which you can check out more about clicking here).

Like so, I stress that this card listing is incomplete (particularly the "common" energies in the "Gold Full Art" rarity). This section will be updated in the future as new sets come along.

"Common" Energies

Observations: Because the Fairy type was removed from this format, there is no secret "Gold" art of it. Additionally, only the Darkness and Metal energies are missing from the basic energies.

In block order:

1) In Scarlet/Violet: Base Set (S/V 1): Basic Lightning Energy sv1 257 and Basic Fighting Energy sv1 258.

2) In Scarlet/Violet: Paldea Evolved (S/V 2): Basic Grass Energy sv2 278 and Basic Water Energy sv2 279.

3) In Scarlet/Violet: Obsidian Flames (S/V 3): Basic Fire Energy sv3 230.

4) In Scarlet/Violet: 151 (S/V 3.5): Basic Psychic Energy sv3pt5 207.

Scarlet/Violet: Base Set

Pokémon

Trainer

Scarlet/Violet: Paldea Evolved

Pokémon

Trainer

Scarlet/Violet: Obsidian Flames

Pokémon

And the stadium:

Scarlet/Violet: 151 - 1st Special Set

Pokémon

Trainer

Scarlet/Violet: Paradox Rift

Pokémon

Trainer

And the stadium:

Energy

Scarlet/Violet: Paldean Fates - 2nd Special Set

In this set, as a bonus, "Black Gold Full Art" will return, but the gold effect seems to be oxidized.

Pokémon - Koraidon & Miraidon

Pokémon - Treasures of Ruin

Now it's up to you: which of these cards do you like more? Are you the type of player who likes to flaunt and add these rarities to your deck? Do you collect these rarities to the best of your ability? Which new cards would you like to see in this rarity? And which old cards deserved this rarity, in your opinion?

See you in the next article.

Until next time!