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Bleeding Cool’s journey through the Sun & Moon era of the Pokémon TCG continues. Now that our spotlight series has moved through the first five sets of this block (Sun & Moon base, Guardians Rising, Burning Shadows, Crimson Invasion, and Ultra Prism), now it’s time to look at this era’s first special set. A special set (sometimes called a holiday set) is an expansion of cards released in branded products rather than a booster box. You can tell when a set is “special” when it doesn’t have the era’s name as part of its title. Shining Legends was released on October 6th, 2017 and focused on Shiny Pokémon. Notably, it brought back the vintage “Shining” style of card introduced during the Neo era. Today, let’s take a look at some of the set’s holographic cards as well as the Entei GX, which has a unique quirk to its release.
One of the most fun parts about most special sets is that every single pack culminates in a holo or better. This could be a blessing when it’s a set like Shining Legends which has a diverse selection of holos with fantastic art. I mean, just look at that pastel Shaymin and that Reshiram blazing with flames in front of that deep blue background. However, it can also be a bummer in the case of a set like Champion’s Path, where the spread of holos is limited and unimpressive. This is just one of the reasons why Shining Legends is considered to be one of the all-time great sets. It was an exciting opening experience that kept things diverse despite being a smaller set. The size also made it feel a bit easier to collect.
One other thing worth noting about the cards above is that completionists may need to look twice at their collection. There are actually two versions of the Entei from Shining Legends. The Entei GX pictured above could be pulled from packs, but there is an Alternate Art version that looks very similar but has Entei facing the opposite direction with a different background and a more neutral expression. The standard Entei GX from the set is numbered 10/73 while the Alternate Art is numbered 10a/73. This card could b found in the Legends of Johto GX Premium Collection. During the Sun & Moon era, there was a trend that not all promos were Black Star Promos but some actually retained the set numbering. The same thing happened with the Darkrai GX from Burning Shadows. There was a Shiny version of the card that retained the Burning Shadows numbering but appeared in a promo box.
Stay tuned for the continuing journey through Pokémon TCG: Shining Legends. To look back on this series, click the Shining Legends tag below. Next time, this journey continues with the main set.
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