Gyarados Star Delta Species
Quick take
- Gold Star rarity, the top chase tier of the 2004 to 2007 EX era
- Depicts the famous red shiny Gyarados from the Gen II games
- Delta Species typing makes this a Fire-type Gyarados, not Water
- Sits at the top of the Holon Phantoms set for value and difficulty
Collector's readWhat it means for your master set
Set landscapeWhere this card sits in EX Holon Phantoms
VariantsCard variants
Holofoil 102/110 · $1333.56 — the only variant this card was printed in (no reverse holo or special pattern), so a master set needs just this one copy.
The storyThe card that anchors a Holon Phantoms master set
If you are building Holon Phantoms in a binder, the Gyarados Gold Star is the slot you plan everything else around. It is the rarest pull tier in the set, and most collectors save it for last because of the cost.
“Gold Star rarity, the top chase tier of the 2004 to 2007 EX era”
The Delta Species mechanic gave this Gyarados a Fire typing instead of its usual Water, a detail vintage fans love pointing out. The art leans into it. The serpent is caught mid-roar against a swirling holo background.
By the numbersMarket analysis
This is the headline card of EX Holon Phantoms and one of the more valuable Gold Stars overall. Raw copies in played condition turn up regularly, but anything clean climbs fast, and high-grade slabs sit firmly in vintage chase territory.
Gold Stars as a category have held strong over the long run, with Gyarados among the steadiest. Vintage shiny icons tend to track upward over multi-year windows rather than spike and crash the way modern chases do. Graded gem-mint copies command a large multiple over raw.
Vintage Gold Stars of beloved Pokemon are about as blue-chip as the hobby gets, and demand is unlikely to evaporate. The main risk is condition. Most surviving copies show edge and surface wear, so clean examples carry a real scarcity premium, and that gap tends to widen rather than narrow.
Substantial. A gem-mint graded copy trades at a large premium over raw, and the jump from a mid grade to a 10 is steep. Centering and surface are the usual culprits that keep these out of the top grades.
Vintage Gold Stars from this era sat at roughly one per two booster boxes, about one in 72 packs. Opening any Gold Star was a serious event, and chasing one specific card like Gyarados ran much longer than that, since several different Gold Stars shared that one already-thin slot. EX Power Keepers later loosened things up to around one or two Gold Stars per box, but Holon Phantoms kept the harder one-per-two-boxes rate.
For scale, modern Scarlet and Violet odds are far friendlier. Any Special Illustration Rare comes about one in 90 packs and a Hyper Rare somewhere in the one in 300 to 700 range, with a specific card running longer still. The vintage Gold Star rate looks comparable on paper, but it applied across a much smaller print run, which is why survivors in good shape are genuinely scarce today.
ArtworkWhy the art matters
Fukuda is one of the most respected illustrators of the EX era and drew several of its most sought-after Gold Stars. His work is closely tied to the dramatic, frame-filling creature art that collectors associate with the 2004 to 2007 run.
The card shows the red shiny Gyarados rearing up mid-roar, jaws open, against a swirling holo background typical of Gold Star layouts. The red body reads instantly as the famous shiny, which is the whole point of the Gold Star treatment.
Gold Star cards use a distinct holofoil pattern with the gold star symbol printed next to the Pokemon name. The shiny alternate coloring is the defining visual cue. How the holo behaves under light is one of the first things authenticators check.
It pairs a franchise-icon Pokemon with its most famous shiny form, drawn by a marquee EX-era artist, in the era's rarest pull tier. Very few cards check that many boxes at once.
BackgroundAbout Gyarados Star Delta Species
Gyarados has been a fan favorite since the original games, both as the powerhouse evolution of the otherwise useless Magikarp and as the franchise's best-known shiny. The red Gyarados at the Lake of Rage in Gold and Silver was many players' first scripted shiny encounter, which is exactly what this card references.
- ›One of the most recognizable Pokemon across every generation
- ›The red shiny is tied to a memorable Gen II story moment
- ›The Magikarp-to-Gyarados arc gives it lasting fan attachment
- ›Steady collector demand for any premium Gyarados card
- ›The scripted red Gyarados at the Lake of Rage in Pokemon Gold and Silver
- ›Frequent appearances across the anime and main-series games as a signature powerhouse
Own it wellCollector guide
Centering, holo surface scratches, and edge whitening are the common problems on twenty-year-old Gold Stars. The dark borders show wear easily. Inspect the holo under angled light for hairlines before you pay a premium.
For any serious money, buy graded from PSA, CGC, or BGS, or grade a strong raw copy yourself. The premium for a gem-mint slab is large enough to justify it, and a slab also settles authenticity questions on a heavily faked card. Read the grading guide →
Penny sleeve plus a top loader, or better, a graded slab. Keep it out of direct light and away from humidity. The holo and dark borders are what you are protecting, so avoid anything that puts pressure on the surface. See the storage guide →
Gold Stars are among the most counterfeited vintage cards, so authenticate before you buy raw. Do the light test to confirm the black core layer inside the cardstock, check the surface texture and the holo behavior, and study the back swirl gradient against a known-genuine card. For anything beyond a beater copy, buy graded from a reputable slab and verify the cert number. See the singles buying guide →
Light test for the black core layer in the card body, feel the surface texture, watch how the holo reacts under light, and compare the back swirl gradient to a verified genuine card. Fakes often miss the core layer or get the holo pattern wrong.
Protect your card
High Chase Score — protect and consider grading. · Amazon affiliate links · Storage guideWord on the streetCommunity sentiment
Treated as a grail-tier vintage card. Collectors talk about the red Gyarados Gold Star as one of the cards that defines the EX era, and it shows up constantly on want lists for Holon Phantoms master sets.
- ›High-grade graded examples are recognized as some of the strongest results in the set, consistent with its standing as a top Holon Phantoms card
- ›Graded copies trade at a large multiple over raw, with the gap widening at the top grades
Steady, long-running interest rather than hype cycles. It surfaces in vintage collecting discussions, Gold Star ranking lists, and most-valuable Holon Phantoms roundups. The red shiny design gives it appeal even among people who do not otherwise chase vintage.
Good to knowFrequently asked questions
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