Rockets Articuno ex
Quick take
- A Darkness-type reskin of a Pokemon almost always drawn as Water or Colorless
- Part of the Rocket's legendary bird trio with Zapdos and Moltres ex
- An EX-era Pokemon-ex Ultra Rare, below the set's Gold Stars but still a key chase card
- A required piece for completing an EX Team Rocket Returns master set
Collector's readWhat it means for your master set
Set landscapeWhere this card sits in EX Team Rocket Returns
VariantsCard variants
Variants are the different finishes of the same card — the standard print, reverse holo, and any special patterns. A complete master set needs every variant below, so track each one in your collection.
| Variant | Note | Market |
|---|---|---|
| Holofoil 96/109 | Holofoil variant. | $450.00 |
| Normal 96/109 | Standard variant. | $125.00 |
The storyA Darkness-type legendary bird from the EX era
Rocket's Articuno ex lives in EX Team Rocket Returns, the late-2004 set built around Team Rocket's stolen Pokemon. The hook is simple. Take a famous Pokemon, recolor it, give it sinister art, and add the Rocket's prefix to the name. Articuno is normally a Water or Colorless bird. Here it is a Darkness type with a Poke-Body called Darkness Veil that blocks an opponent's attack effects while Darkness Energy is attached. That alone makes it stand out in any binder of legendary birds.
“A Darkness-type reskin of a Pokemon almost always drawn as Water or Colorless”
It is the middle entry in the Rocket's bird trio. Rocket's Zapdos ex and Rocket's Moltres ex round out the group, and collectors tend to chase all three together. None of them are Gold Stars. They are Pokemon-ex Ultra Rares, the standard top tier of the EX era, so they pulled more often than a Gold Star but still carry real weight in a master set.
For a master-set builder, this is one of the cards that decides whether you actually finished EX Team Rocket Returns or just got most of the way there. The Rocket's ex cards anchor the set's chase list, and the birds are some of the most recognizable names on it.
By the numbersMarket analysis
Raw near-mint copies sit in solid three-figure territory, putting Articuno in the upper-middle of the Rocket's ex group. It trades below the set's true headliners and the Gold Stars, but well above the common holos.
Quiet for years, then a clear lift after the 2025 Team Rocket revival in the modern game pulled eyes back to vintage Rocket's cards. The birds moved up with the rest of the subset.
Vintage EX-era Ultra Rares with a strong name tend to hold. The Team Rocket revival is a tailwind, not a guarantee, so treat it as a collector piece first. High grades are where the scarcity and the upside live.
The gap between raw and gem-mint is large. Clean PSA 10 examples are genuinely tough and command a big multiple over a raw near-mint copy. Holo scratching and edge wear on 2004 cards keep top grades scarce.
This is a Pokemon-ex Ultra Rare, not a Gold Star, so it pulled more freely than the set's marquee Gold Star chase cards. For reference on the rarest vintage EX-era cards, Gold Stars (a Pokemon shown with a gold star, illustrated mostly by Masakazu Fukuda from 2004 to 2007) showed up at roughly one per two booster boxes, around 1 in 72 packs, with EX Power Keepers running a little more generous at one to two per box. The Rocket's ex cards like Articuno sat above the common holos in scarcity but were a more reachable pull than those Gold Stars. Twenty years on, supply is set by how many survived, not by pack odds.
Within EX Team Rocket Returns, Articuno ranks in the upper-middle of the Rocket's ex chase list. It trails the set's top cards like Rocket's Mewtwo ex and the Gold Stars, but it outranks the common holo rares by a wide margin.
ArtworkWhy the art matters
Ryo Ueda illustrated across the EX era and is a familiar name to anyone working through 2004 to 2007 sets. The Rocket's ex cards gave illustrators room to push darker, moodier takes on Pokemon usually drawn bright and heroic. That tonal shift is a big part of why the subset reads so well in a binder.
Articuno gets the Team Rocket treatment, leaning into a darker palette that matches its new Darkness typing instead of the usual icy-blue heroics. The Rocket's ex cards in this set carry distinctive spiked accents on the art-window border, a small design tell that ties the whole subset together.
Standard EX-era holofoil ex card, number 96 of 109 in the base set. The foil treatment runs across the full card face in the typical ex style of the period, which is exactly what makes condition hard to keep clean over twenty years.
Most Articuno art plays up the proud, frozen-sky legendary look. This one does the opposite. Seeing a legendary bird recolored and cast as a Rocket's asset is a choice that only happened in this one set, and it is why the trio still gets singled out.
BackgroundAbout Rockets Articuno ex
Articuno is one of the original Kanto legendary birds, a fixture since Generation I. In the Pokemon Adventures manga, Team Rocket captures an Articuno, which is the in-universe nod this card leans on.
- ›Original Kanto legendary status, which never really fades in collector demand
- ›Part of a recognizable trio with Zapdos and Moltres that people like to complete
- ›The unusual Darkness-type reskin that exists nowhere else for Articuno
- ›Tied to the Team Rocket theme, which has strong nostalgic pull
- ›The Rocket's bird trio across EX Team Rocket Returns (Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres ex)
- ›Team Rocket capturing an Articuno in the Pokemon Adventures manga
Own it wellCollector guide
Twenty-year-old full-foil ex card. Expect holo scratching, edge whitening, and print lines on most raw copies. Check the surface under angled light before you commit, and inspect corners closely since EX-era cards chip easily.
Worth grading if the card is genuinely clean, because the raw-to-gem gap is steep. If you are buying for serious money, buy an existing slab from a reputable grader rather than gambling on a raw copy. Read the grading guide →
Penny sleeve plus a snug top loader or one-touch at minimum. Keep it out of direct light and away from humidity swings. For a card this age, a graded slab is the safest long-term home. See the storage guide →
Decide raw versus graded up front. Raw near-mint is the value play for a master set. If you want a display piece or a hold, a PSA or CGC slab removes the condition guesswork and the authenticity question in one move. See the singles buying guide →
Vintage EX-era cards are heavily counterfeited, so authenticate before paying real money. Start with the light test. Genuine cards have a black core layer sandwiched in the cardstock, so a real card blocks a flashlight that pushes straight through a fake. Feel the surface texture, which counterfeits rarely nail. Watch how the holo catches light, since fake foil looks flat or grainy. Compare the back swirl gradient against a card you know is real. When the price climbs, buy graded and skip the risk.
Protect your card
High Chase Score — protect and consider grading. · Amazon affiliate links · Storage guideWord on the streetCommunity sentiment
Collectors consistently praise the art across the Rocket's ex cards in this set, and the legendary birds get singled out for their darker reskins. The trio is a popular sub-goal even for people not chasing the full master set.
- ›Clean PSA 10 examples command a large premium over raw near-mint copies
Interest spiked alongside the 2025 Team Rocket revival in the modern game, which sent collectors digging through the original vintage Rocket's cards. The birds were part of that renewed attention.
Good to knowFrequently asked questions
Keep collectingRelated cards
Plan your Other EX Team Rocket Returns master set
Track every card, see what you're missing, and lay out your binder page by page.
