Latios Star
Quick take
- Gold Star rarity, the top chase tier of the EX era (2004 to 2007)
- Shiny Latios, paired with the Latias Gold Star at 105 in the same set
- Illustrated by Masakazu Fukuda, the artist behind most EX-era Gold Stars
- A finish-line card for EX Deoxys master sets
Collector's readWhat it means for your master set
Set landscapeWhere this card sits in EX Deoxys
VariantsCard variants
Holofoil 106/107 · $1500.00 — the only variant this card was printed in (no reverse holo or special pattern), so a master set needs just this one copy.
The storyA shiny Eon dragon and one of the EX era's signature Gold Stars
Latios Gold Star sits at card 106 of 107 in EX Deoxys, right next to its sister card, the Latias Gold Star at 105. The two were chased as a pair, and that pairing is a big part of why this card matters. Owning one Latios rarely feels like enough. Most collectors want both halves of the Eon duo.
“Gold Star rarity, the top chase tier of the EX era (2004 to 2007)”
Gold Stars were the top tier of the EX era, the ancestor of today's Special Illustration and Hyper Rares. They showed the Pokemon in its shiny, alternate-color form with art that broke past the normal frame. Latios reads as a serious vintage trophy: a beloved legendary, a clean shiny treatment, and a Masakazu Fukuda illustration. For anyone building an EX Deoxys master set, this is one of the two cards that decides whether the binder ever gets finished.
By the numbersMarket analysis
This is a top-of-the-set card and a strong vintage chase. Raw copies command a serious premium, and graded gem-mint examples sit well into four-figure vintage territory. Latias and Latios are the two headline cards of EX Deoxys.
Demand for EX-era Gold Stars has held firm and trended up over the long run as vintage Pokemon matured into a collector category. Legendary Pokemon with a shiny art treatment tend to be the most resilient slice of that market.
Blue-chip vintage with a narrow supply. The risk here is condition and authenticity, not desirability. Gem-mint graded copies are scarce and carry the steepest premium, so the gap between a raw played copy and a high grade is wide. Buy the grade you can verify.
The premium for high grades is steep. Vintage holo foil from this era surfaces with surface wear, and centering ran loose, so clean gem-mint copies are genuinely hard to find and priced accordingly. A raw near-mint copy and a gem-mint slab are not in the same conversation.
EX-era Gold Stars were brutal pulls. Across most EX sets they landed at roughly one per two booster boxes, in the neighborhood of one in 72 packs. EX Power Keepers ran a bit more generous, around one to two Gold Stars per box, but EX Deoxys followed the tighter standard. EX Deoxys also held two Gold Stars, Latios at 106 and Latias at 105, so the odds of pulling this specific card were worse than the per-box Gold Star rate suggests. Most collectors never opened one. They bought it as a single.
Modern Scarlet and Violet chases look generous by comparison. A Special Illustration Rare runs about one in 90 packs and a Hyper Rare one in 300 to 700. A Gold Star at one per two boxes was already steep, and that is before you split the odds across the two in the set. The real difference is supply over time. Modern sets print huge, while sealed EX Deoxys is long gone, so vintage Gold Star supply only shrinks.
ArtworkWhy the art matters
Masakazu Fukuda is one of the most important names in vintage Pokemon TCG art. He illustrated the bulk of the EX-era Gold Stars, including the Latias and Latios pair, and his work is closely tied to the shiny, frame-breaking look those cards are known for. Collectors chase Fukuda Gold Stars as a set within a set, and his signature on a copy from a Worlds event adds a real premium.
The card shows Latios in its shiny form, rendered in the alternate coloring that marks a Pokemon Star card rather than the usual blue. The dragon is shown in flight, and the art pushes past the standard card frame the way Gold Star illustrations do. It reads as motion and speed, which fits an Eon Pokemon built around flying fast.
This is a holo foil card with the distinctive Gold Star foil pattern, and the gold star symbol next to the name marks the rarity. As 2005 vintage stock, the foil sits on a thinner card with a black core layer. Surface wear, edge whitening, and off-center cuts are common.
It lines up three things that rarely show up together: a top-tier rarity, a popular legendary, and the shiny treatment. The shiny coloring means this art does not exist anywhere else, and the pairing with Latias makes owning just one feel incomplete. That pull to finish the duo is what keeps both cards in demand.
BackgroundAbout Latios Star
Latios is a Legendary Dragon and Psychic Pokemon introduced in Generation III, one half of the Eon duo with Latias. It carried real cultural weight from its starring role in the fifth Pokemon movie, Pokemon Heroes, where Latios and Latias anchored the whole story. That movie connection gives the card recognition far beyond hardcore TCG players.
- ›Legendary status and a memorable movie role in Pokemon Heroes
- ›The Eon pairing with Latias, which collectors love to complete
- ›Dragon typing, always a popular draw in the fanbase
- ›Shiny alternate coloring exclusive to the Gold Star card
- ›Pokemon Heroes (the fifth Pokemon film), as a central character
- ›Multiple main-series games as a roaming or event Legendary
Not a competitive card today. As a vintage Basic with 80 HP and the one-copy Pokemon Star deck restriction, it lives in the collector and display world now. Its value is about rarity, art, and nostalgia, not play.
Own it wellCollector guide
2005 holo foil is fragile. Look hard for edge whitening, surface scratches in the foil, and print lines. Centering ran loose in this era, so a well-centered copy is a real find. Check the back swirl gradient and the corners under good light before paying up.
For any serious money, buy it already graded by PSA, BGS, or CGC. Vintage Gold Stars are among the most counterfeited Pokemon cards, and a reputable slab handles authenticity and condition in one step. If you grade a raw copy yourself, go in knowing centering will likely cap the grade. Read the grading guide →
Treat it like the vintage trophy it is. Keep raw copies in a snug penny sleeve inside a top loader or a sealed semi-rigid holder, away from light and humidity. For graded copies, use a slab case or a cardsaver box that keeps the slab from sliding. Do not let foil cards rub against each other. See the storage guide →
Buy graded from a seller with a clean track record. If you want a Fukuda-signed Worlds copy, expect to pay extra and verify the signing provenance. Budget builders can target a lower-grade or played raw copy to fill the slot, then upgrade later. See the singles buying guide →
Gold Stars are heavily faked, so authenticate carefully. Do the light test: a genuine vintage card has a black core layer that blocks light, while many fakes pass too much light through. Feel the surface texture, since real EX-era foil has a specific tooth that reprints miss. Watch the holo behavior under tilt, where the foil pattern should move correctly rather than look flat or printed. Check the back swirl gradient and the crispness of the gold star symbol and text. When in doubt, only buy graded.
Protect your card
High Chase Score — protect and consider grading. · Amazon affiliate links · Storage guideWord on the streetCommunity sentiment
Collectors treat the Latias and Latios Gold Stars as two of the standout cards of the entire EX era. They show up on grail lists for EX Deoxys and for Fukuda Gold Star collectors, and the Eon pairing means people who buy one almost always want the other.
- ›The sister card, the Latias Gold Star at 105, has recorded strong top-grade results at public auction, which sets the high-end reference point for the pair.
Steady, long-running interest rather than a hype spike. Conversation centers on condition, authenticity, and the chase to complete the Latias and Latios pair. Fukuda-signed Worlds copies surface occasionally and draw extra attention when they do.
Good to knowFrequently asked questions
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