Mewtwo GX Secret Shining
Quick take
- Secret rare 78/73, the top chase card of Shining Legends
- Art references Mewtwo's lab origin, hence the Test Tube nickname
- One of three Mewtwo GX printings in the set, and the most valuable
- A Mitsuhiro Arita illustration of a top-tier franchise Pokemon
Collector's readWhat it means for your master set
Set landscapeWhere this card sits in Shining Legends
VariantsCard variants
Holofoil 78/73 · $824.69 — 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 Test Tube Mewtwo that defined a fan-favorite set
Shining Legends was a 2017 mini-set built around shiny Pokemon, and it was short on chase cards, so the secret rares carried real weight. Mewtwo GX number 78 is the one everyone remembers. The art shows Mewtwo suspended in its lab tank, a callback to its origin story, and the community nicknamed it the Test Tube Mewtwo almost immediately. Some people call it the Mew Tube card.
“Secret rare 78/73, the top chase card of Shining Legends”
This is the secret rare version, printed beyond the numbered set at 78/73. There are three Mewtwo GX cards in the set: the standard GX, the full art, and this secret. The secret is the one collectors mean when they talk about the Shining Legends chase card. It pairs one of the most popular Pokemon in the franchise with art that ties back to the first movie.
For master set builders, this is the card the rest of the binder page revolves around. It is the most expensive single in Shining Legends and the piece that takes the longest to track down in clean condition.
By the numbersMarket analysis
Raw copies sit at the top of the Shining Legends set, well clear of the other secrets. It trades as a solid mid-three-figure card in high grade and steps down sharply for played copies. The live market number is shown elsewhere on this page.
The card held attention through the original Sun and Moon nostalgia wave, and the broad Mewtwo collector base keeps a steady floor under it. Graded gem copies move the most, since raw supply is plentiful but clean centering is not.
This is a mascot card with durable demand rather than a speculative flip. Mewtwo interest holds steady, and the set has a clear single headliner, which protects the card from fading into a pile of similar secrets. Gem-grade copies are the safer hold. Raw played copies face more competition.
PSA 10 carries a large premium over raw and over PSA 9, which is typical for full-art GX secrets where edge whitening and centering knock most copies out of gem range. The jump from PSA 9 to PSA 10 is the steep one here.
Shining Legends is a 2017 Sun and Moon era set, so it predates the Scarlet and Violet rarity ladder and its published per-pack odds. Secret rares like this one sat at the very top of that era's rarity structure and were uncommon pulls from packs and the dedicated tins. In practice most collectors today buy this as a single rather than try to pull it, since the set is long out of print and sealed prices have climbed well past the cost of just buying the card.
Shining Legends had only a handful of secret rares, and this Mewtwo is the clear standout among them. Compared with the set's other Mewtwo printings, the standard GX and the full art, the secret is the scarcest and the one that commands the real premium.
ArtworkWhy the art matters
Mitsuhiro Arita is one of the original Pokemon TCG illustrators and painted the Base Set Charizard, the card most people picture when they think of Pokemon cards. His name on a card is a draw in itself, and his involvement with a Mewtwo secret rare is part of why this one gets the attention it does.
Mewtwo floats inside the laboratory containment tank, tubes and fluid around it, eyes open. It is a quiet, eerie scene rather than an action pose, and it reads as the moment before Mewtwo breaks free. That lab-tank imagery is what earned the card its Test Tube and Mew Tube nicknames.
This is the secret rare full-art treatment, 78/73, with the textured holo finish used for Sun and Moon era GX secrets. The artwork runs across the whole card face rather than sitting in a window, which is part of what makes centering and edge wear so visible when grading.
Most Mewtwo cards show it mid-battle. This one shows where it came from. The origin-story framing, an Arita signature, and a top-tier franchise Pokemon together explain why this card outran every other secret in the set.
BackgroundAbout Mewtwo GX Secret Shining
Mewtwo was created in a lab as a cloned, genetically engineered Pokemon, a backstory cemented by the first Pokemon movie, Mewtwo Strikes Back. It has been a fixture of merchandise, games, and the anime since the very beginning, and it stays one of the most recognizable Pokemon outside the core fan base.
- ›Central villain and then anti-hero of the first Pokemon movie
- ›Created-in-a-lab origin that this card art leans into
- ›Consistently one of the most collected non-starter Pokemon
- ›Strong crossover appeal with people who do not otherwise collect cards
- ›Mewtwo Strikes Back, the first Pokemon theatrical movie
- ›A long line of TCG chase cards across many sets and eras
- ›Mega Mewtwo X and Y forms in the games and later card sets
Mewtwo GX saw some Standard format play during the Sun and Moon era. Its Psystrike GX attack ignored effects on the opponent's Active Pokemon, which helped against bulky defensive setups. Its lasting value is as a collectible, though, not as a tournament staple.
Own it wellCollector guide
Full-art GX secrets show wear easily. Check the textured surface for scratches under good light, watch the edges for whitening against the dark border, and look hard at centering. Many raw copies that look clean front-on fail to grade gem because of small framing or edge issues.
Worth grading if the copy is genuinely clean, since the PSA 10 premium over raw and over PSA 9 is large. If you can already see edge whitening or off-centering, the card is better kept raw or sold as-is rather than paying grading fees for a likely 9. Read the grading guide →
Sleeve and toploader at minimum, and use a card saver plus team bag if you are sending it to grade. Keep it out of direct light and away from humidity. The holo texture scuffs against bare PVC, so do not store it loose. See the storage guide →
For a gem-grade copy, buy already slabbed from a reputable grader so you are not gambling on centering. For a binder copy, raw near-mint is plentiful and far cheaper. Decide which lane you are in before you buy, because the price gap between a clean raw and a PSA 10 is wide. See the singles buying guide →
This is a modern card, so vintage counterfeit concerns are lighter than for older holos, but fakes do exist for popular Mewtwo cards. Compare the holo texture and color saturation against a known-good copy, check the card number 78/73 and the Arita credit, and feel the front texture, which reproductions usually get wrong. For any serious money, buy graded.
Protect your card
High Chase Score — protect and consider grading. · Amazon affiliate links · Storage guideWord on the streetCommunity sentiment
The Test Tube Mewtwo is one of the better-loved secret rares of the Sun and Moon era. Collectors point to the origin-story art and the Arita name, and it gets singled out as the reason to chase Shining Legends at all. Praise tends to focus on how different the scene feels from a standard battle pose.
It comes up regularly in Mewtwo-collection threads and best-looking-card discussions, usually under the Test Tube or Mew Tube nicknames. The art concept is the hook people keep returning to.
Good to knowFrequently asked questions
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