Pokemon Trading Card Game Announces Shining Fates Expansion, Complete With Shiny Charizard VMAX Card

The Pokemon Company has officially announced the next expansion for the Pokemon Trading Card Game. The next expansion will be called Shining Fates, and will be a special expansion that features over 100 Shiny Pokemon on etched cards. The set includes nine Shiny Pokemon V cards and seven Shiny Pokemon VMAX cards, including the Shiny Charizard VMAX card that compliments the previously released and highly sought Charizard V card. Like the 2019 "Hidden Fates" expansion, the Shining Fate cards will only be available in special box sets and products - you won't be able to buy a regular booster pack at stores. Shining Fates products include an Elite Trainer Box with 10 booster packs and an Eevee VMAX card, special Shining Fates tins, a Shining Fates Collection featuring Pikachu V, and various other pin collections, mini tins, and premium collections.

Most of the cards in Shining Fates will likely be pulled from the Shiny Star V expansion released in Japan earlier this month. Most of the cards from that set were technically reprints with new artwork, so this set won't likely feature any major shakeups to the Pokemon TCG metagame. However, previous "special expansions" have been hard to find, such as this year's Champion's Path expansion, and this particular set will likely contain some "must get" cards that will go for hundreds of dollars on the secondary market.

The Pokemon Trading Card Game has experienced a surge in popularity this year, thanks to an uptick in interest in graded cards from the original Pokemon TCG Base Set. Near mint Charizard cards are selling for over $150,000 online, and that interest has caused a surge of collectors to buy up more recent cards, such as the aforementioned Shiny Charizard V card, which can sell for nearly $500 online.

The Shining Fates expansion for the Pokemon Trading Card Game will be released in February 2021.