With Steel type Pokemon in the video games and Metal type energy in the Trading Card Game, you would think it’d be obvious what Metal Pokemon cards are – but if you’ve actually seen one, it may have left you a little confused.
So: Metal Pokemon Cards – what are they?
Let’s find out!
What Are Metal Pokemon Cards?
Metal Pokemon Cards are exactly as described: Pokemon Trading Card Game cards made of metal.
Though gold-coloured, they’re not actual gold of course, nor are they claimed as god cards or featured in god packs.
Although you’ll find that they share designs with actual Pokemon Trading Card Game cards, they’re completely unsuited for use in the actual game, due to their weight and appearance – so they’re purely an item for collectors to display.
Are Metal Pokemon Cards Official?
The answer to this is: yes – and no!
You’ll find lots of metal Pokemon cards for sale online, via eBay, Etsy or other digital marketplaces.
Yet for the most part, these will all be unofficial, bootleg cards.
They’re usually well made and still look impressive – they do look brilliant as display pieces – but they’re definitely not officially produced or authorised by The Pokemon Company, Game Freak or Nintendo.
However, there are official metal Pokemon cards out there – but they’re much harder to find and much more limited in number than the vast majority of metal cards you’ll find anywhere.
What Official Metal Pokemon Cards Are There?
Way back in 1999, Burger King released a set of six metal cards in Pokeballs, each in their own cardboard box.
These cards are very different to the metal Pokemon cards that you see nowadays; instead of reproducing a card from the Pokemon Trading Card Game, they each showcase a different Pokemon – with a portrait and a Pokedex entry on each one.
These also came complete with a Certificate of Authenticity – so even now you know when you’re getting the genuine items!
The list of Burger King Metal Pokemon Cards is as follows, in alphabetical order:
- Charizard
- Jigglypuff
- Mewtwo
- Pikachu
- Poliwhirl
- Togepi
Naturally, given their age, these are now highly sought after!
As far as official reproductions of actual Pokemon Trading Card Game cards go, only four different ones have ever been released.
The four official metal Pokemon Trading Card Game cards are (again, in alphabetical order):
- Arceus V
- Arceus V STAR
- Charizard
- Pikachu
Two of these metal cards were included in the Celebrations Ultimate Premium Collection. One featured the Pikachu from the original Pokemon Trading Card Game base set – and the other was Charizard, from the same, very first set for the game.
Both are gold coloured metal cards, though the illustrations and card backs are appropriately coloured to match the real cards.
The final two official metal cards were released in another box set – the Arceus Ultra Premium Collection.
This contained both an Arceus V and an Arceus V STAR metal card.
What’s interesting about the two Arceus cards is that their designs don’t look like the gold coloured metal cards that seem to be popping up everywhere at the moment; they very much look like standard cards.
Will There Be More Official Metal Pokemon Cards?
At present, only one has been announced – the Mew ex, which is set for release in the Pokemon 151 set, due in August 2023.
Undoubtedly though, more and more will be added to the range of official metal cards as time goes on; they’re a great bonus for fans buying the special box sets, especially as the official cards can’t be found anywhere else.
Are Official Metal Pokemon Cards Valuable?
Naturally, those first six Burger King Metal Pokemon Cards can sell for hundreds online, particularly if sold as sets of six cards along with Pokeballs and boxes!
On their own, each of those Burger King promotional metal cards sells for a decent amount too – after all, they’re now more than two decades old!
Though only a few years old, if you’re looking to get hold of an official Charizard Celebrations metal card, that could end up costing you well over a hundred dollars or more.
The same can be said of the Pikachu card, if you’re specifically looking to get hold of the official metal cards of course.
The Arceus V and Arceus V STAR can be pricey, but they’re currently far more common and less in demand than the Charizard and Pikachu – the latter two of which obviously tap into quite a bit of nostalgia that older Pokemon fans have for the original set!
What Can I Expect If I Buy Unofficial Metal Pokemon Cards?
Though they’re not authorised by The Pokemon Company, many unofficial cards are extremely well made and function perfectly well as eye-catching display pieces.
The reproductions of official cards – such as Charizard, Pikachu and the two versions of Arceus – are often noticeably lower in quality than the ‘real’ metal cards, but are still usually quite attractive in their own right.
If you’ve got a particular favourite Pokemon, you may even find that sellers and creators on Etsy or eBay have made metal versions of cards you’re looking for – which of course, will definitely be fake, as no official metal cards of these Pokemon exist.
For example, we have a metal Mewtwo & Mew GX Tag Team card.
Again, though it isn’t an official card, it’s well made and has a great rainbow coloured illustration, as well as the famous Pokeball card back – albeit without the colour, instead just rendered in gold.
With the back of the card, it becomes more obvious that this is an unofficial creation; it lacks detail and feels far less impressive than the design on the front.
It’s definitely worth bearing in mind that these cards are also an awful lot cheaper than the official versions – so, if you don’t mind the fact that they aren’t original cards (as well as being able to deal with the fact that quality may be inconsistent depending on the card and its seller), it’s certainly a lot more cost effective to buy the far more common, unofficial metal cards!
