The Alt-Art Premium: how much more is a Special Illustration Rare?
Every modern Pokémon ex comes two ways: a plain Double Rare and a short-printed Special Illustration Rare alt art. Same Pokémon, same set. We matched 88 of them to measure exactly what the alt art is worth.
The alt art is basically the whole card
The plain Double Rare ex trades at a median of just €0.71, effectively bulk, because it is printed in bulk. The Special Illustration Rare of the same card trades at a median €31. Practically all of an ex’s value sits in the short-printed alt art. If you are opening packs hoping to hit a valuable ex, the money card is the SIR; the Double Rare is a playset piece.
The biggest alt-art premiums
Special Illustration Rare price vs the plain Double Rare of the same ex.
| Card | Double Rare | SIR alt art | Premium |
|---|---|---|---|
| Team Rocket's Mewtwo exDestined Rivals | €0.98 | €571 | 583× |
| Team Rocket's Moltres exDestined Rivals | €0.63 | €275 | 437× |
| Ethan's Ho-Oh exDestined Rivals | €0.77 | €284 | 369× |
| Zekrom exBlack Bolt | €0.50 | €181 | 361× |
| Team Rocket's Nidoking exDestined Rivals | €0.54 | €174 | 322× |
Method & sources
- For every modern ex we compared its Double Rare and Special Illustration Rare Cardmarket EUR trend price via the open pokemontcg.io API.
- We match by set and name, so each pair is the same Pokémon in the same set; the only difference is the alt-art treatment (88 matched pairs).
- Per card we took the median price of each printing, then the median of the per-card ratios, robust to one extreme card.
- Cardmarket EUR trend price via the open pokemontcg.io API. Valued 2026-07-05. Reference estimates for raw cards, not sold or graded records; prices move. Reproducible from the open API.
FAQ
Is a Special Illustration Rare worth more than the regular card?
By a lot. Across 88 modern Pokémon exes that come in both a plain Double Rare and a Special Illustration Rare (SIR) alt art, the SIR sells for a median 33× the plain version, and 97% are at least 5×. It is the same Pokémon in the same set, so that entire gap is the alt-art treatment. In practice the plain ex is near-bulk (median €0.71) and the SIR (median €31) is essentially the whole card.
So is the plain Double Rare ex worth anything?
Usually very little. The median plain Double Rare in this set of pairs trades at just €0.71, i.e. bulk. Because every ex is printed as a Double Rare in huge numbers, supply swamps demand. The value lives almost entirely in the short-printed alt art, which is why collectors chase the SIR and treat the Double Rare as a playset piece.
Which alt art has the biggest premium?
Team Rocket's Mewtwo ex from Destined Rivals: its SIR trades around €571 while the plain Double Rare is about €0.98, roughly 583×. The most hyped chase exes in a set show the most extreme gaps, but the pattern holds across the board, not one card.
Where does this data come from, and is it reliable?
For each modern ex we compared its "Double Rare" and "Special Illustration Rare" Cardmarket EUR trend price via the open pokemontcg.io API, keeping only exes that have both, and matching by set and name so it is the same Pokémon (Cardmarket EUR trend price via the open pokemontcg.io API, valued 2026-07-05). These are reference estimates for raw cards, not sold or graded records, and prices move. We never scrape marketplaces and never invent a number; the figures are reproducible from the open API.
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