Pokémon card terms explained

Collectors use a lot of shorthand. This page gives each term one plain line. Press a subject to see its terms, or all of them.

Checked October 12, 2026. We update this page when the facts change.

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Booster packA sealed pack of about ten cards from one set.

Booster boxA sealed display of 36 booster packs.

ETBElite Trainer Box. Nine packs with sleeves, dice and a storage box.

Booster bundleSix packs in a small sealed box.

UPCUltra Premium Collection. The largest box a set gets, with special promo cards.

BlisterOne to three packs sealed on a card backing, often with a promo card.

SealedStill in its factory wrap, never opened.

Out of printNo longer being made. Prices rise as sealed stock runs down.

Special setA set with no booster box. Its packs come only inside other products.

HoloA card with a shiny picture.

Reverse holoA card that shines everywhere but the picture.

Full artA card whose artwork covers the whole face.

Illustration rareA full card painting, marked with one gold star.

Secret rareA card numbered above the set total.

Chase cardThe card collectors most want from a set.

HitAny rare pull worth keeping.

BulkCommon cards worth almost nothing each, sold by the hundred.

PromoA card given out in a product or at an event, not found in packs.

God packA pack in which every card is a hit. Found in some Japanese sets.

Pull rateHow many packs it takes, on average, to find a kind of card.

Error cardA card with a printing mistake, such as missing ink or a wrong cut.

First editionThe first print run of an early set, marked with a stamp.

ShadowlessAn early Base Set print with no shadow beside the picture frame.

RawNot graded. A card as it is.

SlabA graded card sealed in its hard plastic case.

PSA 10The top grade from PSA, the largest grading company.

Gem MintThe name for a grade of 10.

Pop reportA grading company's count of the copies it has graded at each grade.

CenteringHow evenly the borders sit around the artwork.

WhiteningWhite wear on a card's back corners and sides.

Near MintThe best condition for a raw card: fresh from the pack.

Cert numberThe number on a slab's label. It looks the card up on the grader's site.

CrossoverSending a card graded by one company to be graded by another.

PreorderAn order placed before a product is released.

AllocationThe share of a product a shop is given to sell.

RestockNew stock of a product that had sold out.

MSRPThe price the maker suggests. Shops are free to charge more or less.

ScalperSomeone who buys stock only to resell it at a higher price.

ResealedOpened, emptied of its best packs, and wrapped again.

Weighed packsPacks sorted on a scale to find the heavier ones. It no longer works on modern sets.

Market priceWhat a product sells for across shops today, not what one seller asks.

SinglesCards bought one at a time, not in packs.

Raw means not graded. A slab is a graded card in its case.
ETB is an Elite Trainer Box. A booster box is 36 packs.
A chase card is the card everyone wants from a set.
A pop report counts how many copies exist at each grade.

Shorthand in listings

Letters	Meaning
NM, LP, MP, HP, DMG	The five conditions, from Near Mint to Damaged.
RH	Reverse holo.
FA	Full art.
IR and SIR	Illustration rare and special illustration rare.
ETB, BB, UPC	Elite Trainer Box, booster box, Ultra Premium Collection.
OOP	Out of print.
WTB, WTS, WTT	Want to buy, want to sell, want to trade.
JP and EN	Japanese and English.