What is a reverse holo Pokemon card?

A reverse holo (reverse holofoil) is a printing of a Pokemon card where the foil shine covers the card around the artwork instead of the artwork itself, the opposite of a regular holo. It keeps the regular print's card number and rarity, so collectors treat it as a separate version of the same card.

Reverse holos began with Legendary Collection in 2002 and have appeared in main sets ever since, usually for every card except ultra rares, secret rares and full arts.

Before you buy one

• Let the title and photos decide. The card number won't tell a regular print from its reverse holo, so look at the foil in the photo.

• Check which pattern it is. Some sets print more than one reverse pattern, and each is its own version: Prismatic Evolutions commons come as a plain reverse holo plus Poke Ball and Master Ball pattern reverses. Sellers name them that way ("Poke Ball reverse", "Master Ball reverse"), so put the pattern in your search and check the photo shows it.

• Aim your search. A search for "holo" also matches "reverse holo" titles, because they contain the word. Add -reverse when you want only the holo, and add "reverse holo" when you want only the reverse. Some titles say "RH" or "reverse foil" instead, so a search for the words alone won't catch every copy.

On ChaseBoard, a card's Reverse Holo chip adds "reverse holo" to its search, and it reads "rev" as "reverse", so "rev holo" titles come through too. The exclude word "reverse" keeps reverse holos out of a holo watch.