Mew VMAX Card Guide: The S8 Fusion Arts Print and the Alt Art Question

Print History: The S8 Original and the S12a Reprint

The prints individually verified for this guide include the Fusion Arts 40/100 card and its VSTAR Universe 54/172 reprint. Both are Triple Rare, and both share the same illustrator and the same attack text. This two-row comparison is not presented as an exhaustive count of every Japanese Mew VMAX treatment.

Mew VMAX 40/100 (Fusion Arts, S8)

Mew VMAX 54/172 (VSTAR Universe, S12a)

VSTAR Universe is a “best-of” compilation set, and its 54/172 print is a straight reprint of the S8/40 artwork — same illustrator, same attack text, and the same English-equivalent cards on file. It is not a distinct alt-art version; it is the same card carried into a different set.

Fusion Arts also carries a regular, non-VMAX Mew — Mew V — across three further prints, which are worth knowing so you don’t mistake them for the VMAX:

Mew V 39/100 (Double Rare)

Mew V 105 (Secret Rare)

Mew V 106 (Secret Rare)

Mew V sits at 39/100 (Double Rare), then reappears twice more in the set’s secret tier at #105 (Secret Rare, illustrated by aky CG Works) and #106 (Secret Rare, illustrated by Naoki Saito). None of these three are VMAX cards — they are a separate evolution stage with their own print run, sitting one number below the Triple Rare Mew VMAX at 40/100.

Japanese vs English Print — and the “Alt Art” Question

English Fusion Strike includes multiple Mew VMAX treatments, so an English card number or the collector label “alt art” should not be assigned directly to the Japanese 40/100 card without matching the artwork and print details. The Japanese card covered here is the Fusion Arts 40/100 Triple Rare; its language, numbering, and rarity label should be read from that print rather than inferred from an English release.

Where to Buy Mew VMAX from Tokyo

A single of the 40/100 Triple Rare, in either the S8 or S12a printing, is not currently listed on our site. The sealed S8-Fusion Arts Japanese Pokemon Booster Box is where this VMAX is pulled from, currently listed at ¥61,425 (~$386), shipped from Tokyo with tracked delivery.

If you’re after a graded single of this print, or the S12a VSTAR Universe reprint, sourcing requests go through our Quick Order page — no restock timing is promised, but it’s the fastest way to flag what you’re after. For sealed Japanese Pokemon boxes more broadly, browse our Pokemon card box collection.

For more on Mew across other Japanese sets and rarities, see our Best Mew Cards Ranked hub, which covers Mew’s full print history across eras — this guide is the single-print deep dive on the S8/S12a Triple Rare specifically. The companion S8a set has its own single-card write-up in our Mew Mirror (S8a) 002/028 card guide, and a completely different Mew VMAX — the VMAX Climax Ultra Rare — is covered separately in our Mew VMAX 280/184 UR card guide; that is a different set and a different rarity tier from the Fusion Arts Triple Rare above. For more full-artwork Japanese prints in general, see our best full art Pokemon cards roundup.