326 cards. 127 of them shiny. Zero Pikachu.
Shiny Star V (S4a) is the set that built a high-class pack around 127 shiny variants, and five years after its November 2020 release it’s still one of the most requested Sword & Shield-era boxes we ship out of Tokyo. It was never a mainline expansion — it’s a dedicated shiny-reprint product, built to take popular Pokemon from earlier Sword & Shield sets and reissue them in the shiny 色違い treatment, alongside a run of shiny V and VMAX full arts that didn’t exist anywhere else at the time.
If you’re weighing whether to open a box, chase specific singles, or just want to know what ¥5,500 bought in 2020 versus what the same sealed product costs today, this guide covers the box configuration, every rarity tier in the 326-card set, the chase cards worth knowing before you buy, and current pricing on both sealed boxes and graded singles.
Shiny Star V packs 326 total cards (190 base + 136 secrets) into a 10-pack box with a guaranteed V or VMAX in every pack. 127 of those cards are shiny variants — 104 at the S (色違い) tier and 23 at SSR, topped by the shiny Charizard VMAX SSR 308/190. There is no UR tier in this set, and notably, no Pikachu card at all. A sealed box is currently listed at ¥23,415 (~$159) — more than four times the original 2020 retail price.
Prices are current Samurai Sword Tokyo listings as of August 2026, converted at ¥147/USD.
What’s Inside a Shiny Star V Box
Shiny Star V is a ハイクラスパック (high-class pack), Sword & Shield’s mid-generation format built specifically around shiny reprints rather than a fresh mainline expansion. It released in Japan on November 20, 2020, at a retail price of ¥5,000 plus tax (¥5,500 tax included) for a 10-pack box, with 10 cards per pack. Every pack carries one guaranteed V or VMAX card, so a full box guarantees ten V/VMAX pulls before you even get to the shiny slots.
The base set runs to 190 cards (001–190): 163 regular commons, uncommons and rares, plus 16 RR, 8 RRR and 3 アメイジングレア (Amazing Rare) cards. On top of that sits a secret pool of 136 cards (191–326), bringing the set total to 326 cards. There is no UR tier here; SSR is the top rarity in the set.
That secret pool is where Shiny Star V earns its name. Of the 136 secrets, 127 are shiny cards — 104 shiny non-V Pokemon at the S tier and 23 shiny V/VMAX full arts at SSR — which means roughly 39% of the entire 326-card checklist is a shiny variant of some kind.
The bulk of a box is filled out with cards like these — the everyday base-set Pokemon that give the set its floor. Within the 190-card base set, the step-up rarities are RR (16 cards) and RRR (8 cards), both non-shiny holo-style rares that sit above the regular commons, uncommons and rares before you even reach the secret pool. The real draw, though, sits above 190/190, in the secret pool.
One structural note worth knowing before you open a box: Shiny Star V contains no ピカチュウ (Pikachu) card at all, in any rarity, anywhere in the 326-card list. If you’re specifically chasing a shiny Pikachu, this is not the set — that’s a Shining Fates (the English counterpart) and Shiny Vault convention, not something Shiny Star V shares. Worth confirming before you buy, since it’s an easy assumption to make about any shiny-themed Pokemon TCG product.
Chase Cards Worth Pulling
The secret pool breaks into three rarity bands above the base 190: SR (9 cards, 191–199/190), S — the 色違い shiny commons (104 cards, 200–303/190), and SSR — shiny V/VMAX cards (23 cards, 304–326/190). The nine SR slots are all Trainer cards, several of which are the set’s most-searched pulls in their own right:
Two SR slots outside those six pictured above are the ones most collectors are actually hunting: Marnie SR 198/190 is the set’s signature supporter pull, and it’s frequently the card that decides whether a box “hit.” Rose SR 199/190 and the SR item card ポケモンごっこ (197/190) round out the nine-card SR tier — all nine are Trainer cards rather than Pokemon, which is a deliberate structural choice: the shiny Pokemon chase lives entirely in the S and SSR tiers above them.
Above SR, the 104-card S tier runs from 200/190 through 303/190 — ordinary shiny (色違い) non-V Pokemon, numbered continuously rather than under a separate “Shiny Vault”-style sub-numbering (that SV## convention belongs to the English counterpart set, Shining Fates, not to S4a itself). Because the S tier spans over a hundred different Pokemon, no single card in that band dominates pull-rate discussion the way the SSR tier’s chase cards do — it functions more as a broad 104-card shiny-collecting checklist than a hunt for one specific card.
At the very top, the 23-card SSR tier (304–326/190) is where the set’s headline chase cards live: shiny V and VMAX Pokemon, full art, gold-bordered. The two everyone asks about are shiny Charizard VMAX SSR 308/190 and shiny Charizard V SSR 307/190. A PSA10-graded Charizard VMAX SSR 308/190, recently listed at ¥41,179 (~$280) (update: currently sold out — restock requests via Quick Order), is currently out of stock — restock requests go through Quick Order. PSA independently determines authenticity and grade; the PSA10 designation reflects PSA’s own grading, not a claim we make ourselves.
Also in the SSR tier is shiny Ditto VMAX 324/190, a fan-favorite pull thanks to Ditto’s transform mechanic crossing into the shiny full-art treatment. A PSA10 Ditto VMAX SSR 324/190, recently listed at ¥24,720 (~$168) (update: currently sold out — restock requests via Quick Order), is currently out of stock — restock requests go through the same Quick Order page.
Outside the shiny tiers entirely, Shiny Star V also carries three アメイジングレア (Amazing Rare) cards in the base set: Reshiram 021/190, Kyogre 036/190 and Yveltal 117/190. These are a distinct rarity from the SR/S/SSR secrets, sitting inside the 001–190 base numbering with their own oversized-art treatment. A PSA10 Reshiram 021/190, recently listed at ¥5,665 (~$39) (update: currently sold out — restock requests via Quick Order), is also currently out of stock, restockable via Quick Order.
For the complete row-by-row breakdown of all 326 cards, including every S-tier shiny not covered here, see our full S4a Shiny Star V card list. For a deeper look at pull rates and how these tiers compare in practice, our Shiny Star V pull rates and best cards guide covers that ground in detail.
Base set (001–190): regular / RR (16) / RRR (8) / Amazing Rare (3). Secrets (191–326): SR (9, all Trainers) → S (104, shiny non-V) → SSR (23, shiny V/VMAX — the top tier, since S4a has no UR).
Current Box Pricing vs. 2020 MSRP
Shiny Star V launched at ¥5,000 plus tax (¥5,500 tax included) per box in November 2020 — a standard high-class pack price point for that era, working out to roughly ¥500 plus tax per pack of 10 cards. Five years later, as of August 2026, a sealed box is currently listed at ¥23,415 (~$159), more than four times the original retail price.
For buyers who want a specific chase card rather than the variance of opening packs, we carry PSA-graded copies of several SSR and Amazing Rare cards from the set directly — covered in the chase cards section above and linked again below.
Who Should Buy This Box
Shiny Star V rewards a specific kind of buyer: someone chasing the shiny full-art aesthetic across a wide field of Pokemon, not someone hunting a single flagship card. With 127 shiny cards spread across 326 total, a box favors volume and variety of pulls over concentrated odds on one specific card — which shiny you get is spread thin across a 104-card S tier and a 23-card SSR tier, rather than concentrated on one or two headline slots.
That’s a different proposition than sets built around a single top-tier chase card, where the entire box’s value hinges on one specific pull. Here, the value is spread across the format itself: a guaranteed V or VMAX card in every one of the 10 packs, on top of whatever shiny cards land from the S and SSR pool.
- Buy this box if: you want a broad shiny-Pokemon collecting project, you’re specifically after the shiny Charizard VMAX or Ditto VMAX chase, or you want a piece of the set that first popularized the “everything is shiny” high-class pack format.
- Look elsewhere if: you’re chasing a shiny Pikachu specifically (not in this set), or you want current-release sealed product at closer to original MSRP rather than a five-year-appreciated box.
If you’re comparing Shiny Star V against other shiny-chase Japanese boxes before deciding where to spend, our comparison guides cover the alternatives directly: Shiny Star V vs. VMAX Climax, GX Ultra Shiny vs. Shiny Star V, and Shiny Star V vs. Shiny Treasure ex.
Where to Buy Shiny Star V
We ship sealed Japanese product and graded singles worldwide from Tokyo with tracked delivery. If you want to open your own box and chase the SR, S and SSR tiers yourself, sealed product is the direct route.
Prefer the graded chase cards directly rather than opening packs? Our PSA10 Charizard VMAX SSR 308/190 (update: currently sold out — restock requests via Quick Order), Ditto VMAX SSR 324/190 (update: currently sold out — restock requests via Quick Order), and Reshiram 021/190 (update: currently sold out — restock requests via Quick Order) listings are all out of stock at the moment — use Quick Order to request a restock notification, or browse the complete S4a card list for other singles from the set.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many cards are in a Shiny Star V booster box?
A Shiny Star V box contains 10 packs of 10 cards each, drawn from a 326-card set (190 base cards plus 136 secrets). Every pack guarantees one V or VMAX card.
What are the chase cards in Shiny Star V?
The headline SSR pulls are shiny Charizard VMAX 308/190 and shiny Charizard V 307/190, alongside shiny Ditto VMAX 324/190. Among the SR Trainer cards, Marnie SR 198/190 is the set’s signature supporter pull. The base set also includes three Amazing Rare cards: Reshiram, Kyogre and Yveltal.
Is there a Pikachu card in Shiny Star V?
No. Shiny Star V contains no Pikachu card in any rarity across its full 326-card list. Collectors looking for a shiny Pikachu should look at Shining Fates (the English counterpart set) instead.
How much does a Shiny Star V booster box cost now?
A sealed box is currently listed at ¥23,415 (about $159) at Samurai Sword Tokyo — more than four times its original November 2020 retail price of ¥5,500 tax included.
What’s the difference between the S and SSR rarity tiers?
S (色違い) covers 104 shiny non-V Pokemon numbered 200–303/190. SSR covers 23 shiny V and VMAX Pokemon numbered 304–326/190, including the set’s top chase cards. There is no UR tier in Shiny Star V — SSR is the highest rarity.
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