Burning Shadows Booster Box vs Japanese SM3 Sets: Pokemon Cards

Spec Table: English Burning Shadows vs the Japanese Sets

Cells marked “not printed” are gaps on the official English pages, not zero values; “not confirmed” marks a Japanese figure that is not confirmed for these sets.

English figures come from the pokemon.com set and product-gallery pages; Japanese figures come from Bulbapedia’s list of Japanese expansions (snapshot September 15, 2026). Limitless TCG row counts are as of September 30, 2026.

The Japanese Sets Behind Burning Shadows

Bulbapedia lists the sets below, released between April and June 2017. SM3 is the expansion, released as a two-version pair; SM2+ is the enhanced set that came before it.

The same list gives SM3+ Shining Legends (ひかる伝説, July 15, 2017, 72 cards) its own English counterpart, Shining Legends, so it forms a separate pairing; our SM3+ Shining Legends set guide covers it. The Japanese SM3 pair has its own write-up in our SM3H To Have Seen the Battle Rainbow guide.

The 19 Full-Art-Tier Cards and Their Japanese Prints

All 19 English Ultra Rare cards (Limitless label) have a Japanese SR print. Japanese numbers print over 051 for SM3 and over 049 for SM2+. Where we list a print, the price is a PSA 10 listing; PSA 10 back orders are covered in how PSA 10 back orders work. Sourcing requests for a card without a listing go through Pedido rápido.

The illustrator credit is 5ban Graphics on the English card and on the Japanese SR print in all four pictured cases; a shared credit does not by itself show identical artwork. Limitless TCG also lists later Japanese prints with the same game text for several of these cards in SM8b GX Ultra Shiny, for example Golisopod-GX (SM8b #8 and #208), Gardevoir-GX (SM8b #92 and #237) and Darkrai-GX (SM8b #230); the SM8b GX Ultra Shiny card list covers that set. Two of those SM8b prints are offered as PSA 10 cards: Gardevoir GX SSR SM8b 237/150 as a back order at ¥20,400 (~$132), and Darkrai GX SSR SM8b 230/150 as a PSA 10 at ¥37,700 (~$245) or a back order at ¥36,975 (~$240).

Sealed Product: English Elite Trainer Box and Japanese Boxes

The official English product gallery lists an Elite Trainer Box for Burning Shadows and prints no booster-box contents or booster-display pack count. Packs per box, cartas por sobre and a box MSRP are not confirmed for SM3 or SM2+ either.

What we list from these sets are PSA 10 graded singles. The Japanese prints in the tables above are the ones a Burning Shadows buyer would look for, and each price sits in its product link.

Rainbow Rare and Secret Rare Cards Without a Verified Match

Limitless TCG’s Japanese-print lists for these cards show no print above the SR tier in the paired sets, so the 13 Rainbow Rare and 9 gold Secret Rare cards have no verified same-tier counterpart. Twelve Rainbow Rare cards are a second version of a Pokémon-GX that also appears among the numbered Ultra Rare cards; the table shows the Japanese RR and SR prints Limitless lists for the same game text, which sit in lower tiers.

Our catalogue also lists Japanese singles above the SR tier, which Limitless does not pair with an English card: Charizard GX HR SM3H 058/051 as a PSA 10 back order at ¥785,400 (~$5,100) and Ho-Oh GX HR SM3H 059/051 as a PSA 10 back order at ¥168,300 (~$1,093) (see our Ho-Oh GX HR guide). The Charizard GX SR print SM3H 052/051, which Limitless lists against English Rainbow Rare 150, is offered as a PSA 10 back order at ¥325,154 (~$2,111), and the RR print SM3H 011/051 at ¥19,788 (~$128). The Charizard GX Japanese prints PSA 10 guide covers the card’s other Japanese prints.

The nine gold Secret Rare cards are Tools, Items and Basic Energy. Three have a Japanese print in the paired sets that carries an Uncommon rating or no rarity icon in the official database, and Darkness Energy has a basic Energy print listed by Limitless; Choice Band, Multi Switch, Rescue Stretcher, Fire Energy and Fairy Energy have no print in the paired sets.

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