Search for a “Hoopa Pokemon card” from Japan and the trail eventually leads to a card that isn’t Hoopa at all. The chase piece tied to Hoopa’s 2015 movie release is a Groudon promo — distributed at retail during the campaign, not printed with Hoopa’s own artwork. Hoopa itself has a real, three-era Japanese card history of its own, running from a 2015 EX debut through a 2021 V and a current-era 2023 ex, and it’s worth keeping those two things straight before you buy anything.
This guide covers every verified Japanese Hoopa printing, explains exactly what the 2015 movie promo is (and isn’t), and points to what we actually carry in Tokyo right now. If you’re searching for “Hoopa Pokemon card” hoping to find the campaign piece, it helps to know upfront which cards actually carry Hoopa’s own artwork and which ones simply share its release date.
No Hoopa VMAX appears in the Japanese card database. The card most associated with its 2015 movie release is actually a Groudon promo, issued as part of the 2015 movie-release retail campaign — our graded copy is the PSA10 Groudon P [XY-P 144], currently listed at ¥49,234 (업데이트: 현재 품절 — Quick Order로 재입고 요청). Hoopa’s own chase cards are the 2015 Bandit Ring EX, the 2021 Fusion Arts V, and the 2023 Raging Surf ex.
Every Hoopa Pokemon Card, by Era
Hoopa has appeared in Japanese sets three times, always as a Pokemon-EX / V / ex, each with a standard and a secret or full-art printing. A search of the Japanese print record turns up no Hoopa VMAX.
| 카드 | 세트 | Number | Rarity | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hoopa EX | Bandit Ring (XY7) | 036/081 | RR | 2015 |
| Hoopa EX | Bandit Ring (XY7) | 087/081 | SR (Secret) | 2015 |
| Hoopa (Promo) | XY Promos | 155 | PROMO | 2015 |
| Hoopa V | Fusion Arts (S8) | 066/100 | RR | 2021 |
| Hoopa V | Fusion Arts (S8) | 107/100 | SR (Full Art) | 2021 |
| Hoopa ex | Raging Surf (SV3a) | 029/062 | RR | 2023 |
| Hoopa ex | Raging Surf (SV3a) | 078/062 | SR (Secret) | 2023 |
The pattern repeats across all three eras: a numbered rare version inside the set’s print run, and a secret or full-art version pushed past the set’s official count. What changes between eras is Hoopa’s typing and HP — Psychic at 170 HP in 2015, Darkness at 220 HP in 2021, and Fighting at 220 HP in 2023 — a reminder that a Pokemon’s card typing tracks the rules era it was printed in, not a fixed trait. The sections below walk through each one.
The 2015 Debut: Hoopa EX and the Bandit Ring Set
Hoopa’s first Japanese card arrived on June 20, 2015, in the expansion pack Bandit Ring (XY7) — released the same day as the Hoopa movie in Japanese theaters. Hoopa EX (036/081, RR) is a Psychic-type with 170 HP, illustrated by Ryota Murayama. Its ability, also named “Bandit Ring,” lets you search up to three Pokemon-EX cards from your deck to your hand once per turn when it’s moved from your hand to the Bench, and its attack, “Dimension Rush,” hits for 100.
The set’s secret rare, Hoopa EX (087/081, SR), is the same card in a different illustration by 5ban Graphics — same ability, same attack, printed past Bandit Ring’s official 081-card count. Having the character’s ability named after the set itself is a small but telling detail: Bandit Ring was built around Hoopa as its headline Pokemon, not as a guest appearance in someone else’s set. That makes it the entry point for anyone collecting Hoopa the character rather than the movie campaign that happened to launch alongside it.
For more on how XY-era promos and secret rares from this window are collected, see our XY-era Japanese Pokemon guide.
The 2015 Movie Chase Card Is a Groudon, Not a Hoopa
This is the part worth getting precise about. Alongside the Bandit Ring set, Pokemon ran a retail campaign timed to the movie’s release — distributed through stores including Ito-Yokado, AEON, Toys “R” Us, and Pokemon Center — that handed out four promo cards: Groudon, Kyogre, Latias, and Latios. None of them feature Hoopa. The card is named for the movie, not for the Pokemon in the title.
Our own graded stock from this campaign is the Groudon piece: Groudon P (XY-P 144), a Fighting-type with 130 HP, illustrated by Mitsuhiro Arita, with attacks “Rock Smash” (20+) and “Ground Breaker” (100, plus 10 to each of the opponent’s Benched Pokemon). It’s the card many buyers mean when they remember “the Hoopa promo” from 2015 — but it’s a Groudon card that happens to share the movie’s release window, not a Hoopa print. Our graded copy is currently listed at ¥49,234 (업데이트: 현재 품절 — Quick Order로 재입고 요청).
The four-card structure of this campaign — Groudon, Kyogre, Latias, and Latios distributed through an in-store lottery at participating retailers rather than sold inside a booster pack — is why these promos read differently from a standard set pull. None of them were ever in circulation as pack contents.
If you specifically want Hoopa’s own face on a promo card from this era, that exists too: Hoopa (XY-P 155), a Psychic-type with 70 HP and the attack “Appearance Rush” (30 damage per heads on a coin flip per Pokemon on your Bench), distributed with the movie-release album set and never released outside Japan.
“Hoopa movie promo” and “the 2015 Groudon promo” refer to the same campaign but two different cards. Our in-stock graded piece is the Groudon (XY-P 144); the Hoopa-branded promo from the same campaign is XY-P 155.
For the wider Groudon printing history beyond this one promo, our Groudon cards guide covers it in full, and our XY-P promo cards guide places this campaign in the context of the wider XY promo run.
2021: Hoopa V Returns in Fusion Arts
Hoopa’s next Japanese card came six years later, in the September 24, 2021 expansion pack Fusion Arts (S8). Hoopa V (066/100, RR), illustrated by takuyoa, is a Darkness-type with 220 HP. Its ability, “Double Face,” gives it both the Psychic and Darkness types simultaneously while in play, and its attack “Shadow Impact” deals 170 damage while placing 3 damage counters on one of your own Pokemon.
The full-art Hoopa V (107/100, SR) is the same card and stat line in Fusion Arts’ signature full-bleed treatment, printed past the set’s 100-card count. This was also the point where Hoopa’s typing changed for the first time — from the purely Psychic EX of 2015 to a V that carries both Psychic and Darkness at once through its “Double Face” ability, an effect that put both types into play on a single card while it stayed on the field. Fusion Arts singles move through our sourcing pipeline, and the sealed box is also in our catalog: send a request via our Quick Order page for singles, or see the box below.
2023: Hoopa ex in Raging Surf
The most recent and current standard-legal Hoopa card is Hoopa ex (029/062, RR) from the September 22, 2023 enhanced expansion pack Raging Surf (SV3a), illustrated by 5ban Graphics. It switched typing again, this time to Fighting, with 220 HP. Its first attack, “Energy Crush,” deals 50 damage for every Energy card attached across all of the opponent’s Pokemon; its second, “Bandit Fist,” hits for 200 but can’t be used again the following turn.
The secret rare Hoopa ex (078/062, SR) carries the same ex card text in an alternate illustration. The “can’t use next turn” clause on Bandit Fist is a tradeoff mechanic common to high-damage ex attacks in this era — a 200-damage swing paid for with a turn of downtime rather than a resource cost. Raging Surf is a set we do stock sealed — if you’re chasing this printing directly out of the box, our Raging Surf Japanese Pokemon Booster Box is sealed product shipped from Tokyo with tracked delivery. For a specific graded or ungraded Hoopa ex single, our Quick Order page handles sourcing requests.
Hoopa Among the Mythical Pokemon
Hoopa sits in the same collecting category as Celebi and Jirachi — a Mythical Pokemon that shows up in event-tied promos as often as in mainline sets, which is exactly why the 2015 movie campaign produced a promo card at all rather than just a set inclusion. That pattern holds across the group: movie and anniversary tie-ins tend to generate the scarcest printings for these characters, more so than for Pokemon that only ever appear in numbered set releases. If you collect across this group rather than sticking to one character, our Mythical Pokemon cards guide covering Celebi and Jirachi is the natural next stop.
Where to Buy Hoopa Cards from Japan
We ship Japanese sealed product and graded singles worldwide out of Tokyo with tracked delivery. Right now, our confirmed Hoopa-adjacent stock is the graded Groudon movie-campaign promo; Hoopa’s own EX, V, and ex singles move through sourcing requests rather than sitting on a shelf, since demand for any one specific printing — standard versus secret, PSA graded versus raw — varies from buyer to buyer.
For sealed product carrying the current-era Hoopa ex, see the Raging Surf Japanese Pokemon Booster Box, and for the earlier Hoopa V era, the Fusion Arts Japanese Pokemon Booster Box. For any specific Hoopa single — EX, V, or ex, standard or secret — our Quick Order page is the fastest way to submit a sourcing request or build a mixed order in one checkout.
자주 묻는 질문
Is the famous 2015 Hoopa promo card actually a Hoopa card?
Usually not the one people mean. The card most associated with the 2015 movie campaign is a Groudon promo (XY-P 144), distributed at retail alongside Kyogre, Latias, and Latios promos to mark the film’s release. A separate Hoopa-branded promo (XY-P 155) exists from the same campaign, distributed with a movie-release album set.
What is the first real Hoopa Pokemon card?
Hoopa EX (036/081, RR), released June 20, 2015 in the expansion pack Bandit Ring (XY7) — the same day as the Hoopa movie’s Japanese theatrical release.
Does a Hoopa VMAX card exist?
A search of the Japanese card database turns up no Hoopa VMAX. Hoopa has appeared as a Pokemon-EX (2015), a V (2021), and an ex (2023).
What is the most recent Hoopa Pokemon card?
Hoopa ex (029/062, RR and its 078/062 secret rare), from the September 2023 enhanced expansion pack Raging Surf (SV3a) — the current standard-legal Hoopa printing.
Where can I buy Hoopa cards and the 2015 Groudon promo from Japan?
We stock the graded Groudon movie-campaign promo directly, plus sealed Raging Surf and Fusion Arts booster boxes that contain the current and 2021-era Hoopa cards. Individual Hoopa EX, V, or ex singles can be sourced through our Quick Order page.
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