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Cosmos Holo
Also written: Galaxy holo · Cosmos holofoil · Cosmos reverse holo
A Pokémon holo foil broken into dots and circles of different sizes — once the standard holo, now mostly used for promo versions.
PatternThe reflective layer is textured or shaped
A cosmos holo — often called a galaxy holo — is a Pokémon card whose foil breaks into a scatter of dots and circles of different sizes, like a star field, spread across the artwork. It is one foil pattern with two completely different lives: for years it was simply what a Pokémon holo rare looked like, and since then it has mostly been kept for promo versions of cards sold in boxes, tins and collections rather than in booster packs.
How to spot one
- Tilt it under one hard light. The shine should break into round shapes — small solid dots mixed with larger open rings — rather than sweeping across as one smooth sheet.
- Rule out the look-alikes. Straight horizontal stripes are a different Pokémon pattern, tinsel. Sharp angular shards are cracked ice, which Pokémon also uses on some promos. Evenly spaced circles all the same size read more like a sports disco finish — cosmos mixes sizes.
- Check where the foil sits. Cosmos in the artwork window is a cosmos holo. Cosmos on everything except the artwork is a cosmos reverse holo — a separate version, catalogued separately.
One pattern, two lives
- The standard holo
- From Base Set 2 — the first English set to use it — cosmos was the default holo pattern, until the Black & White series replaced it with a striped pattern. On a card from that stretch, cosmos is not a variant at all: it is the normal holo, and the card is priced like any holo from its set.
- A promo pattern
- Once it stopped being the default, cosmos became one of the patterns used for promotional versions. The classic shape is a card that is plain in booster packs, reprinted in cosmos foil for one product: the Black & White starters each had a cosmos version sold only in its own box, and the 151 set had cosmos versions in retailer-exclusive tin bundles and collection boxes. The same set also put cosmos Basic Energy cards into its booster packs, so not every modern cosmos card is a promo.
Try itSort a stack of holos by pattern
- Pull every Pokémon card with foil in the picture box and stand under a single lamp or phone torch.
- Tilt each one slowly. Make three piles: round dots and rings (cosmos), straight stripes, and anything else.
- For each cosmos card, look up its set. If the set is from the stretch when cosmos was the default, it is a normal holo. If it is newer, check whether that card number is usually a holo at all — if not, you are holding a promo version worth looking up on its own.
Check yourself
A modern Pokémon card is a plain rare in booster packs, but your copy has a cosmos foil across the artwork. What is the first thing to look up?
Show the answer
B. Outside the stretch when cosmos was the default holo, a cosmos copy of a card that is normally plain is usually a promo version from one specific product. That product sets how many exist, and the cosmos version is priced on its own — not off the pack version.
For what cosmos cards from each era have actually sold for, with dates, see cosmos holo Pokémon cards, every era, priced. For how foil fits into the whole Pokémon rarity system, see how Pokémon card rarities work.
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