Gem Pack Vol. 4

Gem Pack Vol. 4 is a Simplified Chinese set with a rarity ladder that maps onto nothing else in the hobby, and a four-card pack that catches people out. It is the set most first-time buyers of Chinese product start on, because every single pack is guaranteed to contain something worth keeping. 宝石包 VOL.4

What’s in a pack

Four cards. Three commons or uncommons, plus one guaranteed Rare, Double Rare or Triple Rare — there is no such thing as a dud pack in this set, and that guarantee is the entire reason a four-card pack is priced the way it is. The ladder runs Common, Uncommon, Rare, Double Rare, Triple Rare. There are no ultra rares, no art rares, no illustration rares and no gold hyper rares in Gem Pack: those are Japanese and English rarities that do not exist in this line.

The chase

The chase is the 28 Triple Rares. The set is built with rigid symmetry — each of its 28 Pokémon appears as exactly seven cards numbered 01/07 to 07/07, which is where the 196 comes from. Two commons (Energy holo and Poké Ball holo), two uncommons (glitter foil and prismatic foil), one Rare (Master Ball holo), one Double Rare carrying the Gem Pack stamp printed over the artwork, and one Triple Rare with brand-new full-art illustration. The headline is Ponyta 01 07/07 by MINAMINAMI Take, the first Ponyta illustration rare ever printed and mascot of a set released in a Fire Horse year of the Chinese zodiac.

Worth knowing

Worth knowing: the stamped Double Rare (06/07) is the second card in each run, not the top one. Vol. 4 shipped in a single box configuration — no slim or jumbo editions. “Gem Pack Vol. 4” is a fan translation; there is no official English name.

Buy single packs

Climber's Choice is a single pack of this set for $4.99 — you choose the set at checkout. It can also come up in the mixed Simplified Chinese bundles below.

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