Shining Legends: the 2017 Pokémon set explained
Pokémon's Shining Legends from October 2017: its 78 cards, six Shining Pokémon, four Mewtwo-GX cards, and 11-card packs meant only for other products.
By the Rip.fan Editorial Team.
Published 7 min read
Shining Legends is a special Pokémon expansion from the Sun & Moon series, on sale in the US from October 6, 2017. It brought back Shining Pokémon for the first time in many years, alongside four Pokémon-GX names. The set has 78 cards, 73 of them within the printed total of 73 and 5 beyond it.
When did Shining Legends come out?
On October 6, 2017. Pokémon announced the set on August 24, 2017, giving October 6 as its US launch day. An alert on October 6 said the set was in stores that day.
Burning Shadows came out on August 4, 2017 and Crimson Invasion on November 3, 2017, with Shining Legends between them. Its code is SLG, and it sits in the Sun & Moon series. For how the Sun & Moon series fits with the rest, see Pokémon card eras.
How many cards are in Shining Legends?
The 78 cards fall into six blocks:
| Numbers | Cards | What they are |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 57 | 57 | Pokémon, including 6 Shining Pokémon and 4 Pokémon-GX |
| 58 to 68 | 11 | Trainer cards: 7 Items and 4 Supporters |
| 69 to 70 | 2 | Special Energy: Double Colorless Energy and Warp Energy |
| 71 to 73 | 3 | Entei-GX, Mewtwo-GX and the Supporter Pokémon Breeder, labeled Rare Ultra on Rip.fan’s page |
| 74 to 77 | 4 | Entei-GX, Raichu-GX, Mewtwo-GX and Zoroark-GX, labeled Rare Rainbow |
| 78 | 1 | Mewtwo-GX, labeled Rare Secret |
The five cards from 74 up are secret rares, with a collection number above the set number, and each has a card of the same name lower in the set. Pokémon told collectors to look out for full-art rainbow Pokémon-GX, and four cards carry the label Rare Rainbow on Rip.fan’s price pages, at 74 to 77.
Set the Shining and GX cards aside and 47 regular Pokémon remain in the first block: 23 common, 12 uncommon and 12 rare, and Rip.fan’s price pages mark all 12 rares Rare Holo. A black circle, diamond or star beside the number marks a common, uncommon or rare card, and our guide to rarity symbols shows each one.
Which Shining Pokémon are in the set?
Six, and Rip.fan’s price pages give each one the label Rare Shining:
| Card | Number | Type | Illustrator |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shining Genesect | 9 | Grass | Hitoshi Ariga |
| Shining Volcanion | 27 | Water | Hitoshi Ariga |
| Shining Mew | 40 | Psychic | Sanosuke Sakuma |
| Shining Jirachi | 42 | Psychic | Shigenori Negishi |
| Shining Rayquaza | 56 | Dragon | Naoki Saito |
| Shining Arceus | 57 | Colorless | Kouki Saitou |
Pokémon featured Shining Jirachi and Shining Volcanion when it announced and launched the set. None of the six has a regular card of the same Pokémon anywhere in the set. Shining Pokémon cards are a card type of their own, apart from Shiny Vault cards.
How do they compare with the older Shining cards?
Shining cards are older than this set: Neo Revelation added them, as our guide to vintage Pokémon sets explains. Where they are numbered has changed:
| Set | Shining cards | Numbers | Printed total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neo Revelation | 2 | 65 and 66 | 64 |
| Neo Destiny | 8 | 106 to 113 | 105 |
| Shining Legends | 6 | 9, 27, 40, 42, 56 and 57 | 73 |
In both Neo sets every Shining card sits above the printed total. In Shining Legends all six sit inside it, scattered through the first block. No Pokémon has a Shining card in both eras: the ten Neo cards include Shining Charizard, Shining Gyarados and Shining Tyranitar, and none of the ten names matches one of the six here.
In card number order. Images from Scrydex.
Which Pokémon-GX come in which versions?
Four GX names, and only one of them comes in all four versions:
| Pokémon-GX | First block | Rare Ultra, 71 to 72 | Rare Rainbow, 74 to 77 | Rare Secret, 78 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entei-GX | 10 | 71 | 74 | None |
| Raichu-GX | 29 | None | 75 | None |
| Mewtwo-GX | 39 | 72 | 76 | 78 |
| Zoroark-GX | 53 | None | 77 | None |
Mewtwo-GX has more cards than any other name in the set: four. Three of them are credited to 5ban Graphics and the one at 78 to Mitsuhiro Arita, so the credit line separates 78/73 from 76/73. Raichu-GX and Zoroark-GX skip the Rare Ultra block and jump straight from the first block to the rainbow run. Pokémon named Mewtwo-GX and Raichu-GX among the set’s Pokémon-GX when it announced the set. To see where the GX label falls among Pokémon’s other name labels, read Pokémon ex, EX, GX, V, VMAX and VSTAR cards explained.
Which Trainer cards does it have?
Eleven at 58 to 68, plus one more at 73. The seven Items include Great Ball, Switch and Ultra Ball. The four Supporters are Hau, Lillie, Pokémon Breeder and Sophocles, at 61, 62, 63 and 65. Pokémon Breeder is the only one with a second card: the Rare Ultra copy at 73, credited to Sanosuke Sakuma where the card at 63 is credited to Kanako Eo. A Shining Legends Lillie, Hau or Sophocles has one number only.
How were Shining Legends packs sold?
Not on their own. Pokémon announced in August 2017 that the booster packs would come only inside select products, Pokémon-GX Boxes among them. Each pack holds 11 cards from the set, including two foil cards. Read the contents printed on a box before buying it as a Shining Legends product.
A loose pack would have been taken out of one of those products, so its wrapper needs a close look. How to spot a resealed Pokémon pack lists the warning signs. For how newer products are laid out, see how many packs are in each Pokémon sealed product.
Is it the same as Shining Fates or Hidden Fates?
No, though the names invite mix-ups. Shining Fates is a later Sword & Shield set, and its main run is printed out of 72, against 73 here. Like Hidden Fates, it keeps its Shiny Pokémon in a separate Shiny Vault with SV numbers. Shining Legends has no vault: its Shining cards carry plain numbers inside the main list, such as 40/73 for Shining Mew.
How do you check Shining Legends card prices?
Shining Legends has its own table among Rip.fan’s Pokémon price pages, in the Sun & Moon group. Each row carries a number, a rarity label and the card’s NM market price. Pick Rare Shining in the rarity filter to see the six Shining cards together, or Rare Rainbow for the four rainbow GX cards. Sort by card number to follow Mewtwo-GX from 39 to 78.
For a single card from any set, the card price lookup works from the first letters of a card’s name, set or number, and tells you which printing each price belongs to. The price changes page shows the biggest percentage moves between Rip.fan’s weekly checks, for cards priced at $5 or more. All of it is past prices for raw cards, and none of it predicts a price.
What should you check before buying a Shining Legends card?
- The total. Shining Legends cards read out of 73, Shining Fates main-list cards out of 72.
- Which Mewtwo-GX. Four cards share the name. Match the card number, and use the illustrator credit to tell 78 from 76.
- Raichu-GX and Zoroark-GX. Each has two cards only: a first-block card and a rainbow card at 75 or 77.
- Sealed product. Pokémon said packs would come only inside other products, so a loose pack would have come out of one.
- A real card. Work through how to tell if a Pokémon card is fake before you pay.
More of our Pokémon coverage starts at the Pokémon hub, and our guide to Dragon Majesty covers another special set from the Sun & Moon series.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most expensive Shining Legends card?
It was Mewtwo-GX (78/73), at a Near Mint market price of $830.72 on October 21, 2026. Shining Mew (40/73) was second, at $200.60.
Which Rare Shining in Shining Legends has the highest price?
Shining Rayquaza (56/73) had the highest Near Mint market price among the Shining Legends cards marked Rare Shining on October 21, 2026, at $156.58.
What is the top-priced Rare Rainbow card in Shining Legends?
On October 21, 2026, Mewtwo-GX (76/73) led the Rare Rainbow cards of Shining Legends, with a Near Mint market price of $95.56.
What do the Mewtwo-GX cards in Shining Legends cost?
Shining Legends has 4 Mewtwo-GX cards, and on October 21, 2026, their Near Mint market prices were $13.97 for 39/73 (Rare Holo GX), $29.96 for 72/73 (Rare Ultra), $95.56 for 76/73 (Rare Rainbow) and $830.72 for 78/73 (Rare Secret).