In February 2010, with the HeartGold and SoulSilver remakes reintroducing the Johto region to a whole new generation, the Pokémon TCG did the same on the tabletop: it went back to its roots and, along the way, minted two of the most beloved rarities in its history. They weren't battle mechanics like the previous era's Lv.X — they were pure collector rarities: the Prime cards, evolved Pokémon with special foil and their name in gold, and the LEGEND cards, legendary Pokémon split into two halves that only worked together. Between HeartGold & SoulSilver (2010) and Call of Legends (2011), five sets closed out the classic format with 26 Primes, 9 LEGENDs and a secret subset of 11 shinies — the chapter that crowns this fifth installment of our TCG history.
This is Part 5. If you're new to the series, start with Part 1: the Wizards era or with Part 4: the Lv.X era, which ends exactly where this article begins: with Arceus closing out the Lv.X cycle in November 2009, three months before Johto returned to the game.
HeartGold & SoulSilver
123 cards
Top price cards
About this set HeartGold & SoulSilver
HS—Unleashed
95 cards
Top price cards
About this set HS—Unleashed
HS—Undaunted
90 cards
Top price cards
About this set HS—Undaunted
HS—Triumphant
102 cards
Top price cards
About this set HS—Triumphant
Call of Legends
95 cards
Top price cards
About this set Call of Legends
Prices updated on September 12, 2026 · TCGPlayer via TCGdex
Quick answer: the HGSS era spans five sets — the four "HS" ones (HeartGold & SoulSilver, Unleashed, Undaunted and Triumphant, 2010) plus Call of Legends (2011) as an epilogue. Its two star rarities are the 26 Prime cards (evolved Pokémon with gold foil) and the 9 LEGEND cards (legendaries split into two halves). The absolute grail is the Umbreon Prime from HS—Undaunted, whose PSA 10 shot up in 2026 to ≈$55,000–62,000 on the collector frenzy for the eeveelutions — though raw, ungraded, it runs about $575.
Before getting down to the cards, a look at the whole: here's how the total value of the HeartGold & SoulSilver base set has moved over the past few months. The chart updates itself with our weekly price snapshot:
Value history
Market value (raw, ungraded) · ~18-month window · source: TCGPlayer via PokéTrace
The Prime cards: 26 gold-foil rarities
A Prime is easy to spot: an evolved Pokémon, with a textured holographic treatment, its name printed in gold and the Pokémon's art filling the whole card. It doesn't change anything in the rules — it plays like any Pokémon — but it was the rarest and most sought-after card in every pack of the era. There are 26 in total, spread unevenly: 6 in the base set (Ampharos, Blissey, Donphan, Feraligatr, Meganium, Typhlosion), 6 in Unleashed (Crobat, Kingdra, Lanturn, Steelix, Tyranitar, Ursaring), 6 in Undaunted (Espeon, Houndoom, Raichu, Scizor, Slowking, Umbreon) and 8 in Triumphant (Absol, Celebi, Electrode, Gengar, Machamp, Magnezone, Mew, Yanmega). Call of Legends brings none.
Unlike the Gold Stars of the EX era, the Primes have an active raw market on TCGPlayer, so many can be had ungraded at reasonable prices. This curated gallery shows the era's most relevant live-priced cards — Primes, LEGEND halves and Call of Legends shinies mixed by value; it refreshes every 24 hours. Click any card to enlarge it:
Prices updated on September 12, 2026 · TCGPlayer via TCGdex
The two Primes that rule over all the rest live in HS—Undaunted: Umbreon and Espeon, the dark and psychic eeveelutions. Raw they're expensive but attainable (~$575 and ~$360); in PSA 10 they're another league entirely. Here's how the raw value of the Umbreon Prime has moved over the past year — the recent curve, not the full arc since 2010:
Umbreon Prime (HS—Undaunted) — market value (raw)
Market value (raw, ungraded) · ~18-month window · source: TCGPlayer via PokéTrace
And the other gold-foil grail, the Gengar Prime from Triumphant, one of the hobby's most beloved Pokémon on its most desirable card:
Gengar Prime (HS—Triumphant) — market value (raw)
Market value (raw, ungraded) · ~18-month window · source: TCGPlayer via PokéTrace
Umbreon and Espeon's set is also the most valuable of the era as a whole. Here's the total value of HS—Undaunted over time:
Value history
Market value (raw, ungraded) · ~18-month window · source: TCGPlayer via PokéTrace
The LEGEND cards: legendaries split in two
If the Prime was the era's foil rarity, the LEGEND was its big design idea. Each LEGEND card is a legendary Pokémon printed on two separate cards — a top half and a bottom half — that form a single illustration and only work together: you need both halves in play to have the Pokémon. Collecting them means hunting two cards per legendary, and their split artwork instantly turned them into a cult object.
There are 9 LEGENDs in the era, all across the four HS sets (Call of Legends brings none): Ho-Oh and Lugia in the base set — the mascots of HeartGold and SoulSilver — the three legendary dogs in three crossed pairs in Unleashed (Entei & Raikou, Raikou & Suicune, Suicune & Entei), Kyogre & Groudon and Rayquaza & Deoxys in Undaunted, and Darkrai & Cresselia and Palkia & Dialga in Triumphant. All nine, by their top halves — click to enlarge:
The most emblematic is the Lugia LEGEND, SoulSilver's mascot and the emblem of the mechanic. Raw, its top half runs about $365 and the bottom about $322 (~$687 for the complete pair); in PSA 10, the top half moves between ≈$2,300 and $5,300 depending on the market. Its raw value over the past year:
Lugia LEGEND (top · HeartGold & SoulSilver) — market value (raw)
Market value (raw, ungraded) · ~18-month window · source: TCGPlayer via PokéTrace
What are your cards worth? Build your collection and track its value live, card by card.
Call of Legends' Shiny subset
Call of Legends, in February 2011, closed out the era with no Primes or LEGENDs, but with a collector wink of its own: the secret Shiny subset, eleven legendary Pokémon in their shiny variant, numbered SL1 to SL11. The full roster: Deoxys, Dialga, Entei, Groudon, Ho-Oh, Kyogre, Lugia, Palkia, Raikou, Rayquaza and Suicune — no Mewtwo, despite what some listings keep repeating. A sample of the subset — click to enlarge:
The subset's grail is the Shiny Lugia (SL7): raw it's one of the more modest of the group (~$348), but in PSA 10 it's a serious collector piece, with a market value of ≈$8,000–9,100. The Shiny Rayquaza (SL10) follows with ≈$4,000–4,600 in PSA 10 — and heads up, a figure worth debunking: some aggregator went as far as listing it at $180,000, a false number contradicted by its real sales around $4,600. Raw, the most valuable shinies today are Ho-Oh (~$750), Rayquaza (~$681) and Groudon (~$514).
The grails in PSA 10
This is where the HGSS era reaches its legendary figures. The absolute grail is the Umbreon Prime from HS—Undaunted (86/90): in 2026, the collector frenzy for the eeveelutions drove its PSA 10 market value from ~$25,000 at the start of the year to ≈$55,000–62,000, with individual sales close to $68,000. It's a market in full boil, so we present it as a range, not a fixed figure. It's also this article's cover card.
Behind it come the Gengar Prime (≈$20,000–23,300) and the Espeon Prime (≈$14,700–22,400), Umbreon's twin dragged up by the same frenzy. Further down and on firmer ground sit the Tyranitar Prime (≈$4,800), the Shiny Lugia (≈$8,000–9,100), the Shiny Rayquaza (≈$4,000–4,600) and the Lugia LEGEND (≈$2,300–5,300 for the top half). All seven, with their art — click any to see it in high resolution:
Free tools · Your collection
What is YOUR HeartGold & SoulSilver worth?
Track what you already own card by card and watch its live value in the collection tracker, or print free placeholders to hold their spot in your binder while you hunt down the Primes and LEGENDs.
About the prices
This article separates two things on purpose. The raw prices (ungraded) are Near Mint market values on TCGPlayer via TCGdex, refresh every 24 hours, and are the source for the live galleries and the charts. Those charts show a ~18-month window (our price data begins in early 2025), not the full arc since 2010 — which is why we label them "recent market value", never a complete "price history".
The PSA 10 prices are different: they're graded market values as of the publication date (September 2026), compiled from specialized aggregators (pokeinvest, pokeprices, Card Ladder, SportsCardInvestor, PriceCharting) and cross-checked against each other. They aren't charted and don't update: they're a dated snapshot. Like the whole vintage era, these are thin, volatile markets — the Umbreon and Espeon Prime are in full frenzy, so they go as ranges; and where an aggregator gets out of whack (the "$180,000" Shiny Rayquaza, or the Call of Legends Rayquaza some list at $10,600 confusing it with its reverse holo version) we stick with the real sales. "At publish" prices are historical evidence and are never modified after publication. All figures are TCGPlayer USD / eBay only.
Series · Part 4
Missed the previous chapter? The Lv.X era (2007–2009)
The 56 Lv.X cards, Team Galactic's SP Pokémon and the five-figure grails from Diamond & Pearl to Arceus — the era that ends right where HeartGold & SoulSilver begins.
Read Part 4: the Lv.X era →With Call of Legends, in February 2011, the classic format of the Pokémon TCG came to a close: five sets that brought Johto back to the game and signed off on two of the most beloved rarities in its history, the Primes and the LEGENDs. What came next was a total reinvention — the arrival of Black & White and the new-generation Pokémon-EX, which we'll pick up in a future installment. Until then, the 26 Primes and 9 LEGENDs remain one of the most collectible — and today hottest — chapters in the entire history of the game.