Aquapolis Card List & Prices (182 Cards, 2003)

Q: Why is Aquapolis considered so hard to complete?

It combines a large printed run with a parallel H-series of crossed-crimp reverse holos and three scarce secret rares numbered beyond the set total. There's no cheap sealed product to fill gaps, and the e-Card frames wear easily, so finding clean copies of every slot is a genuine long-term project.

Q: What are the secret rares in Aquapolis?

There are three: Lugia (149), Kingdra (148), and Nidoking (150), numbered past the printed set total. Lugia is the standout and the most valuable, while all three are scarce and typically the final cards collectors track down.

Q: What does the 'H' in card numbers like H29 mean?

The H-series is Aquapolis's subset of crossed-crimp reverse-holo cards, a parallel holo run alongside the main numbered set. It includes fan favorites like Umbreon H29, Tyranitar H28, and Houndoom H11, and completing it is a significant part of a master set.

Q: Why is a Common like Psyduck so expensive?

Psyduck (104) is prized for its charming artwork rather than its rarity, and that collector affection drives its price well above a typical Common. It's a well-known example of art and character appeal outweighing print rarity in the e-Card era.

Q: Is Aquapolis part of the e-Reader era?

Yes. Aquapolis is the second English e-Card set, released in 2003, and its cards carry dot-code strips that were designed to be scanned with Nintendo's e-Reader accessory. That short-lived feature helps define the set's distinctive look and its sealed-chapter status.

Q: Should I buy sealed Aquapolis product or singles?

Singles, in almost every case. Sealed boxes are rare and expensive, and the odds of pulling the specific secret rares and H-holos you need are poor. Buying cards individually and prioritizing condition is the efficient path to completion.

E-Card · Released 2003-01-15 · 182 cards

📘 Master Set Guide — binder setup, checklist & live cost

Set market cap

170 cards tracked daily

$20,396.80

▲ 10.2% 7d▲ 13.0% 30d

Low $6,067 · High $20,650▲ 178.3% over this range

2,520 sales · 30 days$57,351.29 volume

The crown jewel of the e-Card era — an oversized, holo-heavy set whose secret rares and crossed-crimp holos have become some of the hardest cards to complete in all of vintage-modern Pokémon.

By CardPrice Research · prices and stats update nightly from live market data

#1Lugia$4,500.00

#2Umbreon$1,252.62

#3Psyduck$700.00

147base cards

3secret rares & variants

$21,007.00est. singles cost

Extremecompletion difficulty

Chase cards

What to target in Aquapolis

The top 10 cards are 46% of the set’s $21,007.00 estimated singles cost — plan these first and the rest follows on a normal budget.

Value in Aquapolis concentrates hard at the top. A large share of the cost of a complete set sits in a handful of cards — the three secret rares (Lugia, Kingdra, Nidoking) and the marquee H-holos, Umbreon and Tyranitar. Lugia is the undisputed centerpiece, the card people build toward and the one that defines a "finished" collection here. Kingdra and Nidoking ride alongside it as the other two secrets, scarce by nature of their beyond-the-set numbering.

Where it gets interesting is the split between cards collectors genuinely adore and cards that simply cost money to check off. Umbreon H29 and the Psyduck Common are love-driven prices — the Eeveelution fanbase and Psyduck's charming art carry them well beyond what rarity alone would suggest. Houndoom, Suicune, and Ninetales in the H-series are the affordable heart of the chase: gorgeous, meaningful, and attainable. The secret rares, by contrast, are as much about the trophy and the difficulty as the artwork. Knowing which is which matters a lot when you're deciding where to spend on a set this punishing.

#	Card	Number	Rarity	Market	PSA 10
1	Lugia	#149	Rare Secret	$4,500.00	$81,130.00
2	Umbreon	#H29	Rare Holo	$1,252.62	$24,607.73
3	Psyduck	#104	Common	$700.00	$1,735.24
4	Nidoking	#150	Rare Secret	$675.00	$17,080.00
5	Kingdra	#148	Rare Secret	$599.99	$9,710.30
6	Suicune	#H25	Rare Holo	$539.99	$7,476.59
7	Houndoom	#H11	Rare Holo	$399.99	$16,132.72
8	Ninetales	#H19	Rare Holo	$399.99	$7,027.00
9	Umbreon	#41	Rare	$350.00	$1,501.65
10	Steelix	#H23	Rare Holo	$299.95	$2,260.93

Set landscape

How Aquapolis is built

Rarity breakdown

Common51

Rare48

Uncommon48

Rare Holo23

Rare Secret3

Price distribution

Most cards are bulk — the set’s value concentrates in a few chase cards.

<$1

$1–2

3$2–5

11$5–10

21$10–25

47$25–50

50$50–100

41$100+

About this set

Why Aquapolis matters

Aquapolis landed in early 2003 as the second English e-Card set, the middle child between Expedition and Skyridge in the short-lived era where every card carried a dot-code strip readable by Nintendo's e-Reader accessory. Like its bookends, it's a sprawling set — well over a hundred cards in the printed run, plus a small clutch of secret rares numbered past the "official" total. The Wizards of the Coast-to-Nintendo handoff was underway, and these sets have a distinct look: reverse-holo "H" prints with cross-hatched foil, painterly full-art backgrounds, and a design language that feels a world apart from the WOTC neo sets that came just before.

The set's identity is built on its two-tier holo structure. The main holos run the numbered slots, but the coveted material lives in the "H" subset — a parallel run of crossed-crimp reverse holos — and in the three secret rares tucked beyond the printed count: Lugia, Kingdra, and Nidoking. These secret rares are the headline act, and Lugia in particular has grown into one of the most recognizable and expensive cards of the whole e-Card period. Alongside it, the H-series Umbreon and Tyranitar carry serious weight, and even a humble Common — Psyduck — commands a premium thanks to its beloved artwork and reputation among aesthetes.

What makes Aquapolis matter to collectors is scarcity married to beauty. The e-Card sets were printed in relatively small quantities compared to the era's flagship releases, and Aquapolis product dried up long ago. Sealed booster boxes are genuinely rare and expensive when they surface, which pushes nearly everyone toward the singles market. The artwork holds up brilliantly two decades on — the reverse-holo pattern photographs beautifully and the card frames have aged into something collectors now treat as a golden-age aesthetic.

The reputation is simple: Aquapolis is a connoisseur's set. It's not the casual completionist's first vintage target. It's the set people graduate to once they understand how brutal a full e-Card run can be — and once they've fallen for the look enough to commit.

Collecting strategy

The smart way to complete Aquapolis

Treat Aquapolis as a singles project from day one — there is effectively no viable sealed route, so plan to hunt card by card. The smart approach is to bank the cheap-and-mid bulk of the set early while it's available, isolate the expensive top tier as long-term targets, and be patient and opportunistic on the secret rares, which surface irregularly and rarely twice at once.

Build the Common, Uncommon, and non-holo Rare base first — this is the largest chunk of cards and the easiest to knock out in lots.
Pick up the affordable and mid-band H-series holos (Houndoom, Suicune, Ninetales and friends) while listings are plentiful.
Secure the love-driven singles that punch above their rarity — Umbreon H29 and the Psyduck Common — before their premiums climb further.
Target the two high-band H-holos, Umbreon and Tyranitar, as deliberate purchases when condition and price align.
Reserve the three secret rares — Lugia, Kingdra, Nidoking — as your final, patient acquisitions; set alerts and pounce when clean copies appear.
Decide your condition bar upfront and stick to it — mixing raw and graded across a set this old gets expensive and inconsistent fast.

Collecting challenges

This is one of the hardest English sets to complete, full stop. The secret rares are scarce and pricey, the H-series adds a whole parallel holo run to chase, and the e-Card frames are notoriously prone to whitening and edge wear, so finding clean copies is a project in itself. There's no sealed product to fall back on for filling gaps cheaply, which means every slot is a market transaction. Centering and print quality varied, making high-grade examples of even common cards tougher than the raw price implies.

Buying guide

Singles or sealed?

$21,007.00

all singles, one of each

$51.35

median card

159

cards worth $10+

Extreme

completion difficulty

For Aquapolis, singles are essentially the only sensible route. Sealed boxes are rare, expensive, and the odds of ripping into the specific secret rares and H-holos you need are stacked against you — cracking product here is a collector's indulgence, not a completion strategy. Buy the cards you want directly. The one nuance is condition: because e-Card frames wear easily, budget for the fact that clean copies of even inexpensive cards can carry a real premium, and factor grading into your top-tier purchases.

Base set run$15,232.00one of each card up to #147 — no secrets

Full set$21,007.00every tracked card including secret rares

Sealed product comparison

SinglesTargeted — no luck needed

$21,007.00one of every tracked card

The correct path — target cards individually, prioritize centering and clean edges given how e-Card frames age, and expect the secret rares to be your patience test.

Card list ↓eBay lots →

Pull rates

Aquapolis pull-rate estimates

Community-estimated era averages from large pack-opening aggregates — not official Pokémon data. “Specific card” is the expected packs for ONE particular card of that rarity.

Rarity	Cards in set	Any pull	Specific card
Rare Holo	23	1 in 3	1 in 69

Grading

Which Aquapolis cards are worth grading?

Grading pays off at the top of Aquapolis and gets murky below it. The secret rares — Lugia, Nidoking, Kingdra — and the flagship H-holos like Umbreon, Tyranitar, and Houndoom are the cards where a high grade meaningfully multiplies value and where authenticated, slabbed copies dominate the market. These justify the fee comfortably. The e-Card frame's tendency toward edge whitening also means gem-mint examples are genuinely scarce, which rewards submitting clean raw copies you're confident in.

Below that tier, the math tightens quickly. Mid-band H-holos and the love-driven Commons can be worth grading if the copy is exceptional, but the fee eats most of the upside on ordinary examples. The live EV figures on this page will tell you exactly where the line sits card by card — as a rule, grade the trophies and the pristine surprises, and leave the rest raw.

Tier 1 — grade theseWorth grading

Positive expected value after ~$25 fees at live PSA prices and this set's real gem rates.

Lugia #149raw $4,500.00 → PSA 10 $81,130.00 18×EV +$12,173.72

Umbreon #H29raw $1,252.62 → PSA 10 $24,607.73 19.6×EV +$5,174.66

Psyduck #104raw $700.00 → PSA 10 $1,735.24 2.5×EV +$89.09

Nidoking #150raw $675.00 → PSA 10 $17,080.00 25.3×EV +$3,343.29

Kingdra #148raw $599.99 → PSA 10 $9,710.30 16.2×EV +$1,465.54

Suicune #H25raw $539.99 → PSA 10 $7,476.59 13.8×EV +$1,513.37

Tier 2 — grade clean copiesClean copies only

Strong PSA 10 premium — the math works only on gem-worthy copies.

Zapdos #44raw $108.78 → PSA 10 $365.00 3.4×EV +$10.77

Suicune #37raw $108.47 → PSA 10 $361.09 3.3×EV −$7.43

Nidoran ♂ #96raw $79.99 → PSA 10 $310.93 3.9×EV +$12.71

Onix #98raw $75.00 → PSA 10 $263.75 3.5×EV −$7.50

Growlithe #80raw $69.99 → PSA 10 $350.36 5×EV +$18.83

Mr. Mime #95raw $66.50 → PSA 10 $202.50 3×EV +$14.95

Tier 3 — personal collectionCollection only

Fees eat most of the margin. Grade to preserve a pristine pull, not for profit.

Eevee #75raw $220.00 → PSA 10 $400.00 1.8×EV −$133.43

Houndoom #15raw $185.61 → PSA 10 $465.56 2.5×EV −$18.00

Grimer #79raw $159.99 → PSA 10 $295.00 1.8×EV −$62.90

Energy Switch #120raw $100.80 → PSA 10 $201.25 2×EV −$75.50

Ampharos #1raw $97.50 → PSA 10 $259.81 2.7×EV −$61.83

Entei #10raw $96.10 → PSA 10 $174.76 1.8×EV −$21.74

Premiums and EV use tonight’s PSA prices and this set’s real gem rates — not projections.

Word on the street

What collectors say about Aquapolis

Creators on Aquapolis

Synthesized from widely-reported collector consensus — see a take that’s off? Use the report link on any card page.

Storage & protection

Protect your Aquapolis cards

This set has 41 cards worth $100+ — sleeve-and-toploader territory at minimum, and the chase cards deserve double-sleeving.

Penny sleeves (100ct)First layer

Every card worth more than bulk goes in a sleeve before anything else touches it.

Amazon →eBay →

Dragon Shield Matte sleevesPremium sleeve

The archival-safe standard for cards you handle — double-sleeve chase cards with a perfect-fit inner.

Amazon →eBay →

Rigid toploaders (25ct)Rigid protection

Sleeve + toploader is the minimum for anything you might grade or sell raw.

Amazon →eBay →

Side-loading binder (360)Set storage

Side-loaders keep cards from sliding out; zip closure keeps dust and drops away.

Amazon →eBay →

Affiliate links — purchases support CardPrice at no extra cost. Full guide: how to build & store a master set.

Market outlook

Where Aquapolis goes from here

Aquapolis has a fundamentally favorable supply picture: the e-Card sets were printed in modest quantities, product has been fully absorbed by the market for years, and reprint risk is essentially nil — Nintendo isn't reissuing dot-code cards, and the e-Reader tie-in makes these a sealed chapter of history. That scarcity, combined with the era's celebrated artwork and the pull of iconic subjects like Lugia and the Eeveelutions, gives the top cards a durable floor and a reputation that keeps drawing collectors as they mature past their first sets.

The honest caveat is that the demand is connoisseur demand, not mass-market hype. Prices at the top are set by a relatively small, committed pool of vintage collectors, which can make the high end feel thin and volatile on individual sales. The base and mid tiers move slowly. This is a set that rewards buying what you genuinely love and holding for the long arc rather than chasing quick turns — the appeal is the aesthetics and the difficulty, and those aren't going anywhere.

Not financial advice — live prices and trends are above, collect what you love.

FAQ

Aquapolis — frequently asked questions

Why is Aquapolis considered so hard to complete?

It combines a large printed run with a parallel H-series of crossed-crimp reverse holos and three scarce secret rares numbered beyond the set total. There's no cheap sealed product to fill gaps, and the e-Card frames wear easily, so finding clean copies of every slot is a genuine long-term project.

What are the secret rares in Aquapolis?

There are three: Lugia (149), Kingdra (148), and Nidoking (150), numbered past the printed set total. Lugia is the standout and the most valuable, while all three are scarce and typically the final cards collectors track down.

What does the 'H' in card numbers like H29 mean?

The H-series is Aquapolis's subset of crossed-crimp reverse-holo cards, a parallel holo run alongside the main numbered set. It includes fan favorites like Umbreon H29, Tyranitar H28, and Houndoom H11, and completing it is a significant part of a master set.

Why is a Common like Psyduck so expensive?

Psyduck (104) is prized for its charming artwork rather than its rarity, and that collector affection drives its price well above a typical Common. It's a well-known example of art and character appeal outweighing print rarity in the e-Card era.

Is Aquapolis part of the e-Reader era?

Yes. Aquapolis is the second English e-Card set, released in 2003, and its cards carry dot-code strips that were designed to be scanned with Nintendo's e-Reader accessory. That short-lived feature helps define the set's distinctive look and its sealed-chapter status.

Should I buy sealed Aquapolis product or singles?

Singles, in almost every case. Sealed boxes are rare and expensive, and the odds of pulling the specific secret rares and H-holos you need are poor. Buying cards individually and prioritizing condition is the efficient path to completion.

Sealed products

Booster Pack

$2,000.00

All cards 182

182 of 182

Super Energy Removal 2

Most valuable cards in Aquapolis

Lugia #149 — $4,500.00
Umbreon #H29 — $1,252.62
Nidoking #150 — $675.00
Kingdra #148 — $599.99
Suicune #H25 — $539.99
Houndoom #H11 — $399.99
Ninetales #H19 — $399.99
Espeon #H9 — $399.09
Steelix #H23 — $299.95
Slowking #H22 — $274.50

About Aquapolis

Aquapolis is a Pokémon TCG expansion in the E-Card series, released on 2003-01-15. The set contains 182 cards — 147 in the base set plus 35 secret rares. The combined market value of a complete set is currently $16,486.90, with Lugia #149 as the most valuable card at $4,500.00. Prices update nightly from live market data.

What to target in Aquapolis

How Aquapolis is built

Rarity breakdown

Price distribution

Why Aquapolis matters

The smart way to complete Aquapolis

Collecting challenges

Singles or sealed?

Sealed product comparison

Aquapolis pull-rate estimates

Which Aquapolis cards are worth grading?

What collectors say about Aquapolis

Creators on Aquapolis

Protect your Aquapolis cards

Where Aquapolis goes from here

Related E-Card sets

Aquapolis — frequently asked questions

Sealed products

All cards 182

Most valuable cards in Aquapolis

About Aquapolis