EX Ruby & Sapphire: How to Identify Cards From This Set

• The set introduced Pokémon-ex, which award two Prize cards when Knocked Out and carry a Holofoil border.
• This set changed the card frame: circles were added down the left edge and the artwork window/Evolution box switched from gold to silver.

First expansion produced by Nintendo directly after the Pokémon TCG license moved from Wizards of the Coast; English release June 18, 2003, Japanese release January 31, 2003.

• Bottom-left or bottom-right corner: the set symbol and the collector number (e.g. 4/102) tell you the set; older cards have no symbol at all, which itself narrows them to Base Set.
• Left of the number: a 1st Edition stamp, if present, sits below the art on WOTC-era cards.
• Regulation mark (a letter in a box near the bottom, D through H so far) dates modern cards to a two-year window.
• Back of the card: the blue Poké Ball back has changed little since 1999; a washed-out, blurry or wrongly colored back is the first sign of a fake.

Lay the card flat on a dark surface in daylight, straight on, with the whole card in frame, then a close-up of the bottom edge where the set symbol, number and any edition stamp sit. Tilt holo cards under the light for a second shot to show the foil pattern. Photograph the back too. The app reads the card and set; the edition and rarity checks above tell you which version you have.