It is widely believed that booster packs with a higher weight are more likely to have rarer and more valuable art cards inside. Individual booster packs are frequently advertised on selling sites with the word ‘heavy’ suggesting that the weight indicates there will be special cards inside. Here are the results of our Astral Radiance pack weight analysis.
Our Sample Packs
The Astral Radiance expansion set was released on 27th May 2022. Booster boxes for this set retailed at around £110 or $120.
We purchased three sealed booster boxes to use for our test. We bought the boxes from three different suppliers to ensure they were completely random boxes.
Booster boxes contain 36 booster packs and are factory sealed with a plastic covering bearing the Pokémon logo.
After removing the outer sealed covering we began weighing the 108 packs.
Astral Radiance Pack Weight
We used a highly sensitive digital scale to get an accurate weight for each pack.
The Astral Radiance pack weights ranged from 22g to 24g.
22g – 47 packs
23g – 45 packs
24g – 16 packs
The Results
We decided not to log the numbers of non-holo rare, reverse holo, uncommon, common or energy cards. We also decided not to log the colour of the code cards since Trainer Gallery cards and Radiant Pokémon cards could be found in any pack in place of the reverse holo cards.
The 22g Packs
The first Astral Radiance packs to be opened were the 47 x 22g weight packs. 27 packs had no special art or holo cards. The remaining 20 packs had the following cards:
6 Holo Rare
Lilligant 016/189
Gallade 062/189
Bastiodon 110/189
Regigigas 130/189
Adaman 135/189
Irida 147/189
2 Radiant Cards
Radiant Greninja 046/189
Radiant Hawlucha 081/189
7 Half Art V / VSTAR Cards
Starmie V 030/189
Typhlosion V 053/189
2 x Kleavor V 087/189
2 x Hisuian Sneasler V 094/189
Origin Forme Dialga VSTAR 114/189
2 Full Art VMAX Cards
Heatran VMAX 026/189
Machamp VMAX 073/189
1 Secret Rare Rare Card
Hisuian Samurott VSTAR 197/189
4 Trainer Gallery Cards
Galarian Obstagoon TG10/TG30
Hoothoot TG12/TG30
Zacian V TG21/TG30
Calyrex VMAX TG30/TG30
The 23g Packs
The 45 x 23g weight packs were opened next. 20 packs had no art or holo cards The remaining 25 packs had the following cards:
8 Holo Rare
Keldeo 045/189
Mesprit 066/189
Diancie 068/189
Decidueye 082/189
Hisuian Sneasler 093/189
Samurott 100/189
Magnezone 107/189
Regigigas 130/189
2 Radiant Cards
Radiant Heatran 027/189
Radiant Greninja 046/189
6 Half Art V / VSTAR Cards
Starmie V 030/189
Origin Forme Plakia VSTAR 040/189
Galarian Mr Rime V 049/189
Kleavor V 087/189
Origin Forme Dialga V 113/189
Garchomp V 117/189
3 Ultra Rare Cards
Beedrill V 161/189
Oranguru V 179/189
Adaman 181/189
1 Secret Rare Card
Machamp VMAX 194/189
6 Trainer Gallery Cards
Kingdra TG03/TG30
Frosmoth TG04/TG30
Gardevoir TG05/TG30
Wyrdeer TG06/TG30
Kleavor TG08/TG30
Galarian Obstagoon TG10/TG30
The 24g Packs
The 16 x 24g weight packs were opened next. 6 packs contained no art or holo rare cards. From the remaining 10 packs we pulled.
6Holo Rare
Typhlosion 052/189
Diancie 068/189
Rampardos 077/189
Absol 097/189
Regigigas 130/189
Irida 147/189
1 Radiant Card
Hawlucha 081/189
2 Half Art V Cards
Darkrai V 098/189
Garchomp V 117/189
1 Trainer Gallery Card
Abomasnow TG01/TG30
Falinks TG07/TG30
Ice Rider Calyrex TG15/TG30
Melony TG26/TG30
Conclusion
From the 47 x 22g packs we pulled 6 Holo Rare cards, 2 Radiant cards, 7 Half Art V cards, 2 Full Art VMAX, 1 Secret Rare and 4 Trainer Gallery cards – a 47% pull rate.
From the 45 x 23g packs we pulled 8 Holo Rare cards, 2 Radiant cards, 6 Half Art, 3 Ultra Rare, 1 Secret Rare and 6 Trainer Gallery Cards – a 58% pull rate.
From the 16 x 24g packs we pulled 6 Holo Rare cards, 1 Radiant card, 2 Half Art V cards and 4 Trainer Gallery cards – a 81% pull rate.
Excluding Holo Rares from the results gave the same result with the heavier packs having the best pull rate
47 x 22g packs we pulled 2 Radiant cards, 7 Half Art V cards, 2 Full Art VMAX, 1 Secret Rare and 4 Trainer Gallery cards – a 34% pull rate.
From the 45 x 23g packs we pulled 2 Radiant cards, 6 Half Art, 3 Ultra Rare, 1 Secret Rare and 6 Trainer Gallery Cards – a 40% pull rate.
From the 16 x 24g packs we pulled 1 Radiant card, 2 Half Art V cards and 4 Trainer Gallery cards – a 48% pull rate.
The results of our Astral Radiance pack weight experiment appears to show that heavier packs have a better pull rate than lighter packs.
It should be remembered that only 108 packs were used for this experiment. Using a greater number of packs may give a different result.
