What Is Gem Pack Volume 6?
Gem Pack Volume 6 (also written Gem Pack Vol. 6 or Genpack Volume 6) is the sixth instalment in the Simplified Chinese Pokémon booster box series. Like the earlier volumes, it is a curated premium product built for the mainland China collector market — every card is holographic, the rates are printed on the box, and the set carries its own exclusive artwork you cannot find in any other language.
Volume 6 is the Applin set. The single Simplified Chinese exclusive is a new Illustration Rare Applin, shown sitting on a windowsill (a different scene from the apple-branch art on the pack front). Around it sits the usual supporting cast of 28 total three-star rarities, several of them apple-line Pokémon — Dipplin, Flapple and Appletun — alongside cards like Castform, Polteageist and Munkidori.
Community reaction has been muted. Openers broadly agree Volume 6 is one of the lower-hype Gem Packs — closer to the Ponyta-themed Volume 4 than the Eevee-themed Volume 2 — precisely because it centres on a single, less in-demand exclusive. The upside of that: Volume 6 is noticeably cheaper and easier to get hold of than earlier volumes, which makes it an approachable set to open for fun.
Box Contents & Pack Structure
Each Gem Pack Volume 6 booster box contains:
- 18 packs per box
- 4 cards per pack
- 72 cards total per box
- Every card is holographic — no non-holo commons
- Pull rates printed on the back of the box (official 1.81% for three-star rarities)
- At least one three-star Illustration Rare per box — confirmed across a full case opening
Card types in each pack
A standard Gem Pack Volume 6 pack follows a predictable four-slot structure:
- Two common reverse holos — one with a grass-energy symbol, one with a Poké Ball symbol (28 Pokémon × 2 = 56 common types)
- One uncommon foil — one of two new glitter/pattern foil styles introduced this volume (56 uncommon types)
- One higher-rarity card — a one-star Master Ball card, a two-star Gem Pack stamp card, or a three-star Illustration Rare
The four printed rarity rates (below) sum to exactly 100% across the four slots, so every pack reliably produces two commons, one uncommon and one card from the upper tier.
What changed from previous Gem Pack volumes
- Only one exclusive — the Illustration Rare Applin, versus four Chinese exclusives in Volume 5.
- Two new holo patterns — the first foil-pattern change since Volume 1, applied to the reverse-holo commons and uncommons.
- Boxes open from the top — a packaging change several openers noted; earlier volumes opened differently.
- Cheaper street price — Volume 6 launched well below the Chinese MSRP that Volume 5 held.
Pull Rate Data: Official Printed Rates
Because Simplified Chinese products are legally required to print their odds, Volume 6's rates come straight off the back of the box rather than from estimation. The four rarity rates are per card slot, and they sum to exactly 100%:
| Rarity | % per Slot | Per Pack (4 cards) | Per Box (72 cards) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Common reverse holo | 50.00% | ~2 | ~36 |
| Uncommon foil | 25.00% | ~1 | ~18 |
| ★ One-star (Master Ball pattern) | 17.39% | ~0.7 | ~12.5 |
| ★★ Two-star (Gem Pack stamp) | 5.80% | ~0.23 | ~4.2 |
| ★★★ Three-star (Illustration Rare) | 1.81% | ~0.07 | ~1.3 |
Key findings from the data
- Three-stars per box: ~1.3 average from the 1.81% rate — a full case confirmed at least one per box, with one to two typical.
- Two-star stamps per box: ~4 is the expected count at the printed 5.80% rate.
- Master Ball cards per box: ~12–13, making the one-star the "filler hit" you see most often.
- No true blank packs: every pack contains one upper-tier card, so there is no "nothing" pack — the honesty caveat is that a one-star Master Ball is the floor, not a chase card.
- Double three-star boxes happen: one two-box opening produced two Illustration Rares in a single box (Lairon and Okidogi full arts), the upper end of normal variance.
Sample-size caveat: the release-week openings reviewed here total roughly 14 boxes — one full case plus a two-box session — and the case video did not enumerate every card. Treat the per-box observations as directional; the printed rates are the reliable figure, and individual boxes swing above and below 1.3 three-stars.
Rarity Breakdown
For readers new to the Gem Pack rarity ladder, here is what each tier actually looks like in the Volume 6 Applin set:
| Rarity Tier | Description | Official Rate | Expected Per Box |
|---|---|---|---|
| Common (circle rare) | Reverse holo with grass-energy or Poké Ball symbol; two per pack | 50.00% | ~36 |
| Uncommon | One of two new glitter/pattern foils introduced this volume | 25.00% | ~18 |
| ★ One-star | Master Ball hollow-pattern foil — the everyday "hit" | 17.39% | ~12.5 |
| ★★ Two-star (stamp) | Mirror-foil card with the Gem Pack logo stamp; also the authenticity marker | 5.80% | ~4.2 |
| ★★★ Three-star | Full-illustration Illustration Rare (AR-equivalent), incl. the exclusive Applin | 1.81% | ~1.3 |
Each of the 28 featured Pokémon can therefore appear as up to seven different cards: two commons (energy + Poké Ball), two uncommon foils, a one-star Master Ball, a two-star stamp and a three-star Illustration Rare. The Gem Pack logo stamp on every holo doubles as the anti-counterfeit marker — a genuine Volume 6 holo should carry it.
The Exclusive Applin
The one Simplified Chinese exclusive in Volume 6 is the Illustration Rare Applin — a new artwork of Applin perched on a windowsill, distinct from the apple-branch scene on the booster wrapper. It is the headline chase card and the only three-star in the set you cannot obtain from any other language release.
| Card | Rarity | Exclusive? | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Applin (windowsill art) | ★★★ Illustration Rare | Yes — Simplified Chinese only | The set's namesake and sole exclusive; 1 of 28 three-stars |
With just one exclusive in a 28-card three-star pool, the odds of pulling the Applin specifically are steep: roughly 1 in 21 boxes (see the math below). Every genuine copy carries the Gem Pack logo stamp — treat any unstamped "exclusive" as suspect.
Notable Three-Star Illustration Rares
The other 27 three-stars are Illustration Rares reprinted from recent English Scarlet & Violet-era sets, each restamped with the Gem Pack logo. That stamp makes them distinct collectibles from their English and Japanese counterparts despite sharing artwork. Cards observed in release-week openings include:
- Apple line — Dipplin, Flapple, Appletun (thematic to the Applin set)
- Munkidori — repeatedly called out as a standout of the pool
- Okidogi — full-art, pulled in a release-day box
- Lairon — full-art, pulled alongside Okidogi for a double-three-star box
- Castform and Polteageist — additional non-exclusive Illustration Rares in the pool
Because these are reprints, their value is driven by the Gem Pack stamp variation rather than by scarcity of the underlying artwork — they matter most to language and variation collectors building a Simplified Chinese master set.
Should You Open or Buy Singles?
Whether Gem Pack Volume 6 is worth opening depends entirely on what you want from it.
Open if:
- You enjoy the pack-opening experience and want every card to come back holographic
- You are building a Simplified Chinese master set — including the new two holo patterns and stamp variants
- You want an approachable, cheap Gem Pack to open casually rather than a high-stakes chase
- You collect the apple line (Dipplin, Flapple, Appletun) or want stamped variants of recent English ARs
Buy singles if:
- You specifically want the exclusive Illustration Rare Applin — the math on opening for it is bad (below)
- You want only one or two specific three-stars from the set
- You are buying sealed purely as an investment — that is a separate calculation from opening for cards
The numbers on chasing the exclusive Applin
- Three-stars per box: ~1.3 (72 cards × 1.81%).
- The exclusive Applin is 1 of 28 three-stars, so per box you expect ~1.3 ÷ 28 ≈ 0.046 Applins — about 1 every 21–22 boxes.
- At ~18 packs per box, that is roughly 390 packs opened, on average, to hit one specific Applin.
- Even a full 12-box case only carries a ~43% chance of a single Applin appearing (1 − (27/28)~15.6 three-stars).
- At any realistic per-box cost, opening to find the Applin costs many multiples of just buying the single. Sealed Gem Packs are generally not reprinted, so sealed prices tend to drift up over time — but that is an argument for buying sealed to hold, not for ripping it to chase one card.
The honest bottom line: Volume 6 is a fun, cheap set where every pack is holo and at least one Illustration Rare per box is effectively guaranteed. That makes it a lovely casual open. But if your goal is the exclusive Applin, do not chase it through boxes — at ~1 in 21 boxes, you will spend far more opening product than the single will ever cost you. Buy the Applin, and open Volume 6 only because you enjoy opening it.
Frequently Asked Questions
See the FAQ schema above for quick answers. Detailed responses below for common questions from the community.
Does every Gem Pack Volume 6 box contain a three-star?
Yes. A full-case opening confirmed at least one three-star Illustration Rare in every booster box, and the printed 1.81% rate across 72 cards makes a completely hitless box statistically very unlikely. Some boxes give two three-stars — one release-week box produced both a Lairon and an Okidogi full art.
Why do the pull rates only add up to one hit per pack?
The four printed rates (50% / 25% / 17.39% / 5.80% / 1.81%) sum to exactly 100% per slot, and a pack is four slots. In practice that means two commons, one uncommon and one upper-tier card per pack. The upper-tier card is usually a one-star Master Ball; the two-star stamp and three-star Illustration Rare are the rarer outcomes of that same slot.
How do I know if my Gem Pack Volume 6 cards are authentic?
Every holographic card should carry the Gem Pack logo stamp on the card face — this is both a rarity marker and the anti-counterfeit measure. The box itself carries a foil authenticity sticker printed "Pokémon Shanghai" with a serial number and a batch code beneath it. Volume 6 is also marked made in Japan. Inspect these before buying sealed product.
Are Simplified Chinese Pokémon cards legal for competitive play?
Simplified Chinese cards can be used in official Pokémon TCG events in mainland China. For international tournaments — including Singapore, Malaysia and global championships — English cards are required. The Gem Pack series is primarily a collector product for international buyers, not a competitive-play product.
Is Simplified Chinese the same as Traditional Chinese Pokémon cards?
No — they are entirely separate releases. Simplified Chinese cards are printed for mainland China and use simplified characters; the Gem Pack series is exclusively a Simplified Chinese product. Traditional Chinese cards (Taiwan and Hong Kong) use traditional characters and ship through a different distribution chain.
Disclaimer: Pull rates are the official figures printed on the box, cross-referenced against release-week community openings totalling roughly 14 boxes. All prices are estimates — verify current prices before buying or selling. This is not financial advice.