Understanding Dragon Ball Heroes Rarity Symbols and Card Features

Dragon Ball Heroes (now known as Super Dragon Ball Heroes) is a Japanese-exclusive trading card game that has taken the region by storm. Unlike traditional TCGs, Super Dragon Ball Heroes doesn’t pit players against each other in tabletop matches. Instead, players face off by moving their cards around on arcade machines, which digitally manifest the characters on the cards as avatars on a digital battlefield. The arcade game is extremely popular in Japan and has been the number one digital card game on the market in the region.

As of October 2022, the game has distributed over 1.2 billion cards to more than 1.8 million players across the world. There are more than 7,000 individual cards within the TCG, with card rarities ranging from Common to Ultimate Rare cards. Unfortunately, there’s been some confusion on whether the rarest cards in the game are called “secret rare” or “ultimate rare.” To figure out which is which, collectors will need to take a close look at the rarity symbols provided on the cards’ backings and consider the difference in regional phrasing regarding card rarity.

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Understanding rarity symbols and set numbers

First, let’s look at Super Dragon Ball Heroes (SDBH) rarity symbols. Every SDBH card is marked with a small symbol on the upper left-hand corner of the back of the card. This symbol will be a small box with a certain number of stars inside it, or some lettering. The number of stars or specific lettering represents how rare a SDBH card is within a particular set.

There are five universal rarity symbols used on SDBH cards, as follows:

• Common (★)
• Rare (★★)
• Super Rare (★★★)
• Ultimate Rare (★★★★)
• Campaign Promo (CP)

In addition to these universally recognized rarity symbols, there are also two other symbols used on DBSH cards. These include promotional cards (P) and V Jump 30th Rare cards (V). Promotional cards are given out during promotional events, while V Jump 30th Rare cards were printed as part of a collaboration between Bandai and V Jump magazine, the main publisher of Dragon Ball in Japan.

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Next, we need to look at set numbers. Every card in SDBH is marked with a string of characters above where the rarity symbol is printed. Usually, these are three to six characters long, with the first section containing a combination of letters (describing the set), then the next section containing a string of numbers (the card’s position in the set). In this Piccolo card’s case, the set number is MM1-005.

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The confusion between Ultimate Rare cards and “Secret Rare” cards is in response to certain cards’ set numbers. If we look at this Goku, we can see that the rarity symbol contains four stars, indicating that the card is an Ultimate Rare. However, when we look at the set number (UM10-SEC), we notice that instead of the second section containing numbers, it contains “SEC” instead.

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In English, we often regard any card with either no set number or a special category of characters, to be a “secret” card. For example, the Pokémon TCG often includes cards that have a higher set number than the number of cards listed in the set themselves (such as a card numbered 73/72). These are called “secret rare” cards. Despite this, this isn’t the case for SDBH.

According to Bandai, the manufacturer of the Super Dragon Ball Heroes card game, Super Dragon Ball Heroes only has the five rarities listed above (not including Promo cards). This means that although some cards include “SEC” in their set numbers, the number of stars within the rarity symbol ultimately dictates their rarity, so the card would be considered an Ultimate Rare.

CGC Cards™ has chosen to respect the manufacturer’s definition and will always designate these cards as Ultimate Rare cards if they have four stars in the set symbol, regardless of the card’s set number. Any SDBH card with a rarity symbol containing four stars will be designated as an Ultimate Rare on the label. However, if the card also contains "SEC" in its set number, CGC Cards will add a second variant to the card called "Secret Rare" and add the denotation to the fourth line. Together, it will read, "Ultimate Rare – Secret," like the above Goku card.

I have a rare card! What should I do?

Congratulations! Now that you’ve found a rare card, you should consider getting it graded by CGC Cards. CGC Cards’ grading experts ensure the authenticity of your card before encapsulating it in our industry-leading holder, preserving its condition and value. Get started by creating a free membership account here!

About CGC Cards

CGC Cards, a division of Certified Guaranty Company® (CGC®), is devoted to the expert authentication, grading and encapsulation of TCGs, non-sports and sports cards. All cards graded by CGC Cards are backed by the industry-leading CGC Guarantee.

Each submission goes through a proven eight-step certification process, which includes authentication and evaluation of condition by CGC Cards’ expert graders, encapsulation in the industry’s best holder, high-resolution imaging and a comprehensive quality control check. To learn more about CGC Cards’ state-of-the-art holder, click here.

Related Link:

• Understanding Pokémon Rarity Symbols and Card Features