The Story Behind the Cards: Kakawow's Phantom Harry Potter

When CGC® first began certifying cards in 2020, the only two TCGs that were accepted for grading were Magic: The Gathering and Pokémon. Later, CGC announced the expansion of its grading services to include nearly all TCGs, sports cards and non-sports cards.

One of the collectible card companies that CGC began grading cards from recently is Kakawow — a Chinese company who partners with several intellectual properties (IPs) to produce collectible cards featuring fan-favorite characters. Notably, one of Kakawow’s most popular sets in 2024 was Phantom Harry Potter — a set of chrome cards featuring popular characters, items and settings from the Harry Potter franchise.

What is Phantom Harry Potter?

Harry Potter needs little introduction — it is the best-selling book series of all time. The original seven-novel series was released from 1997 to 2007 and received critical acclaim, allowing the series to evolve into a multimedia franchise including movies, merchandise, stage plays and, of course, trading cards.

Phantom Harry Potter is the series’ first collectible card set to be fully printed in chrome cardstock, giving it the same metallic sheen as Kakawow’s other sets. The set was only available in mainland China and was very limited, with a total release of 10,000 cases, or around 100,000 booster boxes. Each booster box included 10 packs of five cards each.

Phantom Harry Potter’s base set includes 78 cards, each representing characters, items and settings from the Wizarding World. Each of the 78 cards also have different parallels, including Black, Gold, Snakeskin, Purple, Magic Cards, Vintage Die-cut and Silver. Additionally, the set includes several inserts, some of which are extremely rare or even one of a kind.

CGC recently certified several of these rare or unique Harry Potter cards. Here are some of our favorites:

#1/1 Black and White Parallel Cards

Phantom Harry Potter features several different-colored parallels, including Silver, Purple and Gold. However, the rarest out of these colored parallels are, by far, the Black and White Parallel cards. Each card in the base set has a Black and White parallel, and each is a one-of-one — making them the rarest cards in the set. Once one of these Black or White parallel cards is pulled, you won’t find another!

According to the CGC Cards Population Report, CGC has certified 25 total examples of the Black parallel cards, including this Severus Snape, Phantom Harry Potter (2024) Kakawow – #PHP-IB-11 Black graded CGC Pristine 10. Meanwhile, CGC has certified 12 total examples of the White parallel cards, including this Albus Dumbledore, Phantom Harry Potter (2024) #PHP-IW-06 White graded CGC Gem Mint 10.

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Station Ticket and Wand Card

Two of the inserts featured in Phantom Harry Potter include the Platform 9 ¾ Station Ticket card and the Wand card. Platform 9 ¾ Station Ticket cards are serialized #/943 and feature 48 different characters. This example depicts Dean Thomas — a popular Gryffindor student — with his ticket, which he would have used to enter the platform to the train that takes him to Hogwarts. CGC has certified 8 of these Platform 9 ¾ Station Ticket cards #/943.

Wand cards, meanwhile, don’t depict a character. Instead, they depict a certain character’s wand — the catalysts that wizards and witches use to perform magic. Each wand has a distinct pattern that reflects their character. Wand cards are serialized #/15 and have two versions — one with a Patronus, and one without. This Harry Potter, Phantom Harry Potter (2024) Kakawow – #PHP-MZ-02 Wand card features Harry Potter’s stag Patronus. CGC has certified 7 of these Wand card inserts.

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Houses Style

One of Harry Potter’s most beloved gimmicks is its House system — a process that Hogwarts uses to organize incoming students into one of four houses (Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin), which will be their home for the school year. Houses Style cards depict a student with their house colors in the background. The back of the card has the Houses emblem and a serial number of #/999. This Hermione Granger, Phantom Harry Potter (2024) Kakawow – #PHP-XY-03 Houses Style card is graded CGC Pristine 10 and is one of the 8 total examples in the CGC Cards Population Report.

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Birthday Cards

Perhaps the most unique insert of the set, Phantom Harry Potter Birthday cards are exactly what they seem — cards that feature a character and a number showcasing their birthday. What makes them unique, however, is their different serial numbers. Unlike other inserts in the set, Birthday cards’ serial print numbers correspond with the character’s birth month. For example, this Ron Weasley - #/3, Phantom Harry Potter (2024) Kakawow – #PHP-SR-05 Birthday Card graded CGC Pristine 10 has a serial number of #/3. This is because Ron’s birthday is 03/01, so there are only two other cards like it. Similarly, Hagrid’s birthday is 12/06, so there are only 12 total Birthday cards for him.

CGC has certified a total of 16 Birthday card inserts, according to the CGC Cards Population Report.

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Other insert sets in Kakawow’s Phantom Harry Potter include:

• Final Frames cards
• Sorting Hat Die-cut cards
• Vintage Die-cut cards
• Magic cards (#/668)
• Hogwarts Acceptance Letter cards (#/625)
• Quidditch Star cards (#/75)

Are you ready to expand your Phantom Harry Potter collection? CGC is here to help! Learn how to submit by clicking here.