Identify Type And Assess Rarity
The first step to identify if a card is potentially worth anything substantial is to check its type and rarity. In other words, how likely the card is to come across from any given booster pack or special event, and if it has any special characteristics, such as card material or Pokemon types.
There are a few indicators of rarity on any given card, though theyre quite subject to change depending on when said card was printed. A marker near the bottom of the card or near its name will indicate rarity: a circle means the card is common, a diamond means its less common, and stars mean its rare. More stars or with combinations of letters or symbols mean extra rare, including if those symbols are in the name or elsewhere on the card. Other characteristics that can up the rarity include: a higher printed number than there should be in a given printed set holographic artwork or reverse holographic, in which everything but the artwork is holographic artwork that takes up the full card artwork wherein the creature doesnt cast a shadow and any shining characteristics, not to be confused with holographic.
While rarity isnt the only factor in appraising value, its certainly a major factor: Some of the highest-selling cards worth tens of thousands of dollars, or considered priceless from lack of supply, are only so because of small rarities like misprints or typos.
Sort Your Pokmon Cards By Set
When it comes to collectible cards, finding one thats valuable can be a little like searching for a needle in a haystack. Thats why its a good idea to get started by baling your hay or sorting your Pokémon cards, in this case so you can see whats what.
First, look for a symbol either below the bottom right corner of the image or in the bottom right corner of the card itself to determine what set your card belongs to. Cards that dont have a symbol are considered Base set cards, which was one of the first sets originally released in the U.S. You can do a little internet sleuthing to determine which Pokémon set is which, and cards from some sets are already going to be more valuable than others. Next, organize the cards within each set by number. The bottom right corner of each card should show two numbers: the cards identifier followed by the total number of cards in the set. For example, numbers like 12/56 would indicate card number 12 in a set of 56 total cards.
How To Spot A Fake Pokmon Card Immediately
Look at the card. Then ask yourself: does anything seem off? Read it and check to see if there are any simple errors in the card. Here is a short list of characteristics to check:
- Does this Pokémon exist?
- Does the card have an accent over every single e in Pokémon?
- Is the card free of spelling mistakes and obvious grammar mistakes, such as missing punctuation?
- Does the card have the year it was printed?
- Does the card have the number of elemental symbols in all the correct places of the card?
- Does the Pokémon have a reasonable amount of HP? For example, if you have an Eevee with over 1,000 HP, then that card is probably a fake. If you are unsure as to whats unreasonable you could look up the card on the Pokémon TCG card database to get a ballpark range of where its HP is usually at.
If you answered no to one or several of these questions, odds are that you have a fake Pokémon card. This is a great and easy way to spot a fake immediately.
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Where Should I Sell My Pokemon Cards
In most countries, eBay is a good place to sell Pokemon cards for good money. Many Pokemon traders and collectors keep a close eye on the site, helping you get a good price for your Pokemon cards, especially if you have good pictures and a good listing description.
The issue with trying to sell your cards to a trading card retailer is the business needs to make a decent profit on whatever they buy from you. This means that youre unlikely to get the best price from them, although they might help you to sell your Pokemon cards quickly.
What Is Our Pokemon Card Values Chart
Our pokemon card value finder is the largest TCG lookup database that is updated on an hourly basis. Our online price guide tool helps users easily search and instantly find the price of any Pokemon cards. You can search by individual card, by Pokemon name, or browse our Pokemon card set list available for all TCG sets.
People of all ages love Pokemon! We know first hand, as we are major poke-fans ourselves. We grew up collecting Pokemon cards and playing the original games on the gameboy when they first came out. Heck, we remember trading our holographic Charizard card for a copy of Pokemon red for the original gameboy. We love Pokemon and the TCG so much that we dedicated our time to creating this website for other people who love it as much as we do.
Beginning your search is simple. You just type the name of the Pokemon you want to lookup, the Pokemon TCG set name, or the name of the rare Pokemon cards you want to see list information on. We will return you the results that we have in our database and you can easily jump to the next Pokemon, card, and set in line. We believe that browsing cards and finding prices should be simple and easy to do.
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Examples Of Valuable Pokemon Cards
The table below includes the values of some of the rarest Pokemon cards in the world, i.e. ones that were acquired as prizes for winning competitions in the late 90s and early 2000s.
These types of cards were never available to the general public, and they make headlines every so often by selling for six figures at auction. The table also includes some cards that were available publicly as part of the original base set prints. According to Pratte, these are the most commonly sold cards among hobbyists. And if you do have a rare card in your collection, its likely to be of this type. Note how the condition drastically changes the value.
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Torchic Gold Star Holo Team Rocket Returns
One of the rarest Gold Star cards to be released, this adorable birb was part of 2004s Team Rocket Returns expansion set. Not many were printed, making this card even more valuable.
A PSA 10 copy of this card sold for $25,400 in 2020. According to the PSA website, at least 17 mint condition versions of this card exist, with their value now estimated at $48,000.
Hmmperhaps this card actually has the coolest Charizard artwork.
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Charizard Vstar Rainbow #174 Eng Nm
The majority of Pokémon cards are printed in English and/or Japanese, and these cards have different features. For example, English cards use shapes to define rarity while Japanese cards use letters . But you can find other languages.
- Type: Charizard V Star
- Rating: Secret Rare
- Value: $122.50
As a trader or collector, you probably know Charizard has a different name in Japan its known as Lizardon . You also know its unevolved selves, Charmander aka Hitokage and Charmeleon . Charizard is known as the Flame Pokémon.
Pokmon Japanese Base Set No Rarity Symbol Holo Venusaur
A very rare Pokémon card made ever more valuable by its artists autograph
Sold for $55,000 in November 2021
Image: PWCC
Many of the rarest Pokémon cards date from the trading card games early days, with first edition cards released in the 1990s ranking as among the most valuable Pokémon cards today.
While the first edition stamp on cards is highly sought-after in the English edition of the Pokémon card game, the rarest Japanese Pokémon cards are instead identified by their lack of a stamp. Specifically, a missing black star in the bottom-right of a Japanese-language card is whats known as No Rarity – meaning that the card is missing the common symbol used to signify a Pokémon cards rarity.
No Rarity Pokémon cards are among the rarest Pokémon cards in existence, and few come rarer than the Venusaur Pokémon card from the games first print run in 1996. Just five copies of the Bulbasaur evolution – famous for appearing on the original video game Pokémon Green – have been graded at a perfect Gem-Mint 10 by PSA, making a flawless copy of the card extremely rare.
While a No Rarity Venusaur card commands a high price by itself, a copy sold in November 2021 set a new record for the rare Pokémon card by fetching $55,000 at auction. Helping the record sum was the signature of the cards illustrator Mitsuhiro Arita – the legendary artist behind many Pokémon cards from the last 20-plus years – on the cards case, making the already rare Pokémon card truly one-of-a-kind.
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Pokemon Portuguese First Edition Charizard
Sold in April, 2021 for $44,850
Only two Portuguese first edition Charizards have ever been graded PSA 10 out of the 34 submitted to PSA as of this writing.
Just two
Given how the market for Pokemon cards has soared recently and the scarcity of this card in PSA 10 condition, Im surprised this didnt sell for an even higher price.
Still, $44,850 is impressive and speaks to the strength of the Pokemon brand and the Charizard character, in particular.
Identifing Shadowless Cards From Pokemon Base Set
The Shadowless Pokémon cards are, like their name suggests, shadowless.
Remember when you were trying to identify your 1st Edition cards by checking for the shadow on the right side of the picture frame? Shadowless cards dont have that shadow there either.
The second way to identify Shadowless Pokémon cards is by their copyright dates. These cards share the same copyright dates as the 1st Edition ones, making these two very similar, and as such, both are valuable.
This is why having multiple ways to clarify which type of card you have is so important: some cards share traits.
The only noticeable difference between the Shadowless and 1st Edition Pokémon cards is the lack of a 1st Edition stamp on the Shadowless cards.
If its there, its a 1st Edition. If not, youve found a Shadowless Pokémon card from the Base Set.
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Rarest And Most Expensive Pokmon Cards
Many of the most expensive Pokémon cards are tournament prizes that were produced in very limited numbers and arent actually playable in the game. Well get to them later, but lets first take a look at the rarest and most expensive Pokémon cards that you have a chance of actually owning already.
Bet you werent expecting our list to start off with this guy!
What Is The Rarest Pokmon Card
The Pikachu Illustrator Promo Card is considered to be the most valuable and rarest card in the world. It features the artwork of the original illustrator, Atsuko Nishida.
Also, the first edition shadowless Charizard card is extremely rare, due to a printing error back in the 90s. The holographic, base set Charizard cards are also valuable.
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Free Price Guide For Pokemon Card Values
Youll need these details:
For example Charizard 101/108
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First Edition Holographic Alakazam
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $2,800
With its psychic powers that stem from its extremely powerful brain, Alakazam can bring massive headaches to those unfortunate enough to be nearby.
The evolution from Abra to Kadabra to its final form of Alakazam is one of the more fun name transitions of the series while this card itself is one of the more fun to own.
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What Are Pokemon Cards
For the uninitiated, Pokemon Cards are part of the Pokemon Card Trading Card Game that originally launched in 1996. Back then, the original set contained just 151 cards one for each OG Pokemon.
In simplest terms, Pokemon cards are baseball cards but for adorable Japanese Pocket Monsters.
Since then, Pokemon has exploded into the worlds most valuable media franchise, valued at over $100 billion worldwide. For comparison, thats more than Star Wars, Spongebob, and James Bond combined.
Fueling two decades of meteoric growth was a steady stream of new Pokemon creatures and thus new cards to collect. There are around 898 total Pokemon and over 9,100 Pokemon cards to collect in the English market.
Not all 9,100 cards are available on store shelves at once, of course. The Pokemon Company International, the folks who make Pokemon cards, publish and release cards one generation at a time, with each generation lasting about two years.
In total, there have been eight generations of Pokemon cards since 1996. And as the next generation of cards begins appearing on store shelves, the previous generation tends to sell out. At that point, its no surprise that certain cards begin shooting up in value!
Dragon Frontiers Gold Star Holographic Charizard
Despite being released in 2006, this shiny black Charizard has become an incredibly valuable Pokémon card. According to PSA, only 59 of these cards have been graded a perfect 10, and these mint condition copies have regularly sold for between $20,000 and $30,000 at auction.
This cards highest recorded sale to date took place on eBay for upwards of $60,000 in 2020. Impressively, this Delta Species Charizard competes in value for some of the rarest first edition Pokémon cards.
This chonky boy is worth some serious green.
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Chansey #3 1st Edition Shadowless Base Set
- Release Date: 1999
- Grading: PSA Gem Mint 10
- Pokemon card value at auction: $36,877
For many Pokemon card collectors, it doesnt get any better than the Base Set which made its North American debut in 1999. Not only does it feature some of the TCG series most iconic artwork, but there is also a ton of nostalgia players have connected to the release.
As a result, Pokemon cards from the release have seen the most explosion in value over the last decade. While not a heavy-hitter in the franchise itself, fans have been going wild for the adorable Chansey #3 Pokemon card. So much so that it surprised industry veterans when it started fetching jaw-dropping prices.
While hovering around $20k since 2019, the collectibles value has only continued to grow. According to PWCC, a 1st Edition Shadowless version sold for $36,877 in a November 2020 auction.
The Best Place To Sell Your Pokemon Cards Online: Ebay
The main marketplace is for sure going to be eBay, Pratte says. Even if youre someone who just stumbled upon your childhood collection, its really easy to take a couple of pictures make a decent listing.
Why eBay? Its home to several high-profile deals, and it also caters to the $20 and $30 transactions. In short, eBay is the perfect meeting ground for nostalgic buyers and sellers and those whove been wheeling and dealing Pokemon cards since the 90s.
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Important Questions To Ask Yourself To Determine How Much Your Pokemon Cards Are Worth
- How many cards do you have?
- How old are your cards?
- What set/s are they from?
- Do you have a completed set/s?
- Are any of your cards 1st edition?
- How many holographic cards do you have?
- What condition are your cards in?
- Are they all English or do you have cards from other languages?
- Could you add value by getting them graded?
- Do you have any products that are sealed, such as booster boxes or packs?
- Does their sentimental value outweigh any money you could get for them?
Now lets get into some more specifics
How Do You Know If You Have A Rare Pokemon Card
Look in the bottom right corner of the card to find the rarity symbol, next to the card number:
. Moreover, what is the rarest Pokemon card in the world?
Pikachu Illustrator is considered the rarest Pokémon trading card in existence, and only 39 were produced back in 1998. The card features artwork by Pikachus creator Atsuko Nishida, and was only given away to the winners of an illustration contest.
One may also ask, what is the rarest Pokemon in Pokemon go?
- Gen 1: Rattata, Pidgey, Weedle, Caterpie, Zubat.
- Gen 2: Sentret, Swinub, Hoothoot, Ledyba.
Also Know, are Pokemon promo cards rare?
One of the most valuable Pokémon promo cards ever produced was the Pikachu Illustrator promo card. This promo is the rarest with only 39 copies ever printed. This highly sought after promo card was awarded to the winners of the Pokémon Card Game Illustration Contest held in Japan in 1997.
How much is a Pikachu card worth?
For example, if youre the proud owner of a Pikachu Illustrator Card well that one is currently worth a cool $100,000 USD. On the other hand, however, cards such as the First Edition Shadowless Lightning Energy will only go for $1 USD right now.
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