Pokemon Collector’s Value Guide

The Pokemon On The Card

The final factor that drives price comes down to Pokemon popularity. Its no secret that Charizard is king! But other well-liked Pokemon such as Pikachu, Blastoise and Venusaur also command a premium.

As you can imagine, there are cases where a brand new Charizard from a modern set can be worth more than a 20+ year old 1st Edition Base Set PSA 10 card.

These four factors drive Pokemon card values in different ways, but if they all come together beautifully, its the perfect recipe for an extremely valuable Pokemon card.

How Much Are Old Japanese Pokemon Cards Worth

The Japanese Base Set was released in 1996, a solid three years before the English version.

Commended in the Pokemon community for their quality, old Japanese Pokemon cards are sought after items for any collector.

However, their value is affected by a couple of factors.

Unlike the English version where booster boxes contained 36 packs and roughly 12 holographic cards. Japanese Base set booster boxes contained 60 packs and the pull rates on holos are known to be as high as 50%.

As youd expect, this drives the value down compared to their English counterparts.

However, there is also a well-known printing error with Japanese base set, where they missed off the rarity symbol from the bottom right corner of the cards.

If youre lucky enough to own these cards, then they are extremely valuable and command a premium.

Pokemon then decided to print future vintage Japanese sets like Jungle, Fossil and Team Rocket with a holographic card in every pack.

Although these were fun to open, it also took away some of the excitement, rarity and value.

The main thing that combats this though, as mentioned above is the quality of the cards.

Card centering, print lines, and edge-wear is less common, therefore its easier to obtain a high score when getting Japanese cards graded. The higher the grade, the higher its value of course.

Condition Of Pokemon Tcg Cards

If you kept your cards in a binder and only looked at them, chances are they might still be in good condition.

Back in the day, the Pokemon TCG was played by millions of children, who didn’t care about keeping their cards in pristine condition or preserving their value. And how could anyone predict that the Pokemon Franchise would still be going 25 years later, let alone increasing in popularity and breaking sale records.

That’s not all- even if you kept your Pokemon Cards in great condition, they still can have other things wrong with them. The printing quality of Pokemon cards can also vary wildly, leading to cut corners, surface scratches, off-centering and lots of other issues which brings down the graded rating of a card.

The condition of your Pokemon Cards will play a lot into how much they are worth.

There are specialized grading companies who look at cards under a microscope and look for anything at all wrong with your cards. They give each card a grade and return them back to you. These grades are extremely valuable to collectors who want to buy the best conditioned cards.

It also drives up the cards rarity if a card is graded a 10 and every other card is only a 9, suddenly you’re the one carrying the only graded-10 Pokemon card that all collectors want.

All of these factors are what keep the cards value going up, despite them being printed in their millions. Collectors want the best of the best, and they’ll pay top dollar for them.

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Identifying Valuable Pokmon Cards

Find The Year Your Pokemon Card Was Made

Look at the bottom of the card and find the year it was printed. Thats the first key indicator when identifying your card.

For example, the Base Set Pokémon Cards have 4 different print runs while looking almost identical each time. Of those sets, the UK 4th Print Base Set identifies as 1999-2000, which is the key indicator to separate those cards from the rest.

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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.

Scalpers & Printing Issues

Another issue currently plaguing many popular franchises is people buying up all the product and reselling for higher prices, known as Scalping.

Pokemon TCG has plenty of scalping issues when Pokemon released the 25th Anniversary McDonalds Promotional Cards in Happy Meals, McDonalds were sold out of Happy Meals TCG Packs across the world whilst the packs of cards were put on sites like eBay for double the cost of a Happy Meal.

That isn’t the only case of it happening either there have been major shortages of big release cards including Vivid Voltage, Chilling Reign and Celebrations due to people buying thousands of dollars of Pokemon products at MSRP and reselling it for higher, with little interest in the TCG.

The Pokemon Company has tried to mitigate this issue by printing more and more Pokemon Cards, but there are logistical issues for ramping up production of more products and shipping them across the world.

The demand is clearly there, but there may come a point where the hype of Pokemon TCG dies down again and prices of the cards drops dramatically due to the huge amounts produced.

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Where To Sell Pokemon Cards

You may be thinking, well great- I have two hundred Base Set Charizards that I want to sell. But where is the best place to sell my Pokemon Cards?

The quick and easy option are auctions sites like eBay.

eBay has thousands of Pokemon cards for sale on it and it’s one of the go-to places for collectors looking to find cards. Selling on eBay does have fees on listings, which should be considered when calculating your card’s value.

You can also sell them at Local Card Shops, Marketplace sites like Facebook/GumTree and forums like Reddit.

If you have some of the rarest Pokemon cards, you might want to find a private auction site like Goldin Auctions that will find more capable bidders than sites like eBay can.

Collecting Pokmon: An Unauthorized Handbook And Price Guide

The Collecting Pokémon: An Unauthorized Handbook and Price Guide is a book about collecting Pokémon cards and merchandise. It has 128 pages.

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How To Value Your Pokmon Cards

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If you want to sell your Pokémon cards, it’s important that you value them first so you know you’re getting a good deal. Fortunately, Pokémon cards are easy to value once you know what to look for and where to look.

What Are My Pokemon 1st Edition Base Set Cards Worth

If you own any of the cards listed below, condition is the biggest factor in figuring out what your cards are worth. The prices below illustrate what these cards are worth after grading in mint condition as PSA 9’s & 10’s.

Important to note: It is very unlikely that your cards will grade this high if they have been played with. If you have these cards laying around in less than mint condition, it still may be worth getting them graded as long as they are in pretty good shape.

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Looking Up How Much My Pokemon Cards Are Worth:

If you get too many results that include cards NOT like yours, use the checkboxes to pick the ones just like yours. Choosing a few comparable items by using the checkboxes gives you a much more accurate estimate of what your Pokemon card is worth.

What to do next:

Once youve gone through and searched for the value of your Pokemon cards using the mavin.io price guide, you have several different options:

If the Pokemon cards are valuable: You can either hold onto the cards, perhaps get them graded if theyre really valuable, and hopefully see them appreciate in value over time. Alternatively, you sell it to a local card shop without getting ripped off since you know its worth. Lastly, you can sell it yourself on eBay to get a competitive price. Read our guide to selling on eBay.

If the Pokemon cards are worthless: A card doesnt have to be worth money to be considered valuable. Each card has sentimental value to someone: where they got it, the deck it was a part of, that time you used it to battle so-and-so a lot of people tend to hang onto them because of the memories. If you want to get rid of your Pokemon cards, they could be worth some memories to a relative or a stranger. Put them on Craigslist, take them to a card shop, donate them, or pass them along to your kids or a relative. Theres still a lot of fun to be had in those dusty Pokemon cards youve been hanging onto!

Identify The Card With The Name And Number In The Set

Finally, identify the card by looking up its name and card number on eBay.

The name will be located above the illustration of the card and the number is on the bottom right of the card. After checking all three of these steps, you should easily be able to identify every card, even if you dont know exactly what set it is in.

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How To Cash In On Your Pokemon Cards

Now that youve gone through your cards and identified which may have value, its time to see how much theyre actually worth and put them up for sale.

As you might expect, one of the easiest ways to check the value of a card is to look it up on an auction site like eBay. Make sure to look at completed listings to see how much the card actually sold for.

Other useful sites are ones like TCGPlayer and TrollAndToad, which act as digital storefronts for game shops and individuals selling cards. Once you look up a card, you can check the Market Price for an idea of how much its currently worth. Like eBay, these sites allow you to sell your cards for a fee.

A snapshot of Charizard cards on TCGPlayer.

Once you know how much your cards are worth, you can either make a listing on one of these sites to sell them, or you could visit a card shop or flea market to haggle in person, whatever it takes to get the very best price for your Pokemon cards.

Joshua is a Senior Editor and Producer of Features at IGN. If Pokemon, Green Lantern, or Star Wars are frequently used words in your vocabulary, youll want to follow him on and IGN.

How Much Is A Complete Set Of Pokemon Cards Worth

If youre holding a complete set of Pokemon cards , then you definitely have an asset collectors will be interested in.

For some, gotta catch em all literally means owning every card, from every set ever produced!

Now the actual value of your complete set will be determined by its age, condition and set popularity.

But whats interesting is that even newer full sets can be worth quite a lot of money. Sometimes as much as the older ones!

This is because, the regular introduction of reverse holographic cards, and secret rares, means full/master sets can contain over 300 cards.

The cost of pulling all of these cards naturally could cost £1000s in booster boxes. So for some, buying a full set outright simply works out cheaper.

Ultimately though, whether your complete set is old or new, is absolutely has value, and most likely, a market of interested buyers.

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Rare And Valuable Pokemon Cards

Known as Vintage cards, the Pokemon TCG sets that were released in the first and second generation of Pokemon are some of the most valuable cards that collectors go after. If the cards have been kept in pristine condition, they can go for tens of thousands of dollars.

The most recognized rare Pokemon TCG cards are in the Base Set that was released in North America in 1999. It contained 102 cards and its most sought-after card was the Charizard.

Possibly the holy-grail of Pokemon TCG cards is a first-edition, mint-condition Charizard from the Base Set. It made news when a first-edition Charizard in pristine condition sold for over $300,000 dollars. You can see the live price of PSA 10 First-Edition Charizards here.

$80.00

Rare Holo

This card has been rereleased in several different sets, including recently in the Pokemon Celebrations Set. Rereleased cards aren’t worth anything like the original vintage card, but they are still very popular today.

The Base Set cards were originally printed between 1999 and 2000, and was even reprinted as a completely new set with some additional cards from other sets.

Many of these cards have also had reprints in modern sets, so being able to identify your cards requires a bit of research and attention to detail.

There are several different versions of base set cards to look out for:

Recently Updated Pokemon Card Values

The following is a list of all Pokémon cards that have recently had their price values updated. Clicking on a specific Pokémon card image will take you to that card’s listing. Selecting the card’s name will bring you to the individual Pokemon listing pages which are further broken down by TCG set.

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Pricing Or Selling Your Collection