What Makes The 1st Edition Holographic Dark Charizard So Valuable
Shortly after the release of Base Set, we had Jungle, then Fossil. Base Set 2 was was met with disappoint among fans hoping for something new. Thankfully, the 2000 Team Rocket set hit a home run, with edgier artwork and the introduction of Dark Pokemon.
The 1st Edition Dark Charizard is an iconic card. Its the first time wed seen something a bit different from Mitsuhiro Aritas OG design. This time Ken Sugimori opted for devilish looking Charizard that almost looks like hes considering whether to attack, or fly off into the night sky. The more you look at it, the more youre immersed into the scene. It really is clever artwork and widely appreciated among fans.
Because of its popularity, theres a decent number of PSA 10s out there, but still, there are 3x as many PSA 9s.
For many, myself included, Team Rocket is one of the best vintage Pokemon sets, and as such, Dark Charizard will always be a highly valuable and desired card.
2000 1st Edition Team Rocket Holographic Dark Charizard PSA Population Report
What Makes The Japanese No Rarity Symbol Charizard So Valuable
Collectors go mad for misprint or error cards. And for our next Charizard card, we have to take our time machine all the way back to 1996. No Rarity Symbol cards from the Japanese Base Set are widely considered the equivalent of the English 1st Edition. These cards are from the very first print run, and as the same suggests, they didnt have a rarity symbol in the bottom right corner.
Although theres little documentation of when rarity symbols were introduced to the Japanese Base Set, it wasnt particularly long after no rarity cards were released. As such, theyre incredibly rare and valuable. Combine that scarcity with our main man Charizard, and only 6 PSA 10s in existence, its no wonder this is one of the most expensive Charizards one could ever wish to acquire.
1996 Japanese No Rarity Symbol Charizard PSA Population Report
First Edition Holographic Hitmonchan
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $3,250
Sporting boxing gloves, shoulder pads and extreme quickness, Hitmonchan exhibits every bit of the appearance of the fighting-type Pokémon that he is.
The five protrusions on top of its head round out an overall ferocious look.
Bidding for this card in high grade can be just as ferocious as Hitmonchan itself as prices will often rise above $3,000 or more.
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What Makes The Shadowless Charizard So Valuable
As you may know, after 1st Edition, and before the Unlimited Base Set print run came Shadowless Pokemon cards. Although not quite as valuable as 1st Edition, because Shadowless cards were only printed for a short time, they are highly sought after too.
Interestingly, at the time of writing, only 54 copies of the Shadowless Charizard exist in a PSA 10, compared to 120 in 1st Edition. As you would expect, this makes them incredibly valuable and a wonderful investment piece for any collector.
1999 Shadowless Charizard PSA Population Report
Why Is Charizard So Expensive
Charizard has a special place in the hearts of collectors. Whether you were trying to complete the video games, show off your card collection to your friends, or routing for Ash to become the worlds greatest Pokemon master on TV, you knew that with a Charizard it was possible. To this day, this fire-breathing dragon is a symbol of strength, power and prestige and people will happily pay to acquire him. This is why Charizard Pokémon cards are so expensive and sought-after.
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First Edition Shadowless Holographic Charizard #4
A very valuable version of a classic fan-favourite
Sold for $369,000 in December 2020
Shiny Charizard has been one of the Pokémon card games most popular cards since it first released in 1999, so theres no surprise that 20-plus years later, it remains one of the most sought-after cards for collectors and fans alike.
While a number of first-edition cards from the Pokémon TCGs early days are worth some money – assuming theyre still in good nick – due to their limited availability and age, this specific version of the holographic Charizard absolutely stands out as one of the rarest and most valuable Pokémon cards ever released.
A PSA 10 Base Set 1st Edition Charizard just sold at auction with an ending bid of $183,812.00 via . Including the 20% buyer’s premium, the total transaction value exceeds $220k. As of now, this is the highest known sale of the card.
Pokemon Japanese Champion’s League
Sold in April, 2021 for $30,000
Beginning in 2000, Champion’s League and Battle Roads tournaments offered contestants throughout Japan the opportunity to battle it out amongst the best of the best.
In 2000 and 2001, there were two Champion’s League tournaments, one in the Spring and another in the Summer.
From 2002 to 2006, however, there was a reduction to just one Champion’s League tournament per year.
And before the 2005 tournament held in Tokyo, no trainers received any kind of promotional card.
However, the top four ranking players in each age division of the 2005 tournament received this promotional stadium card, making it the first Champion’s League promo stadium card.
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Rapper Logic Just Paid Over $300000 For A Pokemon Charizard Card
Late last week, a gem-mint first-edition shadowless holographic Charizard #4 from 199 sold for $US183,812 at Iconic Auctions. With the twenty per cent buyers premium, the grand total was over $US220,000 . This is the highest price ever paid for this Charizard card.
And it was paid by retired rapper Logic.
The card was graded gem mint 10 by card grading company PSA. Because this is an early Pokémon card and because these cards were used in play, its exceedingly difficult to find one in such good condition. At that time, who knew these cards would become such valuable collectibles? I sure didnt!
A PSA 10 Base Set 1st Edition Charizard just sold at auction with an ending bid of $183,812.00 via .
Including the 20% buyer’s premium, the total transaction value exceeds $220k.
As of now, this is the highest known sale of the card.
Cardhops
The minimum bid for this card was $US40,000 , and there were a total of seventeen bids placed. As HypeBeast noted, Logic tweeted that he was the winning bid, writing, Im the one at the auction for 183k Lololol.
On Instagram, Logic showed himself opening up a 1999 base set booster box for which he shelled out a cool twenty-three grand, writing how he loved Pokémon cards as a kid.
First Edition Holographic Nidoking
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $1,500
Nidoking is a dual-type poison and ground Pokémon that is the final evolved form of Nidoran.
With its sharp teeth, pointy ears, plated underside, claws and venomous horn that protrudes from its forehead, Nidoking is obviously a very intimidating reptilian creature.
However, its powerful tail is the primary weapon of choice to smash its enemies or create the spacing Nidoking needs to execute one of its devastating charges.
High grade specimens of this card can sell for around $1,500 or more.
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Most Expensive Pokmon Cards In Review
Clearly, the non-sports card collecting world is every bit as hot as the sports card hobby.
Passionate collectors are obviously willing to shell out big bucks to land any one of the prized possessions on this list.
The video games, television shows, and the cards themselves transformed Pokémon into a worldwide phenomenon with an enormous fan base.
And many of those kids who grew up with these cards are now adults with more spending power able to pay big bucks for them in top condition.
It doesn’t look like that trend will slow anytime soon as these cards have found their place as one of the most popular non-sports sets in the hobby.
Pokemon First Edition Hitmonchan
Sold in November, 2020 for $23,100
Packing tremendous punching power, the fighting-type Hitmonchan is another collector favorite who can strike with extreme quickness and precision.
Ken Sugimori delivered an excellent design for this card as Hitmonchan’s boxing gloves, shoulder pads, and five protrusions on the top of its head create an aura of a Pokemon that you don’t want to face.
Hitmonchan cards were some of the most commonly used cards in competitive play, making them tough to find in top condition.
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Black Star Ishihara Signed Gx Promo Card
A card featuring the Pokémon Company’s President himself.
Sold for $247,230 in April 2021
The most recent card to make headlines for pure value, this card sold for nearly a quarter of a million dollars at auction on April 26th 2021. You can find the full details at our story here, but this card depicts Pokémon Company founder and current president Tsunekazu Ishihara, and was given to the company staff as a celebration of the man’s 60th birthday in 2017.
That makes the card rare, but this specific version is even rarer, as Ishihara actually signed this near-mint card to boost its price even further. The “2017 P.M. SM Black Star #TPCi01 Tsunekazu Ishihara Signed Pokémon GX Promo Card”, to use its full title, is a testament to the raw power apparently held by the Pokémon president. The ability “Red Chanchanko” is in reference to the red vest traditionally worn on 60th birthdays in Japan, and prevents the effect of any attack, ability or trainer card against Ishihara. Meanwhile, its GX move “60 Congratulations”, tells you to flip 60 coins, and take a present for each one. A truly legendary card.
Pokemon Pop Series 5 Gold Star Umbreon
Sold in December, 2020 for $20,000
To help boost participation in Pokemon leagues and Pokemon Organized Play events, players were treated to exclusive POP series cards released on a regular basis over roughly a five-year span.
POP Series 1 kicked things off around September 2004 with POP Series 9 bringing things to a close around September 2009.
Released between March 2007 and September 2007, POP Series 5 was the last EX Series promotional set and featured Espeon and Umbreon, two of the eight Pokemon that evolve from Eevee.
The POP Series 5 checklist contained seventeen cards in total with Epseon and Umbreon being the most elusive of them all, noted by the gold star distinction next to their name on the card fronts.
As of this writing, just fifty examples of this Umbreon card have achieved PSA 10 status.
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Pokemon Japanese Hr Contest Winner Full Art Charizard
Sold in June, 2021 for $20,100
Despite the global health situation in 2020, Pokemon tournaments still took place at home and in shops throughout Japan.
From July to September 2020, contestants in the Charizard VMAX HR competition could participate in 16-player tournaments for a chance at winning two unique Charizard cards.
Winners of the first rounds consisting of four players each won the Full Art Charizard V shown here.
Those four players would then advance to the championship round for a shot at winning the Full Art Charizard VMAX HR competition card as the top prize.
The extreme difficulty of receiving the BGS 10 Pristine grade gives this card a significant boost in value.
Bulbasaur 1st Edition $450
One of the most popular Pokemon, Bulbasaur delivers long term. Previously third in the pecking order for PSA 9’s, Bulbasaur is currently higher than Squirtle and Charmander. With low populations, be sure to make Bulbasaur a top priority.
PSA Pop: 783 – 237 – 416
Current Value: PSA 10 $3200 PSA 9 $450
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Most Expensive Pokemon Cards Of All Time
Initially released in Japan in the 1990s to accompany the Pokémon video games, the Pokémon Trading Card Game has transformed into one of the most popular trading card games of all-time.
Because of the red-hot popularity of the franchise, some of the most expensive Pokemon cards can sell into the six-figure range…
That may sound shocking, at first, but given that Pokémon is a worldwide phenom, there is a vast, passionate collector base around the globe just waiting to get their hands on these prized cards.
From trophy cards, to First Edition Pokemon cards, to lesser-known rarities, the value of these cards is quite impressive.
And in this guide, we take a look at the 50 most valuable of them all.
Let’s jump right in!
Japanese Promo Pikachu Illustrator
Sold in February, 2021 for $375,000
During the late 1990s, CoroCoro Comic, a Japanese manga magazine, held a series of illustration contests in which entrants submitted their own unique Pokémon designs and attacks.
Little did they know then that these contests would give rise to one of the rarest and most valuable of all Pokémon cards: the Pikachu Illustrator.
Not only did contest winners receive multiple copies of a card that featured their very own winning design, which was exciting in its own right, each of them also received a copy of the Pikachu Illustrator card as an additional prize.
On the card front, contestants received a special message:
“We certify that your illustration is an excellent entry in the Pokémon Card Game Illust Contest. Therefore, we state that you are an Officially Authorized Pokémon Card Illustrator and admire your skill.”
Just 39 copies were distributed to the contest winners, but anyone is welcome to guess how many still survive today.
Considering this example graded PSA 7 sold for $375,000, it’s highly likely we’d see a price tag north of $1 million for the one example in the hobby graded PSA 10.
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First Edition Holographic Zapdos
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $1,400
Together with Articuno and Moltres, this electric and flying creature is one of the three Legendary birds of Kanto.
Only seen during thunderstorms, Zapdos will create lighting bolts and loud cracking sounds as it flaps its wings when airborne alerting everyone in the area to its presence.
The yellow and black spiked feathers that surround its body make Zapdos look just like the blasts of electricity it creates.
First Edition Item Finder
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $750
The intent of the Item Finder is exactly as it sounds: it aids players in locating items.
While its name and how it helps players find items greatly changed in later Pokémon games, the first edition card merely instructs the player to discard two cards from his or her hand and replace them with a trainer card.
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First Edition Holographic Machamp
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $1,000
The final form of Machop that evolves from Machoke, Machop is an intimidating fighting-type Pokémon who looks like the last thing you’d want to fight.
Known for its brute force and strength, Machamp is nothing but solid muscle and its four arms allow it to strike opponents from multiple angles at once.
And not only is Machamp overpowering, it also possesses incredible speed making it capable of throwing as many as 500 punches in one second.
Wearing a championship belt around its waste, the aptly named Machamp is frequently on the victorious side of the fight.
Shadowless Base Set Charizard Pokmon Card Sells For $295000 At Auction
With its recent boom in popularity, prices for vintage or rare Pokémon cards have soared in recent months. The scale as to how much these prices are growing is evident in a sale of an extremely rare and desirable Base Set Charizard card yesterday, which went for an eye watering amount of cash at auction.
The exact card were looking at here is a 1999 Base Set First Edition shadowless holo Charizard, which is also graded as PSA 10 meaning it is in perfect condition. This rare card was snapped up at an auction just last month by retired rapper Logic, who paid approximately $220,000. This was deemed to be a record amount paid for this Charizard card.
Around six weeks later, and another one of these super rare Charizard cards went up for sale, but the winning bid clocked in at $295,300 this time around. Thats an increase of around 34% over that short period of time.
The buyer of this card is a mystery, but whoever they are theyve got plenty of cash lining their pockets.
This sale has now reportedly set a new record for a Charizard Pokémon card, according to Twitch streamer and trading card expert IslandGrown.
Who needs a house when you can have a 1st Edition Charizard & 1st Edition Lugia Grats to whoever won these. INSANE record breaking prices!
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Pokmon Spanish Base 1st Edition Charizard #4 $1025
The only card thats not English or Japanese on this list, the Spanish 1st Edition Charizard has become quite valuable over the last couple years. Due to mostly imperfect printing, the majority of these Charizards dont grade well. This is reflected by only 7 PSA 10 examples of the 176 total graded. Sealed Spanish 1st Edition Packs are some of the best value buys available today, due to quality of the hologram cards, and thats if you pull a hologram. 1 in 3 Base packs contains a hologram, but be careful when buying packs.
Pokemon Psa9 Mint Tropical Wind Tropical Mega Battle Promo Trophy Card Sold In March 2021 For Us Us $70000
The Tropical Mega Battle took place in 1999 at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Honolulu, Hawaii. This event was an invite only and was a battle between the best 50 players from Canada, Latin America, Europe, the United States, and Japan. During the event, there were a handful of various trophy cards that could be obtained. And this was one of them. A total of 61 of these cards have been graded by PSA. There are sixteen 9s and three 10s.
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