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 your Pokemon card value. 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.
Is Your Pokmon Card A Misprint
It may sound counterintuitive that an error would make something more valuable, but then, it also makes something more unique and therefore rarer.
Keep in mind mention that a misprinting of a card, doesnt automatically make your card worth more money. As mentioned before, a misprint of a card will generally result in a lower score from a professional card grading service.
However, there is a market for misprints, and certain well-known misprints, in particular, can drive up the price of a Pokémon card and sell for a decent amount of money.
One such printing error is the much desired first edition base set Red-cheeked Pikachu, which is currently worth more than $10,000 USD provided that it is in Gem Mint condition.
Even lower graded version of this card can be seen to be sold for several hundreds of dollars.
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.
As previously described in step one, the name will be located above the illustration on the top left of the card. The number is on the bottom right of the card. This is the identifier for each year and set. For instance, there are 102 cards in the 1st Edition base set. Charizard is the 4th card in the set, so it’s listed as #4/102 on the card. In the above photo, Machamp is #8/102.
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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Rarity Symbols On Pokmon Cards
Each Pokémon card you get has a symbol indicating how uncommon the specific card is. If you look at the bottom right corner of the card, youll find it. The three most common rarity symbols these cards have are:
- Circle The circle symbol means that you have an ordinary card.
- Diamond The diamond indicates that you have a more uncommon card.
- Star Stars mean that your card is more uncommon and rare.
Additionally, if your card has a higher collector number than the number of cards you got in a deck, this could indicate that you have a secret card. Secret cards will be more valuable.
Kangaskhan Family Event Trophy: $150100
The Kangaskhan Family Event Trophy card sold for over $150,000 at an auction in October 2020. This card is so limited in quantity that its value is off the charts. The company gave this exclusive Pokémon card to a select few who competed and won events at the 1998 live parent and child team’ Mega Battle in Japan.
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Rarity: Is Your Collection All That Special
In terms of rarity, base-set cards are where the money is for most collectors, and these cards are the most traded ones in the hobby. Set cards are any card you can pull from a pack bought from the store, Pratte said. The base set comprises the original 102 cards printed in 1999 and includes classic Pokemon like Pikachu, Blastoise, Charizard and Venusaur.
A complete first-edition base set in mint condition sold for $100,000 in December 2017. If you have a base-set card in your card collection, there are a few visual indicators of its worth.
Holographic cards: These are the most discernable at first glance. The background of the Pokemon illustration is shiny and reflective not the whole card, only the picture of the monster. Theyre typically referred to as holo cards, and only 16 of the original 102 are holo.
First-edition cards: Directly next to the left corner of the illustration appears the edition 1 logo. These rare cards were bought up shortly after initial release and remain some of the most sought-after and valuable cards.
Shadowless cards: This version is almost identical to the first-edition prints but excludes the first-edition logo. If you dont have a newer card for comparison, this is particularly hard to notice: the illustration box appears 2D. On newer cards, the picture box has a shadow along the right border to give it a 3D appearance.
/27 Gold Star Pop Series 5 Umbreon: $27000
The Japanese version of the Shining Umbreon Pokemon card is pretty highly desired, with its unique coloring and gorgeous frame-piercing artwork making it fittingly beautiful as one of the first shiny Pokemon to appear on a card.
However, its price is so high because of much more than just its looks and popularity. The Shining Umbreon card only saw a very limited release through the Japanese Pokemon Players’ Club for hitting the maximum number of experience points through attending organised play events between 2005 and 2006, making it one of the rarest cards out there. In 2020, PWCC Auctions sold a PSA-10 copy of it for $20,000, showing just how in-demand it is. Notably, this card was reprinted for the first time ever in 2021, as part of the 25th Anniversary Celebrations set. Though that version is worth way, way less, it’s still the third most valuable card in the expansion.
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What Can I Do With Pokemon Code Cards
The best thing to do is use them in the online version of the game. It is free to play. All you need to do is download it to your computer , and make an account. Tap in the code card in the relevant section and you have the booster pack, promo pack, or theme deck in the game.
Do bear in mind that the cards that come from the booster pack are going to be different from the cards that you drew in the real booster. So, just because you pulled an exceedingly rare card in the physical booster, it doesnt mean that you are going to get it in the game.
If you are going to be using them in-game, make sure you dont open the booster pack up right away. You can use them for trading in the game, and that can often give you a ton more value than the cards.
If you do not feel like playing the card game, then you will be able to sell the code cards online. Most places that allow you to sell Pokemon trading cards will also allow you to sell the code cards. You could even try selling them on eBay.
/30 Summer Battle Road 2007
Given that it was handed out to the top three competitors from each age division during Japan’s 2007 Battle Road Summer and 2008 Battle Road Spring tournaments, one would be forgiven for thinking that there are a lot of copies of Miracle Diamond floating around. That’s not actually the case though, with estimates pinning the actual number at around 90. More than 14 years after it was first handed out, one of these sold for an impressive $32,000 in late 2021.
Of those which were handed out, only ten have been graded by the PSA, with just six of them achieving the coveted PSA GEM-MT 10 rating. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, the current recorder holder is one such card, with the other four likely to sell for considerably less than the 32 grand it raised in the event that they ever go to auction.
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How Much Is Mewtwo 1995
Average Selling Price: $2,247 Another interesting Mewtwo Pokemon card can be found in the 1995 Japanese Topsun set. These were distributed throughout Japan in sticker type vending machines. Although they were intended for collecting only and not an actual Pokemon game card, these are still highly collectible.
Reasons Not To Invest In Pokmon Cards
Theres a potential upside to investing in Pokémon cards, but as with all unique investments, the cons deserve to be heard:
- Pokemania may end soon. As with any investment, hype, and influencer marketing drive up the price of investments. So, prices may quickly deflate.
- Appraisal is difficult and expensive.If you plan to invest in a card worth $5,000+ one day in the future, youll have to pay PSA $300 just to reappraise it and if the markets hot enough to sell it, theres a chance the company will become overwhelmed again and suspend services, jeopardizing your timing.
- Cards could get lost, stolen, or damaged. Pokémon cards only hold their value if they remain in 100% pristine condition. If a PSA 10 Charizard drops to PSA 9 while its in your possession, it loses 80% of its value.
- Demand for rare collectibles is extremely fickle. Sure, demand for rare Pokémon cards may be high right now, but it could easily disappear overnight as young investors and collectors turn to something else. The same thing happened with Beanie Babies, some of which sold for $10,000 in the late 90s and are worth less than $10 now.
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/27 Trade Please: $1900
It wouldn’t be unreasonable to think this was a prank or a fake card, but nope. This is a real card that was part of 1998 promotion for the Pokemon-themed album Trade Please by Suzukisan. By sending in the flier that came with each album, entrants could receive an evolved Kanto starter of their choice as well as thisâ¦uniqueâ¦trainer card.
The starter Pokemon that came with are also quite rare and valuable cards, but sites like PSA Card show that the original Trade Please card can reach prices as high as $1900 if itâs been preserved at a high enough quality. This card actually did get a reprint just a few years ago for a similar event in Japan during Pokemonâs 20th Anniversary, but these were printed in much higher amounts and arenât nearly as high-value.
Special Cards To Keep An Eye Out For
Aside from the various rares mentioned above, there are a few unique traits worth looking out for that can mean a Pokemon card has high value. These are often printing errors or limited distribution that led to a card becoming extremely precious to collectors. Sometimes these cards look no different than others of the same kind at first glance and require special attention to identify, so look carefully!
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Tamamushi University Magikarp Trophy Promo
- Release Date: 1998
- Grading: PSA Gem Mint 10
- Pokemon card value at auction: $66,100
In 1998, Shogakukans Magazines in Japan offered a contest for school students. Fans that took the various tests offered in the publication could send them back to the company to have them graded.
Those studious enough to pass with high scores were then invited to a special conference held in Osaka of that year. Once there, the children got to participate in a unique Pokemon card battle tournament. Winners of the rare contest ultimately received the Magikarp Trophy Pokemon card Promo.
Due to the insane obscurity of how the TCG item was given out, its easily one of the rarest Pokemon cards on our list. It was not very surprising then when the Trophy collectible went up for auction in February 2021 and sold for $66k at PWCC.
Reasons To Invest In Pokemon Cards
Here are four compelling reasons why a small investment in Pokemon cards this year may pay off down the road:
- Supply is dwindling and demand is rising. Economics 101 tells us that when demand for an asset outstrips supply, prices rise. Nobodys making new 1st Edition Pokemon cards and demand is rising at the moment, so its reasonable to suggest prices will rise in the short term as well.
- Theyre easy to buy and sell.Compared to real estate or rare cars, Pokemon cards are among the easiest forms of property to buy and sell. No surprise leaks or expensive brokers you always know exactly what youre buying or selling.
- Theyre easy to store. Similarly, trading cards are perhaps the single easiest physical investment to store and maintain. Pokemon cards dont need cleaning, climate-controlled storage, or even insurance just a plastic sleeve and a safety deposit box.
- The upside could be huge.In 2017, if youd invested $500 in an S& P 500 index fund youd have about $1,500 now. If youd put that money into a PSA 9 Charizard instead, youd have $5,500.
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Pokmon Japanese Promo Tropical Mega Battle Tropical Wind
An ultra-rare promo card – one of only a dozen ever made
Sold for $65,100 in October 2020
Only 12 Tropical Wind cards were produced as promo cards for the 1999 Tropical Mega Battle, a precursor to the Pokémon World Championships, making it one of the most valuable Pokémon sets around.
The Tropical Mega Battle saw 50 players from around the globe take part in a tournament for the trading card game in Honolulu, Hawaii. The only way to participate was to win a battle in your local region and earn an invite, making it an exclusive event for the best Pokémon trainers in the world – and the cards offered as prizes some of the rarest Pokémon cards in existence.
This particular Tropical Mega Battle promo card, the 1999 Japanese-language copy of Tropical Wind, has sold at auction for as much as $65,100 in PSA Gem Mint 10 condition, with the most recent record-breaking sale taking place in October 2020. PSA estimates its value to be as high as $148,482, making the ultra-rare card a contender for one of the most expensive Pokémon cards ever made.
Is It Worth Investing In Pokmon Cards Now
With the values of rare Pokémon cards outlasting many cryptocurrencies, is it really so crazy to invest in a Blastoise?
As of September 2022, there were five Pokémon cards listed on eBay with an asking price over $1,000,000.
Now that you know how to effectively spot a rare, valuable Pokémon card, here are some reasons you should buy it.
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Pokmon Blastoise #009/165r Commissioned Presentation Galaxy Star Hologram
A two-of-a-kind card that suddenly became one of the most valuable Pokémon cards of all time
Sold for $360,000 in January 2021
One of only two such Pokémon cards in existence – making it extremely rare – this Blastoise suddenly became one of the most valuable Pokémon cards of all time after it sold at auction in January 2021 for a whopping $360,000 .
The ultra-rare Pokémon card was created in 1998 as a presentation piece by Magic: The Gathering maker Wizards of the Coast to convince Nintendo of Japan executives to allow it to handle the TCGs English-language release. The game would eventually make its international debut one year later in 1999.
While two Blastoise Presentation cards were produced, this is the only one that has been seen publicly. Even more impressively, it has been graded at a NM/Mint+ 8.5 level by certification website CGC, meaning that the 20-plus-year-old card is in near-perfect condition. The location and state of the other Presentation card remains unknown – meaning that this may well be the only such card of its type left.
Can You Sell Pokemon Code Cards
You can sell them through trading card market websites. Most of them will have a special section for Pokemon code cards as a lot of people buy them to play the digital game, but they dont really want to buy booster packs.
You can list the code cards on these sites and send the code when somebody makes a purchase from you.
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Pokemon World Championships Promo No 2 Trainer
- Release Date: 2006
- Grading: PSA 9
- Pokemon card value at auction: $110, 100
The incredibly rare Trophy card was handed out at the 2006 World Championship held in Anaheim, California. Since these Pokemon cards were only given to winners, it makes their population extremely low.
According to PSA, only three of these collectibles are even said to have been issued at the competition. It almost feels like a crime putting this Pokemon card at this spot because due to its scarcity, it rarely goes up for sale
However in February 2021, one finally appeared online. With over 150 bids, this item brought in a mind-blowing $110,100 at a PWCC auction.
Charizard Holo 1st Edition $20000
Image credit: Jason Koeppel // ONE37pm
This card is the pinnacle of Pokemon collecting. The 1st Edition Charizard has been setting massive records for close to a year. The rarest card in the set, Charizard is also the most graded hologram of any 1st Edition Shadowless holo. Even non-collectors know that the Charizard holo will make you the king of the playground, in any condition.
PSA Pop: 121 – 704
Current Pokemon Card Value: PSA 10 $192,000 PSA 9 $20,000
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/30 Mew Victory Orb Trophy
The Victory Orb trophy card was handed out to the top 3 players of each age group during the Japanese Battle Road Summer 2003 and 2004 tournaments. Although the card was reprinted with different artwork for subsequent events, the original unnumbered promo card is incredibly rare and highly sought after.
It’s for this reason that one collector was willing to part with $60,000 to get their hands on one in late 2020. Only 14 copies of the card have been graded by the PSA, 12 of which were given the highest possible rating. There are certainly rarer cards out there, but not too many of them sell for quite this much.
