Holo Gold Star Rayquaza: $4500
Rather than many cards on this list, this Shiny Rayquaza from the EX Deoxys set is a rare Pokemon card thats mostly just mythical pull from a standard set. During this expansion, Pokemon with a Gold Star in your deck, making them just as powerful as they are gorgeous with unique colors and art exiting the frame.
Costs can vary massively, but spaces like Troll and Toad price the card at just under $4500. It simply combines all the great aspects of a standard card in the perfect combination, and the rarity of it in packs of this small expansion set make it one of the most valuable original Gen 3 cards, and one of the first major shiny cards to hit record prices before other shinies would catch up.
First Edition Holographic Gyarados
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $1,800
This serpentine creature is an extremely temperamental and destructive Pokémon that relies on both its water and flying abilities to unleash its wrath.
Its tough scales are practically impenetrable while its sharp fangs are capable of crushing rocks.
Because it lives in both fresh and saltwater, it’s best to stay clear of water in general if you want to avoid Gyarados.
Umbreon Gold Star Holo
- Grading: BGS 9.5
- Pokemon card value at auction: $70,000
Eevee and its evolutions are some of the most popular characters in the Pokemon franchise. It makes sense then that a Gold Star Umbreon would quickly become one of the most coveted Pokemon cards in the TCG.
The story behind this Pokemon card also makes it unique as players had to accumulate over 70,000 XP points by the end of the Pokemon Players Clubs fourth season to obtain it. Trainers not only had to physically go to events, but they had to win a lot of matches.
Due to its low population, not a lot of these Pokemon cards have actually gone up for sale. All of that changed in June 2021 when the Gold Star Umbreon sold for $70,000 at auction. Its BGS grade of 9.5 makes it all the rarer, as only two in the whole world have received a grade this high.
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Misprinted Fossil Krabby: $2200
Yes, you read that right. Krabby is the star of one of the rarest Pokemon cards of all. By all accounts, this crab-based Water-type isn’t exactly a battling superstar. The fact that one version of its Pokemon card is so rare is a bit of a fluke, as its price comes down to a relatively simple misprint of the card.
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The difference between these multiple miscuts and a normal card is that part of a fossil symbol to the bottom-left of its art is missing. This seemingly minor difference has driven up the price of these cards immensely, and despite going for under two dollars in its normal state, Pokemon Prices has the card record of a misprint selling for over $2200 dollars.
St Edition Shadowless Blastoise
It might not be quite as popular as Charizard, but Blastoise comfortably beats out the likes of Venasaur and Chansey for second spot when it comes to valuable base set cards. A mint condition copy of the card was sold for a little over $45,000 just last November, once again through a PWCC eBay auction.
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It’s one of 100 copies of the card to have been given the GEM-MT 10 rating by the PSA making it one of the more common base set holographic cards in perfect condition. As with Charizard though, the relatively high population doesn’t seem to have impacted its value all too much; most probably because so many of them are already in the hands of collectors.
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Are Older Pokemon Cards Worth More
Its worth noting that your average Pokémon collection wont make you rich. Most cards in recent sets arent worth more than $1, and even the rare ones often arent worth more than $10. However, there still is value in the older cards the ones that have been sitting around in self storage for years.
First Edition Holographic Blastoise
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $5,500
A water-type Pokémon, Blastoise first appears in the Pokémon Red and Blue video games as the final evolutionary stage of Squirtle, one of the original three starter Pokémon.
Relying on twin water cannons that retract from the shell on its back, Blastoise is capable of delivering powerful blasts of water with superior accuracy.
And just as we saw Charizard’s boost in popularity stemming from its appearance on the cover art of the Pokémon Red video game, Blastoise was the center of attention on the Pokémon Blue video game:
Rightfully considered one of the coolest-looking of all Pokémon, Blastoise remains a collector favorite and this card can bring thousands of dollars in high grade.
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Find The Set The Card Belongs To
If there is no logo on the right side, its Base. Every other set has an indicator.
When looking into what set a card belongs to, make sure to see if there is any logo on the right side, just underneath and to the right of the illustration. If there is no symbol, the likelihood is that its a Base set card.
There have been error cards that do not have a symbol, so make sure the year matches with the set.
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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Ex Dragon Frontiers Gold Star Charizard
Despite being printed in 2006, a Gold Star Charizard managed to bring in an incredible $60,066 at auction not too long ago. The Delta Species card was sold through eBay in October 2020 and attracted interest from a number of interested parties before the final sale price was finally confirmed.
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According to the PSA website, there are just shy of 1,500 graded copies of the card in existence, although only 59 of those have been awarded the coveted GEM-MT 10 rating. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, the record setting sale was of one of these 59 cards. Others regularly sell for between twenty and thirty thousand dollars.
Gold Star Pikachu Ex Holon Phantoms
As discussed, the Gold Star cards are highly rare and very valuable. The Pikachu has long been regarded as the poster child of the Pokemon brand, since its the one you see most often in promotions. That little guy just oozes cuteness and while there are a great deal of other Pokemon that are stronger, finding one of these cards is extremely rare. Valued at well over $500, this card is not vintage and it is not overly old either, but the Gold Star gives it its value. From the EX Holon Phantoms series, you may have one or two of them laying around without even knowing. So check your collection and look for the little gold star. You might just be sitting on a heap of cash without even realizing.
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Ex Deoxys Gold Star Rayquaza
Sold in December, 2020 for $45,100
Among the most powerful of any Pokémon, Rayquaza is a large, serpentine creature that gained a considerable boost in notoriety after serving as the box art mascot for the Pokémon Emerald video game.
EX Deoxys was the 24th set in the Pokémon Trading Card Game, and its symbol is that of a shooting star.
The set consisted of 108 cards, three of which come with a gold star variant, including the Rayquaza Holo.
Youll notice that next to the Rayquaza name in the upper-left, there is a foil gold star that sets it apart as the gold star variant.
Southern Islands Reverse Holo Mew: $200
When the second Pokemon movie was released in Japan, the makers of the Trading Card Game decided to release a special edition set of cards to mark this occasion. The Southern Islands card series was born, featuring just two sets of nine cards apiece that were unique to any other set in the game.
Full sets of these cards can sell for a lot, but the absolute highest value is undoubtedly the Southern Islands Mew, which has a rare reverse foil treatment where the frame around the art is the only part thats shiny. Troll and Toad is currently selling copies for just over $200 right now, making it even more valuable than the elusive and stylish Ancient Mew mentioned earlier.
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Most Expensive Pokemon Cards In 2021
It should be noted that top lists are almost always up for debate. A cards value can be determined by the highest its ever sold at auction, or what it sells for on average.
A Pokemon cards value can also wildly fluctuate with the market and are largely dependent on the items grading and condition. Our list is based on what the collectible has sold for in the latest auctions, and its position will be updated if it sells for less or more.
Kangaskhan Family Event Trophy
- Grading: PSA Gem Mint 10
- Pokemon card value at auction: $150,000
Were now at the top five, and the prices of these most expensive Pokemon cards continue to skyrocket. This 1998 Trophy Pokemon card could only be obtained by participating in a special tournament in Japan. The adorable item features artwork depicting Kangaskhan with its baby in its pouch, surrounded by holo sparkles.
Fittingly, the contest required both a child and their parent to participate alongside each other in TCG battles . According to reports, there are only 11 of these currently in existence that have been graded, making it one of the most rare Trophy Pokemon cards to exist.
In October 2020, two PSA 10s of the collectible went for $150k. With its scarcity, we expect this Pokemon cards value will only continue to go up over the next couple of years.
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Pokmon World Championships No 1 Trainer
Every copy of this rare and valuable promo card is one-of-a-kind
Sold for $31,200 in April 2021
The first of two rare and valuable Pokémon cards called No. 1 Trainer on this list, this particular card was awarded to winners of the regional Battle Road Spring tournaments held in Japan during early 2002.
The regional tournaments were held as qualifiers for the Pokémon World Championships, with the small number of No. 1 Trainer cards produced for the few winners making them some of the rarest Pokémon cards in existence.
Adding to the card’s rarity is the fact that each No. 1 Trainer card was customised with the name of the tournament winner printed onto the card, making each card one-of-a-kind. According to auction house Heritage Auctions, the personalised aspect of the cards also mean that they rarely appear at auction, making them an even rarer sight in the world of Pokémon cards.
The 2002 No. 1 Trainer card was illustrated by Ken Sugimori, best known as being one of the original artists and designers for Pokémon’s first generation of 151 Pokémon. The text on it reads: “The Pokémon Card Game Official Tournament Battle Road Spring 2002 champion is recognised here, and his honour is praised.” Sugimori’s No. 1 Trainer artwork – featuring fan-favourite Pokémon such as Pikachu, Chansey and Marrill – is exclusive to the card, making it especially unique.
Holographic Shadowless Blastoise: $2475
Out of the three final-evolution Kanto starters, it’s Blastoise who has the least valuable Shadowless holographic card, reaching heights of $2475 on Pokemon Prices. We say “least valuable”, but that’s still a lot of money for just the one card, and its hardly far behind its sibling Venusaur.
That’s if Blastoise is still in mint condition, of course, which is a big ask considering these cards are over 20 years old. Carrying the powerful Water-type move Hydro Pump, this version of Blastoise was a pretty impressive card to carry in your deck back in the day, but at this point its still a solid collectible card.
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Leafeon V Flareon V Vaporeon V Glaceon V & Jolteon V Alternate Full Arts
This is the lower tier of the alternate full art Eeveelutions.
I once again separated these from their more popular counterparts as I do expect a difference in demand and pricing once again, but dont let that deter you from appreciating these for what they are. These cards will be very sought after, borderline chase cards depending on how demand and pricing settle out. They just have stiff competition in the form of the more popular Eeveelutions and then the VMAX cards, so there is no shame in not being the absolute best here. The fact of the matter is that they just wont be as expensive as some of the more popular ones, but that will be an advantage to anyone trying to collect the set or has a favorite in this tier. After all, do we really want every card to be sitting at such a high price point? Not only would that be bad for consumers and fans, but that is not sustainable. It is just not possible for cards in this tier and higher tiers to all be at the same price point, that just isnt how things work, so it is only natural that there is some separation when it comes to pricing.
Holographic Shadowless Charizard: $500000
There are a lot of factors that make the Holographic Shadowless First Edition Charizard card worth so much compared to any other Charizard card. Firstly, it’s a first edition version of the undoubtedly most popular Kanto starter, which already makes it extra valuable to most pokemon fans. Alongside this, the card is also shadowless, which essentially means the card lacks a shadow between the box containing the image of the Pokemon, and the rest of the card.
This “Shadowless” effect is not a misprint or a mistake. It’s actually the original Pokemon card design, as the foiling process has changed and provided a different look to modern holographic and foil cards. These Charizard cards have become one of the prime reasons for the Pokemon Card trend of the past two years, with YouTuber Logan Paul opening one as recently as February 2021 that was estimated by auction site owner Ken Goldin to sell for upwards of $500,000.
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Pikachu Illustrator // $250000
One of the earliest cards to come out of the Pokémon franchise was this promotional card of Pikachu that was given out to winners of an illustration contest in 1998. An estimated 20 to 39 copies were issued. In late 2016, Heritage Auctions sold one for a whopping $54,970. In July 2020, a card graded by Professional Sports Authenticator as a 9 out of 10 fetched $250,000.
Shining Fates Set List
The Pokemon Shining Fates set is unique it contains 73 base set cards, plus a Shiny Vault subset containing 122 Shiny Pokemon.
The Shining Fates set was released on February 19, 2021. The fourth subset in the Sword & Shield Series is comprised of two part; a base set containing 73 cards and a Shiny Vault set containing 122 cards. All the cards in the Shiny Vault subset are Shiny Pokemon.
Cards from this set are sold in booster packs. Packs will contain a reverse holofoil OR a Shiny Pokemon from the Shiny Vault subset. Youll also find scores of Pokemon V, VMAX, Amazing Rare, Shiny Rare, Shiny Rare V, and Shiny Rare VMAX these cards tend to be the most valuable cards in the Shining Fates set.
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Holographic Shadowless Mewtwo: $20000
While the other Kanto starters dont come close to Charizard in the realm of First Edition cards, its hard to ignore the second-place winner off of its fame in the series. Most Pokemon fans are plenty aware of Mewtwo from the original Pokemon movie, and as a result cards featuring the character will often go for record-high prices in any set.
Much like the First Edition Charizard mentioned earlier, Mewtwo has its own Holographic and Shadowless version that PSA Collector has seen sold for at least $20,000, putting it far above Venusaur and Blastoise but still far below everyones favorite Fire-type tyrant of the skies.
How To Identify First Edition Pokmon Cards
The quickest way to tell if you are looking at a first edition Pokémon card is to look for the first edition symbol.
And remember there are three types of cards you can have in your deck:
This is important because the first edition symbol will appear in different locations depending on the type of card.
On Pokémon cards, it will appear to the lower-left of the Pokémon image while on Energy and Trainer cards it appears in the upper-right and lower-left corners of the cards, respectively:
Pokémon
Trainer
Now that we got that out of the way, let’s go through the list.
The first 16 cards on this list are known as “holographic” cards as their images are shinier.
They’re also more rare as their prints runs were far more limited than the other cards in the 102-card checklist.
And because their more rare, that greatly increases their values as well…
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