Shiny Secret Rare Charizard V: $500
If you want to get into Pokemon pack opening, but dont want to shell out for the older packs, there are tons of new cards with similar record-setting prices that have come out in just the past two years. One of the recent premium TCG sets in the game was Champions Path, and certain cards in it were especially rare since you could only get packs through special products like Elite Trainer Boxes and Pin Collector packs.
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The absolute highest value cards in this set are both Charizards, one being a rainbow foil V-Max card and the other being a shiny Charizard V with black scales. Both quickly reached prices around $500, and sites like TCGPlayer still remain at the same $500 price tag.
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 Gyarados #6
Gyarados is one of the most powerful and destructive characters in the Pokemon universe. It will often rely on its Dragon Rage attacks, which will destruct anything that comes in its way.
The other attacking feature of this card is Bubblebeam, which paralyzes the other card if you flip heads. This is important since this card can disarm almost any defending card if you have some luck on your side, of course.
This card is one of the most popular cards firstly because of its destructive attacking abilities, but also because of its menacing looks.
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Thoughts On Pokemon Card Set Symbols
Good info. This helped me narrow down that a misprint card I have is fake. But it worries me that all my cards have always come from booster packs. So a lot of my cards could be fake. Damn shady comic book stores.
If the cards came from real booster packs then the cards should be genuine unless it was a fake pack of Pokemon cards Ive never seen that before. Ive just seen reprints of high dollar cards sold online . All the cards Ive collected have come from booster packs I dont buy individual cards because Im not that serious about collecting/playing specific cards. I make due with what I get from the packs.
Matthew Its hard for me to say without seeing the symbol. Cards from 1999 can be valuable especially if its a Pikachu Trainer No. 1, 2, or 3 these were given out at the winners of the Pokemon World Championships they fetch 10s of thousands of dollars! But those cards have a Poke Ball symbol and that doesnt sound like the media symbol you describe. It could be a Snap Pikachu Trainer card, that set has a camera symbol, its in Japanese so not sure if thats it. The Snap cards are from 1999 release of the Snap 64 Nintendo game. Players could take snapshots in the game and compete to get their snapshot printed on real Pokemon card with credit to the player that snapped it. Id have to see a picture of the card to tell you more.
Pokemon Japanese Base Set Holo No Rarity Symbol Holo Charizard
Sold in November, 2020 for $57,877
The 1996 Japanese “No Rarity” Charizard card is a true piece of hobby history as it marked one of the first appearances of the iconic character.
Most Japanese base set cards will contain a “rarity symbol” in the lower-right corner of the card that varies based on the card type.
Holographic cards in the set feature a star symbol, so if you find one without the rarity symbol, then you know you’re looking at the more rare, first-print “no rarity” Charizards.
The “no rarity” Charizards are much more difficult to find as PSA has graded 3,634 regular base set Charizards compared with only 273 “no rarity” Charizards.
Furthermore, roughly 14% of the regular base Charizards have achieved a PSA 10 grade compared to less than 2% of the “no rarity” Charizards.
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Pokemon Base Set Theme Decks
Now we cant talk about Base Set without talking through the theme decks!
Back in the day they were called Preconstructed Theme Decks and specially designed for players of the TCG in mind.
As the name suggests, each deck had a theme and players could use the decks with a specific strategy in mind for gameplay.
Where To Buy Vintage Pokmon Cards
If you purchase we make a small commission at no extra cost to you, but it helps keep Hobby Help going! Thanks for your support!
If youre looking for a hidden gem that isnt Amazon, Im sorry to disappoint! Its the go-to place for beginner collectors.
That isnt to say that once you get involved in the online Pokémon community, you wont find private sellers who have access to some wonderfully rare cards. You absolutely will.
But you can start with Amazon, especially if youre just dipping your toes in the water.
My favorite Pokémon card sellers on Amazon are:
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Check The Cards Front
When youre checking the front of a Pokemon card to find out if its real or fake, youre looking for anything abnormal. Before fake cards got better, you could easily identify them with a distinctively offset yellow frame.
While original cards have a frame thats equally thick on all sides, which is not always the case with fake Pokemon cards. They usually have a misprinted frame thats much thicker on one side.
Something like this would never pass the strict quality checks of The Pokemon Company. So, if you find a card with such an error, its definitely fake.
In the case of the fake Pokemon card below, there is nothing wrong with the yellow frame. However, the colors and thin material of that card give it away immediately.
Another thing to pay attention to when examining a Pokemon cards front is the font. All genuine Pokemon cards use the same font. If you find a card with a different font or bold text that shouldnt be, this card is fake.
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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Getting Rares From Your Friends
Pokemon First Edition Raichu
Sold in March, 2021 for $17,100
As Pokemon skyrocketed in popularity over the years, one character became almost synonymous with the franchise as its de facto mascot.
Much of Pikachu’s popularity originates from the first episode of the Pokemon anime series entitled “Pokemon – I Choose You!” when the main protagonist of the series, Ash Ketchum, a trainer, receives Pikachu as his Pokemon from Professor Oak.
However, when exposed to a Thunderstone, the lovable, yellow, furry, rodent-like creature evolves into the final form of Raichu.
Raichu looks quite similar to Pikachu, but with a few distinct characteristics, namely its tail, ears, and dark coloration of the tip of its paws.
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Are All 1st Edition Cards Shadowless
If we swap the question round, then yes,all 1st Edition cards are shadowless! If you own, or can get your hands on these, you hold some of the most valuable cards in the game.
Quick caveat the only exception to the rule is the 1st Edition Base Set Machamp. This card was always printed with the 1st Edition stamp, whether it was shadowless or not. The shadowless version
Pokemon French First Edition Dracaufeu
Sold in February, 2021 for $37,300
The First Edition Dracaufeu, or the French name for Charizard, is also relatively easier to find in PSA 10 condition than the English version.
Though only 28 examples have achieved that grade, PSA has only graded 382 overall, meaning that roughly 7% of them are PSA 10s.
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Finally A Quick Word On Card Condition
Condition and value go hand-in-hand, so its important to be realistic about your expectations.
Unless kept unopened, cards from 20+ years ago tend to have imperfections.
This can take the form of scratches, whitening round the edges, creases, bends and dirt.
Collectors may pay premium for card rarity, but the real premium is in the card condition.
Many people rediscover their old cards, thinking theyre worth a fortune because of media hype, but the reality is, theyre not!
There isnt a shortage of old Pokemon cards, but there is a shortage in mint condition.
If you do possess minty cards, then you may be on to something!
I dont want to devalue what you have, the nostalgic value is through the roof in my opinion!
But I hope youll see this as a fair assessment, which will help you when trying to assess the value of your cards.
Thanks for reading, and feel free to check out some of these additional resources below:
Pokemon First Edition Pikachu #58
Weve already talked about Raichu, but Pikachu can be just as popular as its evolved version. Even though it is not nearly as powerful as Raichu, this character remains to be one of the most popular cards.
Its cute appearance and its central role inside the movies and the series make it especially popular among Pokemon fans.
Pikachu is the face of the franchise because it is featured both in the game, the series, the movie, and also in this trading card game. Even though it might not be the most powerful character, it still remains popular. Ive written a full article on Pikachu cards if youre interested.
What is also interesting is that there are two versions of this card: Pikachu with red cheeks , and Pikachu with yellow cheeks.
Now, Pikachu with red cheeks tends to be a bit more valuable than the yellow cheeked-version, because it is a bit rarer and tougher to find. Nonetheless, both remain to be some of the most popular Pokemon cards from the first edition.
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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.
Best Pokmon Card Storage Methods And Ideas
No matter if youre interested in selling your Pokémon cards or keeping them, its important to know how to store them. If youre interested in the former, properly storing your cards will maintain their value. And if even if youre not interested in selling, you dont want to ruin your belongings by improperly storing them.
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First Edition Holographic Clefairy
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $2,500
Clefairy is a lovable Pokémon that is incapable of fighting and first evolves from Cleffa and later to Clefable after exposure to a Moon Stone.
The adorable creature uses its small wings to store moonlight that can allow it to float away when in danger.
Known for its extreme shyness, Clefairy is rarely seen and will only emerge from its mountain shelter under a full moon.
Almost as rarely seen in high grade as Clefairy itself, this card can bring $2,500 or more in PSA 10 condition.
How Much Is A First Edition Pokemon Card Worth
This is actually tough to say because it is going to be dependent on several different factors. This includes:
- The condition of the card
- The set the card came from
- The rarity of the card
- Whether it is an English or Japanese card.
As you can probably guess, the condition of the card and the rarity of the card will be the main influencer here. A first edition Charizard graded PS8 would be worth than a 1st Edition Metapod with the same grade. However, we do want to focus on the two other factors. At this point, we do want to point out that a 1st Edition Machamp from the base set is not worth anything beyond being a Machamp card. All of the Machamp cards from these era would have been 1st Editions.
Firstly, the set. The way in which 1st Edition Card works for the English set is weird. The early sets of the game had distinct First Editions. This meant that there were incredibly rare. So Base Set, Base Set 2, Jungle, Fossil, etc. However, as we started to get into the Neo era, the way in which First Editions were distributed changed.
In some cases, the First Edition wasnt actually the first edition and was distributed after the unlimited run. This meant that the cards from these sets hold less value. It was after this that Pokemon stopped producing First Edition cards.
Therefore, first edition cards are not all that rare. We wont dive too much into the value of the Japanese cards here, mostly because they tend to be a lot less valuable than the English cards.
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Pokemon First Edition Magneton #9
Magneton is a card that evolves from Magnemite. This is a character that consists of three separate magnemites held together by magnetic force.
This card has the ability to paralyze the opponent with its magnetic force, which makes it an especially good card to have when youre up against other strong cards from an opponents deck.
Magneton is often found near electrical plants where it will eat up electrical energy, which it will use to charge itself and amp up its abilities, making it more and more powerful the more energy it draws.It also has an unusual appearance, making it one of the most unique cards to own from the first edition of Pokemon cards from 1999.
How To Tell If A Pokemon Card Is Shadowless
Shadowless Pokemon cards can be identified through several key features:
1. The most obvious way is to look to the right of the Pokemons artwork. If there is no shadow next to the yellow border, then the card is shadowless. If there is a shadow, then the card is from the unlimited print run.
2. Another way to tell if a Pokemon card is shadowless is to look at the HP on the top right corner of the card. Shadowless Pokemon cards have a thinner red print compared to the unlimited versions.
3. Lastly, a more subtle way to tell if a Pokemon card is shadowless is to look at the copyright dates on the very bottom of the card. Shadowless Pokemon cards have the dates 1995, 96, 98, 99 written, whereas unlimited cards only have 1995, 96, 98.
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