First Edition Holographic Raichu
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $2,500
Raichu, the rodent-like evolved form of Pikachu, is an electric-type Pokémon that uses its tail to gather electricity from both the ground and atmosphere.
As it charges, the creature stores the electricity in those circular, yellow sacs on its cheeks and once fully charged, Raichu’s ears will point directly upwards.
Raichu also uses its pointed tail as a ground to prevent itself from being electrically shocked.
Your Old Pokmon Cards Are Now Worth Hundreds Of Dollars
Ah, Pokémon, the card-collecting phenomenon of the 90s. If you were a kid in the early 90s then its likely you watched the Pokémon TV show, had Pokémon toys and begged your parents to buy you Pokémon cards to collect and swap with your friends.
Once upon a time you could pick up Pokémon cards from your local novelty store or newsagency for a few bucks. But these days those very cards could be worth a whole lot of money, especially if you had rare, limited edition or shiny cards in your collection.
There’s been a resurgence of Pokémon card collecting, and Pokémon fans that have long since grown-up into working, money-earning adults are now more than happy to pay a pretty penny to round out their extensive Pokémon card collections.
Of course, just how much your cards are worth depends on what youve got.
In 2016 the Pikachu Illustrator Pokémon card sold at a Heritage Auctions sale for more than $54,000, due to its rarity. Only 20 to 39 copies of the card were produced so if youre sitting on one now is the time to sell.
But that isnt to say some of the more common cards arent worth anything.
In an article for The Sun in the UK, collectables expert Tracey Martin said that holographic cards are the most valuable, and cards released between 1999 and 2000 known as shadowless Pokémon cards are now highly sought-after.
Pokmon Japanese Design Promo 4th Grade Winner Illusions Zoroark
To coincide with the theatrical release of the Ruler of Illusions: Zoroark movie, CoroCoro Comics ran a competition to design a Pokémon card. Entrants had to submit a design for a Zoroark Pokemon card, and the winners each received 100 printed copies of their creations. As such, each one only had an original population of 100. This majestic scene, designed by a fourth grader, has only 42 cards remaining, with 23 PSA 10 and 18 PSA 9 and one PSA 7. Because they were distributed privately, there have been very few sales however, the latest one in 2022 fetched a massive sum of $40,800 a significant increase on previous sale amounts of around $800.
Grade: PSA 10 Gem Mint
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First Edition No Rarity Poliwrath
You might be surprised to know that some of the rarest Pokémon cards arent rare at all . The first printed sets of Japanese base set cards dont feature any rarity symbol like their English-language counterparts and are some of the most expensive Pokémon cards on the market.
This no rarity Poliwrath is extremely rare, with only three known to exist with a perfect PSA 10 rating, one of which sold for over $25,000 in late 2020. Even near-mint PSA 9 copies will sell for around $2000 on average.
Get used to seeing this mug! Rare Charizard cards are the ultimate flex for collectors.
Crystal Charizard Holo Skyridge
- Release Date: 2003
- Grading: PSA Gem Mint 10
- Pokemon card value at auction: $25,100
In 2003, interest in Pokemon cards had started to wane among core fans who had been collecting since it launched in 1999. As a result, production of the Skyridge set was considerably lower compared to past expansions.
This would also be the last release printed by Wizards of the Coasts and features the iconic e-reader designs meant to be a tie-in for the Game Boy Advance. Its low production has made the retro set one of the most expensive Pokemon cards products to hunt down from the era.
The crown jewel of the expansion is none other than Charizard. Its rare Crystal Holo design variant was extremely limited even at release. In November 2020, a perfectly graded version of the collectible sold for $25,100 at auction.
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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.
Tsunekazu Ishihara Signed Gx Promo Card: $247230
These cards were given to employees at The Pokemon Company to celebrate its founder and president Tsunekazu Ishihara’s 60th Birthday.
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We don’t know exactly how many of these cards were produced, but one specific copy of it fetches a much higher price than the others. In April 2021, Goldin Auctions sold a copy of it that had been signed by Tsunekazu Ishihara himself for an eye-watering $247,230. The wildest thing? It wasn’t even PSA 10-graded, and managed to sell for that much with just a nine rating.
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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 the 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.
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.
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.
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Pokemon Japanese Topsun Holofoil Blastoise
Sold in October, 2020 for $20,100
The 1995 Japanese Topsun cards are some of the most interesting early Pokemon cards and were distributed in packs of apple-flavored gum by Top-Seika.
Collectors could find these cards in one of three versions: blue-back, green-back, and prism holofoil.
While 150 different characters appeared on the blue-back and green-back cards, only 16 received a prism holofoil version.
Though these Topsun cards contain a trademark date of 1995, most collectors agree that the company did not distribute them until 1997.
And that makes sense because even the official Pokemon Trading Card Game didn’t debut in Japan until 1996.
The Blastoise prism holo is one of the most desirable Topsun cards and features the same imagery used for the cover art of the Pokemon Blue videogame released on the Nintendo Game Boy in Japan in 1996.
Japanese Super Secret Battle Number One Trainer
Sold in July, 2020 for $90,000
With just seven examples of this card graded by PSA, the 1999 Pokemon Super Secret Battle “No. 1 Trainer” promo card is one of the rarest Pokemon cards in existence.
Held between July and August 1999, the regional Super Secret Battle events gave school kids ranging from third graders to eleventh graders the opportunity to compete for a chance to be crowned champion.
Upon winning, the champion of each regional tournament would receive this item card as a prize.
Designed by Hideki Kazam, the card features a holographic image of Mewtwo on the left and a Pokeball on the right that make it instantly recognizable.
Across the bottom, the card reads The Pokémon Card Game Official Tournaments champion is recognized here, and this honor is praised. This proves that the person who possesses this card participated in the Secret Super Battle Best in Japan Deciding Match.
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Black Star Ishihara Gx Promo Card
Sold in April, 2021 for $247,230
As a gift to top-level employees, Tsunekazu Ishihara, president of The Pokémon Company, gave out an estimated thirty copies of this card during his 60th birthday party at the 2018 Pokémon World Championship.
As of this writing, only eight copies have ever been submitted to PSA for grading, making this one of the rarest Pokemon cards in existence.
Making this particular example even rarer is the fact that Ishihara personally signed it as well.
The artwork on the card is fantastic and the “60 Congratulations!” and GX attack of 1060 damage are nice touches to help commemorate his 60th birthday.
Ishihara has been instrumental, to say the least, in building the Pokémon brand by contributing to the development of multiple video games and even initiating the creation of the Pokémon Trading Card Game itself.
Whether The Pokemon Card Is Useful For Players
Some Pokemon cards have attack/defence stats or special abilities that are especially valuable to people who play the Pokemon trading card game, as they can use them in battle against other players.
This is why certain trainer cards and ultra rare cards sometimes spike in value unexpectedly.
Most often, Pokemon battlers play with the newest cards, so your card will need to be from a recent set if its in demand from Pokemon players.
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Pm Pikachu Illustrator Holo Japanese Promo
The Pikachu Illustrator is the Holy Grail of Pokemon Cards and was originally given to winners of promo contests held in 1997 and 1998 by the Japanese magazine CoroCoro Comic.
This bad boy sold for $900,000 in February of 2022.
Although expensive we do not particularly like the design of the card and would never pay upwards of $900k for such an underwhelming design.
The words on the card read the following: 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.
Boring to say the least.
That brings us to number 2 on our list which we would pay $900k for.
Although not officially the most expensive Pokemon card as it has not been sold but we feel the 1999 Base First Edition Chaziard Holo #4 Logan Paul Pokemon Card with a BGS 10 Pristine grade would easily pass the million-dollar mark if sold today.
But since it has not been officially sold we list it at number 2.
A PSA 10 copy sold for $399,750 in March of 2021.
Pikachu might be the mascot for the franchise, but Charizard is the card that everyone seems to want.
If anyone has a lead on this card for sale email us at [email protected] as we are in the market.
Blastoise Wizards Of The Coast Presentation Galaxy Star Holo
- Release Date: 1998
- Grading: CGC 8.5
- Pokemon card value at auction: $360,000
The Pokemon Trading Card Game community was stunned when this insanely rare Pokemon card was discovered by the public for the first time in 2021. Originally commissioned by Wizards of the Coast in 1998, the Blastoise Presentation card was supposed to give stores an idea of what the TCG line would look like in its final print run.
While there are varying reports about its history, its currently believed that only two are known to have ever existed, with only one currently accounted for. Its essentially is one of the earliest known Pokemon cards to exist, at least for the North American release. It was so early that one of the copies had a Magic: The Gathering backside to it, while the other is simply blank.
The historical Nintendo artifact went up for sale at Heritage Auctions in January 2021, and sold for a whopping $360,000, making it the third most expensive collectible just an inch behind the Base Set Charizard. Given that only two of these exist, it could one day take the top spot as the most valuable Pokemon card of all time. If nothing else it may be the rarest Pokemon card in the world.
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Pokmon Japanese Play Promo 70000 Pts Holo Umbreon Gold Star #26
Its notoriously tricky to get your hands on one of the Holo Umbreon Gold Star Pokémon cards. Theyre reserved exclusively for members of the official Pokémon Players Club who accumulate 70,000 points by the end of their fourth season. As such, the population of this rare and expensive Pokémon card is very low, with only 24 PSA-graded copies existing. Masakazu Fukuda designed the stunning holographic artwork, which is even more spectacular in person. This particular example is certified as PSA 10 Gem Mint and is one of only 17 in such pristine condition.
Grade: PSA 10 Gem Mint
Use Free Valuation Sites
Another great way to figure out how much a Pokemon card is worth is to use card valuation sites. These websites allow a user to input a couple details about their card, such as its name and number, and be returned with results about its estimated value.
Websites like CardMavin compile up-to-date information about how much individual cards are selling for across the internet and use that information to make an estimate about the cards current value. This is the easiest way to check what a Pokemon card is going for in the present market.
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Pokmon Neo Genesis 1st Edition Holo Lugia #9
A legendary Pokémon on a legendarily rare Pokémon card
Sold for $144,300 in May 2021
Lugia is one of the most iconic and popular Pokémon in the entire series, having starred on the front of early Game Boy game Pokémon Silver and its Nintendo DS remake SoulSilver. A legendary bird Pokémon from Gen II, Lugia is one of the most powerful and hard-to-find Pokémon that players can catch in the video games – so its only fitting that its Pokémon card is also extremely rare.
The Neo Genesis 1st Edition Holo Lugia #9 Pokémon card is described by auction house PWCC as one of the most difficult Pokémon cards to grade, as the result of a number of errors and misprints that were included in the early runs of the Neo Genesis set for the Pokémon TCG. Later print runs were corrected, but many of the cards from the expansion remain more common in their earlier uncorrected forms.
As of May 2021, PWCC claims that only 41 Gem Mint 10 condition Neo Genesis 1st Edition Holo Lugia #9 cards have ever been graded by PSA, with just three earning the maximum BGS 10 Pristine rating from grading company Beckett Grading Services. The Lugias rarity means that it ranks almost as highly as the legendary first-edition Charizard when it comes to the most valuable Pokémon cards.
What Are Pokemon Cards
For the uninitiated, Pokemon Cards are part of the Pokemon Card Trading Card Game that originally launched in 1996. Back then, the original set contained just 151 cards one for each OG Pokemon.
In simplest terms, Pokemon cards are baseball cards but for adorable Japanese Pocket Monsters.
Since then, Pokemon has exploded into the worlds most valuable media franchise, valued at over $100 billion worldwide. For comparison, thats more than Star Wars, Spongebob, and James Bond combined.
Fueling two decades of meteoric growth was a steady stream of new Pokemon creatures and thus new cards to collect. There are around 898 total Pokemon and over 9,100 Pokemon cards to collect in the English market.
Not all 9,100 cards are available on store shelves at once, of course. The Pokemon Company International, the folks who make Pokemon cards, publish and release cards one generation at a time, with each generation lasting about two years.
In total, there have been eight generations of Pokemon cards since 1996. And as the next generation of cards begins appearing on store shelves, the previous generation tends to sell out. At that point, its no surprise that certain cards begin shooting up in value!
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Look Through Ebay To Find Recently Sold Listings
A more accurate way to find out the actual current price of a Pokémon card is through eBay. Here, you’ll be able to discover how much people have recently paid for a certain card.Similar to before, head over to the search bar and type ‘Vaporeon 12/64’. However, this time, open the filter options and show only ‘Sold Items’.
Image via SAYS
In general, eBay offers a more realistic valuation of your cards compared to Troll and Toad it shows you how much people are actually paying right now. Look through recently sold listings and average them out to get a better idea of what your card is worth.Another site that helps you check recently sold eBay listings is 130point.Pro-Tip: What about graded cards?Collectors often send cards to companies like PSA, BGS, and CGC, which will give a grading from 1 to 10. A high grade could greatly increase a card’s value, for example, someone recently paid US$129.99 for a PSA 9 version of the Vaporeon card above.
