Pokmon World Championships Ken Sugimori Pokmon Cut Auto Dna
Ken Sugimori is an integral part of Pokémon history. He was an art director for the video games, a talented illustrator, and an original Pokémon character designer responsible for fan favorites such as Venusaur, Gengar, Snorlax, and Mewtwo. However, he also had contract restrictions preventing him from giving autographs. Thats why this card is so special. While its not officially a Pokémon, these blank cards were custom-crafted to allow artists to add drawings and autographs at the 2004 Pokémon World Championships. Ken drew Pikachu and signed it in both Kanji and English. Its a unique, one-off piece that wont be repeated, so its place on this list of the most rare and expensive Pokémon cards is very secure!
Holographic Masters Scroll Card
The Pokémon Daisuki Club is Japans official Pokémon fan club which awards points to members for competing in tournaments and participating in the community . Players can turn in these points to obtain exclusive cards that arent available anywhere else.
In 2010, the Pokémon Daisuki Club offered this exclusive Masters Scroll card to players for 8,600 points. The exact number of copies of this card is unknown, but we do know that only 26 have earned a PSA 10 grade.
Since 2020 this card has consistently sold at auction for over $24,000, with the highest sale to date at $35,200.
A Pokemon tournament in Hawaii feels so 90s!
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.
You May Like: How Do You Know If A Pokemon Is Shiny
Pokmon Game 1st Edition Shadowless Holo Alakazam #1
The psychic-type Alakazam is next up, thanks to a great card found in the original 1999 release.
As you might expect, its another holo shadowless 1st edition card, ticking all of the boxes for serious collectors.
Alakazam might seem weak by modern standards, but he was a fearsome prospect in the original TGC. The evolution of evolution, you would start with Abra, followed by Kadabra.
Once again, there are fewer than 100 PSA 10 copies on the registry, with 88 graded at the last count.
First Edition Shadowless Holographic Charizard #4
A very valuable version of a classic fan-favourite
Sold for $420,000 in March 2022
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 @IconicAuctions. Including the 20% buyer’s premium, the total transaction value exceeds $220k. As of now, this is the highest known sale of the card.
Extremely expensive, extremely rare – the Holy Grail of Pokémon cards
Sold for $5.275 million in July 2021
The Pikachu Illustrator is the most expensive Pokémon card in existence, and is the true Holy Grail of Pokémon card collecting – only one PSA 10 is known to exist, and was snapped up by YouTuber Logan Paul for a whopping $5,275,000 in July 2021.
.@LoganPaul wearing the most expensive @Pokemon card in the world right now at #WrestleMania!
You May Like: Where To Find Psychic Pokemon Sword
Wizards Of The Coast Blastoise Prototype: $360000
In 1998, Wizards of the Coast wooed Nintendo in an attempt to land the Pokémon Card Trading Game licensing deal for the North American market. They produced a series of Pokémon card prototypes to display to the Pokémon Companys executives.
One of these prototypes features Blastoise, a central figure in the Pokémon Blue game. The prototype only has an image on the front because its creators never intended to distribute it for sale. Wizards of the Coast only made two copies of this prototype, which has blasted its value even higher. It went to auction in January of 2021 and sold for $360,000.
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 youd 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.
You May Like: How To Defeat Arlo Pokemon Go
Pokemon Japanese Neo Summer Battle Number 2 Trainer
Sold in November, 2020 for $20,105
Just a bit ago, we had a look at the number 3 trainer card from the 2001 Neo Summer Battle Road Tournament.
And now we are looking at the card that contestants would receive for finishing in second place in that tournament.
The card has pretty much the same look and feel as the third-place card, but Chancey and Doduo have joined Pikachu and Growlithe in posing with Ash Ketchum, as he holds a silver medal.
Even in a PSA 7 holder, this card will sell for thousands of dollars to give you an idea of just how coveted these trophy cards are.
How To Research Pokmon Card Prices
If youre looking to maximize your return on selling your Pokémon cards, you will need to do your research. Blindly selling individual cards without doing the legwork on Pokémon card value could end up selling yourself short and giving a collector a great deal.
The best way to research Pokémon card prices is to look at real life selling history. After all, Pokémon cards are only worth what someone is willing to pay. Check out these three resources to see what your Pokémon cards are worth:
- eBay has the largest collection of Pokémon cards for sale online
- Pokemonprices.com is regularly updated with eBay and Amazon card selling data to reflect the average price of specific cards
- TCGPlayer is an online store for buying and selling trading cards, with card prices that reflect the average sale price of said cards within the TCGPlayer store
If you have a lot of Pokémon cards but dont want to go through the hassle of selling individual items, there are places where you can sell Pokémon cards in bulk. Just know that youll be leaving money on the table if you choose to go this route.
You May Like: How To Get Shadow Mewtwo Pokemon Go
Japanese Promo Tropical Mega Battle No 3 Trainer
Like the 1999 Japanese Promo Tropical Mega Battle No. 2 Trainer, this No. 3 Trainer card was awarded to the respective third-place winners from each region at the 1999 Tropical Mega Battle in Hawaii. This event was the first Pokémon TCG World Championship, which is partly the reason these cards are so historically significant. Of course, the exclusivity and rarity further cement their place in the list of the most rare and expensive Pokémon cards. This edition is graded CGC NM/Mint+ 8.5 and is the only one graded by CGC.
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.
You May Like: How To Get Articuno In Pokemon Go
Are Your Pokmon Cards Centered
Usually, the artwork of the Pokémon on your card is centered right inside the borders of the card.
Pokémon cards pulled straight from a booster pack will look like they have their artwork perfectly centered, but its actually not that uncommon for the art of a Pokémon card to be slightly misaligned.
Sometimes these cards are classified as Misprints and there are Pokémon card collectors that are willing to pay for cards with printing errors from the factory.
However, if you are looking to get your Pokémon cards professionally graded and valued, then artwork being off-centered will deduct points from the final evaluation score of your cards decreasing its general market value.
Off-centered printings can also occur on the back art of a card as well as the front. The Poke Ball art and logo that are present on the back of the card can also sometimes sit too far left or right of the cards center.
So its best to double-check these factors if you do happen to find a card that you might think is worth some cash!
Are Your Pokmon Cards Rare
With regards to most Pokémon cards, there are 4 levels of standard rarity that are worth mentioning for now.
Its also important to note here, when we are talking about Rarity or how Rare a card is, I am not referring to the actual scarcity of the card or hard it is to fine.
Pokémon cards have different rarity classifications that are assigned by the Pokémon company themselves and can often be identified by the symbol printed on the card.
This can be somewhat confusing to those new to the trading card scene as most people will use the term rare interchangeably between the Classification rare and Monetary value rare.
This isnt something you should worry too much about as often a card that is Monetary value rare will also have the classification of Rare, hence why many players will use the term interchangeably.
You can figure what classification level a card has by looking for a small symbol in one of the bottom corners of your card:
- Common: A small black circle
- Uncommon: A diamond shape
- Rare: A tiny star
Promotional: A black start with the word PROMO written across it
As a general rule, the rarer the Pokémon card classification the more money it will be worth. However, this isnt always the case, so its best to be vigilant when evaluating your Pokémon collection.
There are certainly some Uncommons, and possibly even commons, that exist from much older Pokémon sets that might be considered more valuable than modern-day Rares.
Don’t Miss: Where Is The Move Relearner In Pokemon Ultra Sun
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.
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.
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.
You May Like: How To Evolve In Pokemon Mystery Dungeon
Pokmon Sword & Shield Evolving Skies 1st Edition Secret Rayquaza Vmax Card
Although it’s mostly been classic Pokémon cards from the 90s that have seen a big rise in value, there are actually many collectibles from the recent Pokémon Sword and Shield TCG sets that are also selling for quite a bit. In August 2021, the Gen 8 series released its seventh mainline expansion Evolving Skies, which featured a Secret Rare Rayquaza VMAX card. Despite only being a few months old, the Alternate Art holographic has already sold for an incredible $850. While the card’s pricing has recently dipped, a graded 10 version of the Evolving Skies Rayquaza VMAX sold for $583 according to PSA sales charts.
World Championships Sprint Battle Road 2002 No 1 Trainer Promo: $31000
No. 1 Trainer promo cards are almost always valuable, thanks to them only being printed in limited quantities and being awarded to finalists in World Championships. What makes the Battle Road Spring 2002 promo special, though, is that every card is unique.
Each one has the name of its owner, and the region they were the champion of, printed in the card’s text. As there were seven regions for the tournament, it can be assumed that there were at least seven produced.
It’s so rare that PSA doesn’t have an appraised value for it, however it has sold at auction in the past for $31,000.
Recommended Reading: How To Connect Pokemon Go Plus
Psa 10 Torchic Gold Star Holo Ex Team Rocket Returns: $50000
In the early-to-mid 2000s, popularity in Pokemon was waning. “Pokemania” was on the way out, and that meant a lot of the Pokemon TCG expansions at the time suffered from lower sales and smaller print runs. With Pokemon back on top again now, cards from that era often see higher values than cards older than them. A great example of this is the Gold Star Torchic from EX Team Rocket Returns.
Gold Star Pokemon showcase Pokemon in their shiny forms and have the Pokemon breaking out of the frame as an early example of the many alternate styles the TCG would later experiment with. Why Torchic specifically is worth so much is anyone’s guess, but with only 17 verified PSA 10 grade copies out there, the PSA values them at $50,000 each. Actual auction prices are a bit lower though, as in 2020 PWCC Auctions sold a copy for $25,400.
Signed Tsunekazu Ishihara Gx Promo Card
This appropriately overpowered card was created to celebrate Pokémon creator Tsunekazu Ishiharas 60th birthday back in 2017. The cards were given out to Pokémon employees by Ishihara himself, and there are estimated to be only 30-60 in existence.
Because Pokémon employees are forbidden from selling this card, serious collectors are frothing to get their hands on one. In fact, one of these cards signed by Ishihara sold at auction for an astounding $247,230 in 2021 despite only being in near-mint condition .
Cue angelic choir in 321
Read Also: Why Are Pokemon Cards Sold Out
Pokemon Japanese Design Promo 4th Grade Winner Illusion’s Zoroark
- Pokemon cards value: $40,800
During a tie-in event for the Ruler of Illusions: Zoroark movie, these were given out to winners of an illustration contest. The six winners were all granted 100 copies of the card they designed, which means there are only 100 copies of this specific card in circulation, making it one of the rarest Pokemon cards ever made.
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
You May Like: How To Get A Master Ball In Pokemon Sword
No Rarity Holographic Venusaur Signed By Mitsuhiro Arita
A Japanese Pokémon card that has no rarity is the equivalent of a first edition card and, therefore, very rare and valuable. The Venusaur holographic example is one of only five PSA 10 Gem Mint rated cards, which already sets the standard high. However, this is elevated even more as this card also boasts the signature of Mitsuhiro Arita, the illustrator behind this depiction of Venusaur. Its a museum-quality piece and a one-off variation, so its a must-have addition to a serious Pokémon card collection.
Grade: PSA 10 Gem Mint
Pokemon Ex Deoxys Gold Star Holo Latias
Sold in December, 2020 for $20,100
The eighth expansion of the EX Series, the EX Deoxys checklist contained 108 cards in total, with cards #105 , #106 , and #107 receiving the desirable gold star distinction.
Designed by Masakuza Fukuda, the artwork on the Latias card features eye-catching imagery of the dual-type Dragon/Psychic creature that belongs to a group of incredibly rare Pokemon known as Legendary Pokemon.
Read Also: How Do You Play With Your Pokemon Buddy
