Pokmon Cards: What Do Parents Need To Know
Pokémon cards are a popular childrens card game. Here are some things parents need to know about the game:
- The objective of the game is to collect as many cards as possible.
- Players battle against each other by playing cards that represent different Pokémon characters.
- The winner is the player who collects all of the cards in the opposing players deck or who has the most cards left at the end of the game.
- There are different Pokémon cards, which can be classified according to their rarity .
- Cards can be bought and sold online and in stores.
- Some Pokémon cards are more powerful than others and can easily defeat an opponent if used correctly. So, kids need to learn how to play fairly and not try to cheat their way to victory.
Pokemon Play Third Season Jolteon Gold Star 20000 Pts
Sold in June, 2021 for $20,000
Beginning in 2003, the Pokemon Players Club replaced the Pokemon Fan Club and with that change came the release of several exclusive Pokemon PLAY cards.
As players completed certain actions, such as attending an event, hosting an event, winning a battle, or placing in a tournament, they could accumulate experience points.
Once a player had acquired a certain number of points, he or she could receive a prize promotional card
Between January 2003 and January 2006, there were just four seasons in which players could participate, so time was of the essence in working to obtain these special cards.
If a player accumulated 20,000 points, he or she could earn this exclusive Pokemon PLAY Jolteon Gold Star.
Pokemon: The 12 Most Valuable Pikachu Cards
Pikachu is Pokemon’s most recognizable character. Some of its cards are worth a pretty penny…
The Pokemon Trading Card Game has seen its share of ups and downs in popularity through the years, but even its downs have kept it safely in the stratosphere of the most popular five or six card games worldwide. And when it’s hot, it’s hot the Sword & Shield era has seen a serious resurgence, undoubtedly playing a large role in why plenty of cards are worth a small fortune right now .
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Such luxurious stature must inevitably extend to the icon among icons, the electric rodent more folks recognize than even Mickey Mouse himself. We’re talking about Pachirisu, the most splendid little mouse there is.
No, of course we mean Pikachu. Stick around for a few moments, and we’ll show you just how much dough these beautiful bits of cardboard are going to cost you if you still live by the old adage, “gotta em all.”
While the contents of the list haven’t shifted much since the last time we revisited the Pikachu TCG scene, the prices have only risen higher. The Pokemon Trading Card Game is still enjoying a resurgence, so grab your binders and see if you’ve got any of these lovelies in your collection.
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Pokemon World Championships Number 2 Trainer
Sold in February, 2021 for $110,000
From Friday, August 18 to Sunday, August 20, 2006, the best of the best battled at the World Championships held at the Hilton Anaheim hotel in Anaheim, California.
Contestants across three divisions competed feverishly to be one of the top 32 players from each division to advance to the finals on Sunday to crown a champion.
Those who finished in second place received this number 2 trainer card which features a fantastic image of Pikachu holding a silver cup trophy.
The official 2006 Pokemon World Championships logo rests in the bottom-right corner, adding a nice touch to an already impressive-looking card.
First Edition Holographic Zapdos

Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $1,400
Together with Articuno and Moltres, this electric and flying creature is one of the three Legendary birds of Kanto.
Only seen during thunderstorms, Zapdos will create lighting bolts and loud cracking sounds as it flaps its wings when airborne alerting everyone in the area to its presence.
The yellow and black spiked feathers that surround its body make Zapdos look just like the blasts of electricity it creates.
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Looking Up How Much My Pokemon Cards Are Worth:
If you get too many results that include cards NOT like yours, use the checkboxes to pick the ones just like yours. Choosing a few comparable items by using the checkboxes gives you a much more accurate estimate of what your Pokemon card is worth.
What to do next:
Once youve gone through and searched for the value of your Pokemon cards using the mavin.io price guide, you have several different options:
If the Pokemon cards are valuable: You can either hold onto the cards, perhaps get them graded if theyre really valuable, and hopefully see them appreciate in value over time. Alternatively, you sell it to a local card shop without getting ripped off since you know its worth. Lastly, you can sell it yourself on eBay to get a competitive price. Read our guide to selling on eBay.
If the Pokemon cards are worthless: A card doesnt have to be worth money to be considered valuable. Each card has sentimental value to someone: where they got it, the deck it was a part of, that time you used it to battle so-and-so a lot of people tend to hang onto them because of the memories. If you want to get rid of your Pokemon cards, they could be worth some memories to a relative or a stranger. Put them on Craigslist, take them to a card shop, donate them, or pass them along to your kids or a relative. Theres still a lot of fun to be had in those dusty Pokemon cards youve been hanging onto!
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.
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Team Rocket Returns Gold Star Torchic
Next up weve got a card that fetches an incredibly high price at auction.
To the untrained eye, it might not look like anything out of the ordinary, but to seasoned collectors and people in the know , its an absolute gem.
Backstory
In the post-WOTC era, Pokemon needed to reignite collectors back to the hobby.
In the wildly underrated Team Rocket Returns set, it introduced three special Gold Star Cards Mudkip, Treecko and the cute, but fiery Torchic.
They had a considerably lower print run than the main cards in the set, and were therefore, incredibly hard to pull.
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 Charizards 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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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!
Neo Genesis First Edition Holo Lugia
Sold in May, 2021 for $144,300
The 2000 Neo Genesis set was the first to feature second-generation Pokemon from the Gold and Silver video games that built off the massive success of the Red and Blue games.
And Lugia had the great fortune of being chosen as the character to be featured on the box art of the Pokemon Silver game.
Considering the massive boost in notoriety that Charizard and Blastoise received for being the box art characters for the Red and Blue games, respectively, the same is true for Lugia.
However, the difficulty of finding this card in top condition propels it even further into the upper echelons of expensive Pokemon cards.
Print issues are a problem for the entire Neo Genesis set, and the Lugia card is no exception.
Around 2% of the Lugias graded by PSA have received the PSA 10 grade, while even fewer BGS have received the BGS 10 Pristine label.
PSA 10 Lugias have sold for $76,000 and $129,000 before, but the BGS 10 brought home an even bigger price tag in May 2021 at $144,300.
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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.
Pokemon Promo No 2 Trainer World Championships: $110100

Even runners-up get big prizes at World Championships, with all three finalists at Anaheim, California’s 2006 championships each receiving a copy of this massively valuable card. Winning the card in 2006 automatically granted entry to the finalist in 2007 as well, bypassing the whole organised points play system they would otherwise need to work through.
In February 2021, PWCC sold a PSA 9-graded copy of the card for $110,100. The fact it wasn’t even in pristine, PSA 10 condition and still sold for six figures should go some way to show the value of this card.
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Pokemon Spanish First Edition Charizard
Sold in October, 2020 for $35,100
To help promote the Pokemon Trading Card Game throughout the world, Wizards of the Coast printed the base set in several different languages.
The Spanish version offered native Spanish speakers throughout Europe and Latin America a much more enjoyable way to play their favorite card game.
You can see the Spanish translation throughout this card, but the Spanish version does leave the name “Charizard” as-is.
Other versions, such as the French and German, presented the Charizard character with a unique name altogether.
To verify the card is indeed a First Edition, look to the lower-left of the character box and you will find the “Edicion 1” symbol.
Just seven examples of this card have achieved a PSA 10 grade, making it one of the toughest multi-language First Edition Charizards to find in that condition.
Tournament And Promo Cards
Not all Pokemon cards come from booster packs. Some of the rarest Pokemon cards were only given out as tournament prizes or promotional giveaways. These cards usually bear a stamp on the art to identify where they came from or have a special promo star in the bottom corner, so make sure to keep your eyes peeled for these sorts of markings on your cards.
Some of these special cards were quite commonplace back in the day–such as the promotional Mew card given out in 1999 to those who bought tickets for Pokemon: The First Movie– so theyre not worth more than a few dollars now.
Card image courtesy of PKMNcards.com.
But some, like the 2011 and 2012 Tropical Beach card from the Pokemon World Championships, can easily fetch hundreds of dollars.
Card image courtesy of PKMNcards.com.
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World Championship Master’s Key
A copy of the Master’s Key card sold for more than $25,000 in August of 2020. Unlike most cards sold at auction, this one wasn’t graded by the PSA and was instead appraised by Beckett. Whether or not a copy still sealed in the original trophy case would have fetched more remains to be seen, though, given the card’s value, it’s perhaps a little surprising that the seller opted to open it up.
The Master’s Key was originally handed out to contestants at the 2010 Pokemon World Championships. The event took place in Hawaii and was contested by just 36 players. As a result, the card is incredibly rare, with only nine GEM-MT 10 copies – the highest grade that can be handed out by the PSA – in existence.
Pricing Or Selling Your Collection
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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.
What Makes The 1999 Super Secret Battle No 1 Trainer Card So Rare
- Although only seven regional tournaments took place, 8 graded copies exist in thePSA registry meaning there must have been a few extras printed for backups
- There are 6 PSA 10s and 2 PSA 9s
- The card says The Pokémon Card Game Official Tournaments champion is recognized here, and this honor is praised. By presenting this card, you may gain preferential entry into the Secret Super Battle.
- Features Mewtwo artwork by original artist Hideki Kazama
Recent Sales
- PSA 10 $90,000
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