When Was The First Pokemon Card Made

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.

Seven’s A Lucky Number

The seventh generation of Pokémon was announced on February 27, 2016, the franchise’s 20th anniversary with the new games Pokémon Sun and Moon and was released on November 18, 2016.

The anime was quick to follow with a new series, Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon. As with the previous four series, Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon began with Ash Ketchum, headed off to the new region with his Pikachu. His previous companions, Clemont, Bonnie and Serena, have left the series. Ash Ketchum heads off to a new region, Alola, wearing a new set of clothes with his partner Pikachu. He receives a Z-Ring and becomes a student at the Pokémon School on Melemele Island. Lillie, Kiawe, Mallow, Lana, and Sophocles joined him in the series as his classmates. For the first time in the anime’s history, Ash wins a game-original Pokémon League and becomes a Champion.

The seventh generation broke several trends within the core series, such as abandoning HM moves, replacing Gyms with island challenge trials, and introducing Legendary Pokémon part of an evolutionary line.

First Edition Shadowless Holographic Charizard #4

A very valuable version of a classic fan-favourite

Sold for $369,000 in December 2020

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 . Including the 20% buyers premium, the total transaction value exceeds $220k. As of now, this is the highest known sale of the card.

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Pokemon Japanese Promo Tamamushi University Magikarp Trophy Car

Sold in February, 2021 for $66,100

The Tamamushi University Hyper Test was a two-day event held in June 1998 in Osaka, Japan.

To be invited, children needed to pass a series of test questions that were to be completed and mailed by a specific deadline.

The contestants competed against each other within different age groups with the winners receiving a copy of this card as their prize.

While 1,000 copies were slated for distribution, nobody knows for sure how many actually were.

What is known, though, is that this card is the most expensive Magikarp card in the entire Pokémon series, and one of the most valuable Pokémon cards in general.

The 10 Most Valuable Expensive Pokmon Cards

Pokémon cards’ popularity shows no signs of slowing, with collectors prepared to spend thousands on unopened boxes and the rarest of cards.

Interest in Pokémon and the card game, described by Nintendo as “one of the most popular children’s entertainment properties in the world,” has only increased in recent years, with multiple card sales at auction hitting new highs in recent years.

But which are the most expensive Pokémon cards of them all?

We asked PWCC, a major marketplace for card trading, to round up those that have been sold for the most money, all between 2020 and 2021.

Take a look…

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First Edition Shadowless Holographic Charizard

Charizard is a fan-favourite Pokémon, and many will remember unwrapping the shiny pseudo-dragon from a Base Set booster when they were young. What makes this Charizard exceptionally rare is a printing error that caused a lack of shadow on the right-hand side of the artwork.

In October 2020, rapper Logic purchased a PSA 10 condition version of this card for an insane $220,000, including auction fees. However, this fee was surpassed a month later when another first edition shadowless holographic Charizard sold for $295,000. This recent sale makes the card the second most valuable Pokémon card in the world.

Backless Pokmon Blastoise: Galaxy Star Hologram

$360,000

Toy Tales

This Blastoise Pokémon is considered particularly valuable due to the lack of any printing on the side opposite to the art, leading to the name “Backless Blastoise.”

The card is all the rarer as it was never intended to be publicly available, as it was part of a test run made by Wizards of the Coast.

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Pokmon Ultra Sun And Ultra Moon

Coming in at number three on our complete Pokémon games list are the enhanced versions of Pokémon Sun and Moon: Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.

The games were developed by Game Freak and published worldwide in 2017 by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company for the Nintendo 3DS.

They follow the same journey of a young Pokémon trainer but include an alternate storyline, new characters, Pokémon, and gameplay features.

Upon release, Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon were praised for the additional features included over Sun and Moon.

By the end of 2018, Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon had sold over eight million copies worldwide!

Back To Kanto And Onward To The Battle Frontier

On January 29, 2004, two new games were released in Japan: Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen. They arrived in North America on September 9, 2004, and were remakes of Pokémon Red and Green which brought the games up to Generation III standards, as well as adding wireless connectivity and a new region the Sevii Islands. These games also gave the event PokémonDeoxystwo additional forms, which could only be obtained by moving Deoxys to a FireRed or LeafGreen cartridge.

Not yet finished with the Hoenn story, Game Freak developed a third version to complement Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, Pokémon Emerald. This game was released in Japan on September 16, 2004, and in North America on May 1, 2005. Emerald featured the same wireless connectivity as FireRed and LeafGreen, as well as an updated version of Hoenn with many new features, including the Hoenn Battle Frontier, the ability to re-battle Gym Leaders, an altered plot, and animations for all Pokémon, as in Crystal.

The animecaught up with both the Generation I remakes and Emerald by having the group travel back to Kanto and face the Kanto Battle Frontier there. During this season’s time two more movies were produced: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew and Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea .

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Poliwrath No Rarity Symbol Base Set

• Release Date: 1996
• Grading: PSA Gem Mint 10
• Pokemon card value at auction: $25,015

Rounding out the top 21 of the most expensive Pokemon cards list is Poliwrath from the Japanese version of the Base Set. While the Water-type mon has traditionally been one of the weaker valued cards from the 1996 and 1999 releases, this item is actually special.

Similar to the English version having a 1st Edition run, the very first print of the Japanese set featured no markings at all. Due to there being extremely limited amounts even printed, barely any of them survived three decades later.

Consider this THE earliest version of the iconic card, and you can see why its value has skyrocketed in recent years. In 2020, one appeared in a PWCC auction selling for $25,015. If you think that is a lot, we are only getting started!

Pokemon Japanese Tropical Mega Battle Number 2 Trainer

Sold in October, 2020 for $50,300

Held at the Hilton Hawaiian Village from 1999 to 2001, the Pokemon Tropical Mega Battle gave the best players from the United States, Canada, Latin America, and Europe the chance to test their skills against each other.

To be invited, players had to first win a local tournament in their respective regions.

During the final match of the Tropical Mega Battle, each player received the same 90 cards that they would use to make their own 40-card deck to battle for the championship.

If a player were fortunate enough to make it far enough through the competition to finish in second place overall, he or she would receive this number two trainer card.

Sticking with the tropical theme for the cover art, an image of Exeggutor, a dual-type grass/psychic Pokemon that resembles a palm tree, sits in the middle of the card with text below it that reads:

“The Pokémon Card Game Official Tournament’s runner-up winner is recognized here, and this honor is praised.”

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Pokemon Japanese Bandai Carddass Vending Prism Red Charizard

Sold in January, 2021 for $30,100

Founded in 1950, Bandai is a Japanese toy maker that produced a series of Pokemon cards in September 1996 that pre-dated the official launch of the Pokemon Trading Card Game that followed in October 1996.

To distribute the cards, Bandai utilized a network of vending machines, or carddass, as they called them.

There are hundreds of Bandai carddass Pokemon cards to collect, but the most desirable of them all is the prism Charizard.

In one of the earliest appearances of the iconic character, Charizard roars and breathes fire, creating an image that really pops.

First Edition Holographic Ninetales

Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $3,000

It’s easy to see where Ninetales gets its name although the spelling of “tails” is noticeably different.

And while each of its golden-white tails is catching to the eye, it is said that simply grabbing one of them can result in a 1,000-year curse giving this fox-like Pokémon its reputation of extreme vengeance.

Inspired by the kitsune of Japanese folklore, Ninetales holds mysterious powers within its nine tails and can even control the mind with its piercing, red eyes.

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Pokmon Red & Blue: Us

Pokémon Red & Blue are the remakes of the original 1996 versions and were re-released across the U.S. in 1998.

They were the first Pokémon games to be released outside of Japan and were available to play on the Game Boy, Nintendo 3DS, and the Virtual Console.

They follow the same storyline and objectives as the originals but with slightly improved graphics.

Upon release, Pokémon Red & Blue: U.S. received positive reviews and became two of the best selling role-playing games of all time.

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.

Its 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 then highest possible rating. There are certainly rarer cards out there, but not too many of them sell for quite this much.

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Rarest Pokmon Cards In The World

| Entertainment

If you think youre a big deal because youre sitting on a first edition Charizard, think again. Its definitely up there as one of the more rare and sought after Pokemon cards, but when it comes to the rarest ones, its just the tip of the iceberg.

The original base set of Pokémon cards hit store shelves in the mid to late nineties, depending on where you live. Initially, the number of cards to collect was in the hundreds. Not only are there thousands of cards to collect now, but many of them are worth thousands of dollars.

When the Pokémon Trading Card Game originally launched, all you really needed was a paper route or allowance money to Catch em All. These days, anything short of a career in high finance or a law degree will probably mean youre eating instant noodles if you hope to complete that set.

Note: When we reference the PSA grade, thats a professional score based on the cards condition, with 10 being the best.

Pokemon The First English Cards

In October 1996, the Pokemon franchise made its first foray outside of the video game genre with the release of the much anticipated Pokemon trading card game. The game was then released in America in December 1998.

The principle behind the game was simple. Each player acted as a Pokemon trader and assumed their position in the board. Each player had to pick a set of cards from the deck and attack the other players Pokemon with one of his cards. Once a Pokemon had sustained enough damage, it would be knocked out of the game.

Each set of card had to contain at least on basic Pokemon. A basic Pokemon is a Pokemon that hasnt gone through any evolution yet. These are the only types of Pokemons that were allowed to start.

Evolved Pokemons, on the other hand, could only be played against a lower level Pokemon. As Pokemons evolved, their power percentage became higher and their attack were also stronger. Baby Pokemon cards, which were another version of basic pokemons, made their apparition in Neo Genesis. Their powers were unusual and they could cause devastating attacks even if they had lower HP. All these various types of cards brought variety to the gameplay and made the game more interesting.

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Why Are Pokemon Cards Suddenly Popular Again

Pokemon card collecting has always been popular, as evidenced by the 34 billion cards now in circulation.

But even the makers of Pokemon cards were caught off guard when demand began skyrocketing in mid-2020. In addition to being fun, addictive, and nostalgic, collecting Pokemon cards during the pandemic even promised a potential form of economic relief each $4 booster pack could contain a Charizard GX SV 49 worth $1,800.

Soon, celebrities and influencers picked up on the resurging popularity of Pokemon cards. In early October, Logan Paul live-streamed an event where he opened a rare box of cards worth $200,000 in front of his 22 million subscribers. Pokimane and other influencers quickly followed suit, offering a Pokemon-flavored version of the ever-popular unboxing videos.

Things came to a head on October 13th, 2020 when rapper Logic bought a first-edition, holographic Charizard for an eye-watering $220,574.

Best First Edition Pokemon Cards

So now that weve examined what first edition Pokemon cards are and why they are so valuable, lets take a look at some of the best cards from this set that you can get.

Note that we tried to put these cards into order in terms of values, but know that these values can fluctuate and change constantly, so the order might change in the future.

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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.

Most Expensive Pokmon Cards

Pokemon cards come with a price recently there have been rare cards that have sold between $50,000 and $400,000.

These cards include:

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The Best First Edition Pokemon Cards Full Guide

We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post.

Pokemon cards are some of the most popular non-sports cards in the world.

This brand has gathered a large following thanks to the animated series and the popular game that was first released in Japan.

Later on, the game evolved into a trading card game.

Gotta catchem all was the catchphrase for these trading cards. They first hit the shelves in Japan in 1996, but they soon captured the attention of the American audience, where they were first sold in 1999.

The original set from 1999 that was sold in the US is referred to as the first edition set. Cards from this set are some of the most valuable and sought-after Pokemon cards in the world.

In this article, well talk about first edition Pokemon cards what they are, the best cards to get, and more.