The Most Wanted Pokemon Cards: Rare Charizard Cards

Shadowless Charizard and Other Popular Charizard Cards

by Phoenix Desertsong

Charizard is easily the most wanted of Pokemon cards. Being one of the all-time favorite Pokemon, there are many valuable and rare Charizard cards.  The most well-known rare Charizard card is the 1st edition "shadowless" version of the Base Set Charizard. Even ordinary unlimited Base Set Charizard in near-mint condition sells for $80 in 2019.

But,  the unlimited edition "shadowless" version often sells for about $50 USD and even in poor condition, if graded by PSA, can fetch $150 or more. The shadowless version has a much lighter background than the second printing. The first printing and first unlimited printing, therefore, are much rarer and valuable. Because the 1st edition shadowless Charizard card is so rare, a near-mint condition copy can fetch anywhere between $500 and $1200!

There are also many PSA-graded 1st edition shadowless Charizards on the market. If you're looking to invest in this card, beware, as there are many fakes out in the world, especially online. However, if you are willing to spend the money on a PSA graded version, you can rest assured that it is a true copy, as PSA authenticates the card. Even poor PSA 1 copies have sold for $900! A PSA 8 copy sold on eBay for $2950 in January 2019. So, if you're looking to invest in any rare Pokemon cards, Base Set Charizard is the one to chase.

---

Shining Charizard from Neo Destiny

The second most sought after rare Charizard card in Pokemon is the Shining Charizard from Neo Destiny. The Neo sets were quite popular for their shining Pokemon cards. It is coveted not only because of its rarity, but because it is a shining version of Charizard. Shining Pokemon, for those that do not know, are Pokemon that are differently colored than that of their regular counterparts. For example, Shining Charizard is black, making this particular shining Pokemon very highly sought after..

Unlimited copies (those without the 1st edition symbol on the left hand side of the card below the picture) can be purchased for as little as $75-100 USD in played condition. You're looking at over $125 for a near-mint condition copy. First edition copies, however, tend to be upwards of $400 USD or more. Although you may find a copy for less than that, the condition may not be of a good quality.

The reason for this price difference is mainly because when these earlier sets of the Pokemon trading card game were released, many first edition cards were handled by kids who did not necessarily take care of the cards carefully. Many copies have surface scratches or bends and creases that greatly devalue them. If you're looking to spend money on this card, make sure you're getting a mint copy.

Like his shadow-less base set counterpart, PSA-graded copies of Shining Charizard can be found on auction sites like eBay. Also like Base Set Charizard, even relatively poor PSA 1 or PSA 2 unlimited copies sell for over $100. PSA 8 copies are over $150. 1st edition PSA 8 copies can command $400 or more, PSA 9 copies approach $1000, and PSA 10 copies sell for near $2000.

---

Charizard  Star Delta Species / Gold Star

Another very popular rare Charizard cards is an ultra rare holographic card from EX Delta Species, often called the Charizard Star Delta Species. Like his earlier shining counterpart from Neo Destiny, this card is very attractive to collectors mainly because of its rarity. However, it also has great eye appeal.

Since many collectors buy many booster boxes in search of this particular card, the prices of this card have risen over the years. In fact,  because this card is often in far better shape, it's actually beating the price of the Neo Destiny card in raw condition. Even played copies fetch $100. Lightly played copies get closed to $150 and near mint copies can approach and even exceed $200.

This card is particularly important to the author, as he pulled it from a booster pack. It was sold years ago for a fair price at the time, but it's regrettable now. It's not quite as pricey as the 1st edition Neo Destiny Shining Charizard. That's because Pokemon cards at this point were no longer released as 1st edition in English, only in Japanese. Copies of 1st edition Japanese cards are extremely rare and when they are sold, are sold at a premium due to high demand from collectors.

If you were to get this PSA-graded, they don't come up all that often. Even a PSA 6 (good condition) copy has sold for $280. Near-mint graded copies should easily command at least $500 to $600. One day, it could be worth even more.

---

Charizard EX - Fire Red and Leaf Green

The last of the major rare Charizard cards that Pokemon collectors are always seeking is Charizard EX from EX Fire Red and Leaf Green. This set actually is very rare mainly because of the number of people searching for this one card, although there are other EX versions of popular Pokemon like Gyarados and Gengar in that set, as well.

Copies of this rare Charizard EX card tend to sell north of $60 USD on a regular basis. There are also PSA-graded versions of this particular Charizard. Even a PSA 5 copy can command $80. PSA 8 copies beat $100, PSA 9 copies beat $200, and a PSA 10/BGS 9.5 Charizard EX can bring over $400. It's not close to the first three cards on this list, although it's a great looking card and should appreciate over time.



Other Charizard Cards

There are many, many rare Charizard cards in the Pokemon Trading Card game to collect. If you're looking to start or add to a Charizard card collection, you can purchase a great many copies of various rare Charizard cards for fairly low prices. Because of Charizard's great popularity in the Pokemon fan base, though, having a large collection of Charizard cards can draw the admiration (and envy) of many Pokemon card collectors.

Updated 2/2/2019

---