Most Valuable Pokemon Cards Countdown

We’re closing out the last 25 days of 2017 with a Countdown of the Top 25 Most Valuable Pokemon Cards. (Based on actual “Sold” prices on eBay this year) 

#3 – Blastoise, 1st Edition, Base Set
$9,000
Blastoise-1st

The King of Rain Dance finally makes our Countdown.  Blastoise was an extremely popular card in decks in 1999/2000 due to his abusable Pokemon Power: Rain Dance.  Rain Dance decks and Haymaker decks dominated the tournament scene in the early days of Pokemon.

In 2017, this copy of Blastoise sold for $9000. First Edition Base Set Rare cards can command ridiculously high prices if they’re graded Perfect 10’s.  We also saw several other sales of Blastoise in the $6,000 to $7,500 range.  

Of the Big 3 (Charizard, Venusaur and Blastoise), there are less 1st Edition PSA 10’s of Blastoise (83) in circulation than either Charizard (115) or Venusaur (102).  Maybe that’s because Blastoise was getting used a whole lot more in tournaments than those other cards.  Then again, Charizard has been submitted for grading twice as many times as well.  

Some quick notes on our rankings:  These are all cards you could have reasonably collected in the United States. These are cards that appeared in Booster Boxes, Booster packs, Leagues, and/or Starter Sets. Pokémon TCG fans/players could have plausibly obtained these cards through auctions, trades and/or blind luck pulls. There are no cards “prize cards” in our list.  All values are based on actual sales of Pokemon Cards on eBay in 2017. Most of these cards are Professionally-Graded, Gem Mint cards, which are independently certified on their condition. Here’s an article on Graded Pokemon Cards if you don’t know what Graded Cards are.