Your Pokemon Trading Cards Could Be Worth A Fortune

Remember those Pokemon trading cards you used to pick up for a few dollars and put in your special Pokemon folder on the top shelf away from your sister’s grubby hands? Start crossing your fingers that your parents have stashed them somewhere safe, because they might just be your best chance of ever being able to afford a home.

Back in the day, prices peaked with common cards often trading for $10-50 or more online and in school playgrounds. By the mid-late 2000s, the craze was over, like so many discarded Tazos, Pogs and Tamagotchis.

Now the time has come, collectors. Pokemon Go game has resurrected Pokemon mania, with more than 30 million downloads across Apple’s App Store and The Google Play Store. Pokemon Go has become the fastest app to reach 10 million users.

The recent resurgence nearly doubled eBay’s Pokemon daily card sales, with some cards selling for thousands online. Here are what the top four cards are currently listed for:


Pikachu Illustration Card, $100,000
Awarded to 39 contestants in an illustration contest.

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2010 Pokemon Master’s Key Japanese National Champion Prize Card, $8,799
Awarded to the top three competitors at the 2010 Japan World Championship

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1999 Charizard 1st Edition, $2,499
Highly coveted among the first Edition.

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1999 Blastoise 1st Edition, $724
Still first edition, but not quite as popular as the Charizard.

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Now it’s worth noting these are just the prices these cards have been listed at — it’s not the final sale price, nor is there any guarantee they will sell at all. But if you have any of these cards, and they are in great condition (getting them PSA graded is pretty much cruicial), you may be in luck — this is what the top ten have actually sold for on eBay:

1. Pikachu Illustration Card, $90,000
2. Torchic Holo Card And Toy, $10,000
3. Dark Dragonite 1st Edition Error Card, $9,999
4. Faded Marowak Error Card, $8,000
5. Tropical Mega Battle Prize Card, $8,000.00
6. Shadowless First 1st Edition Dragonair Error Card, $4,000
7. 1st Edition Shadowless Charizard, $3,650
8. 1st Edition Charizard Holo, $3,350
9. 1st Edition Charizard Holo, $3,050
10.Espeon, $3,000

What to look out for

With valuable cards for sale and a marketplace that is growing, collectors must still be certain of key characteristics before foraging through your stacks of cards.

1st edition mark: the hallmark is on the center left side of the Pokémon Card, as seen on the left Charizard below. 1st edition cards are by far the rarest and most valuable among standard Pokémon cards.

Shadowless: Cards without the shadow sell for a premium. The difference is shown below, move your eyes to the right vertical edge of the Charizard holo picture. On the left card you will see that the gold border switches directly into the red background. The Charizard on the right however does not. It has a “Shadow”.

Error Cards: Cards with misprints and errors also go for a substantial premium. The following card is a Pikachu 58/102 error card with misprinted red cheeks. This card is currently for sale on eBay for $249.95 with 50 people watching and 1 view per hour. Non-error versions on the other hand go for nothing, so owners beware.

Happy scavenging!


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