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Charizard (Base Set)
How much is Charizard worth? — live price & value guide
The most iconic Pokémon card ever printed, and the vintage grail most collectors chase first.
Part of the Base Set set.
Buying options
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The lowest listing we've tracked for Charizard over time.
Recent sold comps
What buyers actually paid on eBay — anchors deal scores alongside live listings.
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- Year
- 1999
- Card no.
- 4/102
- National Dex
- #6
- Type
- Fire
- Illustrator
- Mitsuhiro Arita
- Language
- English
Printed in huge numbers, yet clean gem-mint holos are genuinely scarce — most surviving copies carry holo scratches, edge whitening, or off-centering.
Why Charizard holds value
Charizard's Base Set holo is the card that defined the hobby. Nostalgia, a legendary fire-type, and a genuinely scarce supply of clean copies keep demand relentless — condition and grade drive enormous swings in value.
- +Card #4/102 in the 1999 Base Set.
- +Shadowless and 1st Edition printings command steep premiums over Unlimited.
- +Centering, holo scratches, and edge whitening are the usual grade-killers.
PSA 10 vs PSA 9 vs raw for Charizard
Base Set Charizard is a condition play: sort the live listings by grade first, because a PSA 10 can trade at a large multiple of a PSA 9. Within a grade, the fair price is roughly the recent sold-comp band — anything well under it usually means a lower printing (Unlimited vs. Shadowless), a qualifier on the slab, or a listing worth scrutinising. Raw copies should sit well below graded ones to price in grading risk.
Graded vs raw guide · PSA 10 vs raw for Canadians · How much is my card worth?
Variants & printings
The same card exists in more than one printing. Match the listing to the right one before you compare prices.
A small '1st Edition' stamp sits to the lower-left of the artwork. Also shadowless.
The earliest, smallest print run — by far the most valuable printing.
No drop-shadow along the right edge of the artwork frame; colours are thinner and more saturated. No 1st Edition stamp.
Early Unlimited-era print, well above standard Unlimited.
A grey drop-shadow runs down the right side of the art frame. The common print.
The baseline printing most copies belong to.
How to spot the real Charizard
- 1Confirm the card number reads 4/102 and the set symbol is the Base Set circle.
- 2Check the right edge of the art box: a drop-shadow means Unlimited; no shadow means Shadowless (or 1st Edition if the stamp is present).
- 3Genuine holos have a sharp, tight foil pattern — blurry text or a matte 'holo' area is the tell-tale of a proxy or reprint.
From the Base Set set
See the full set →
Frequently asked
Is a PSA 10 Base Set Charizard worth it over a PSA 9?
On a chase card this iconic, the jump from PSA 9 to PSA 10 can multiply the price several times over because gem-mint copies are genuinely scarce. Check current sold comps for both grades before deciding — the premium is the whole game.
How do I tell if my Charizard is 1st Edition or Shadowless?
1st Edition has the small '1st Edition' stamp to the left of the artwork. Shadowless copies lack the drop-shadow on the right side of the card border and have thinner, more saturated art. Both are worth far more than the common Unlimited print.
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