Benable — create shareable lists of things you recommend!
E.g., products you love, local businesses, travel recs - you can add anything to a Benable list!
The Rarest Pokémon Cards Ever Printed (and Why They're Worth a Fortune)
15
items From trophy cards handed to tournament winners in 1990s Japan to the modern alt-arts collectors are chasing today, these are the true grails of the Pokémon TCG. For each card I've explained why it's so rare, what to look for, and why condition and gr...
Sections
3
Trophy & Promo Grails
Classic Set Chase Cards
Gold Stars & Modern Grails
Trophy & Promo Grails
The holy grail. It was awarded to winners of a 1998 CoroCoro Comic illustration contest in Japan, and only a few dozen copies are believed to exist. It's the only card that says ‘Illustrator’ where ‘Trainer’ normally sits, with art by Atsuko Nishida,...
Pikachu Illustrator (1998)
A pre-production test card that Wizards of the Coast commissioned while pitching an English version of the game, and arguably the rarest English Pokémon card ever made. Only a couple of copies are known to exist, and one sold for about US$360,000 at ...
Blastoise Galaxy Star Hologram Presentation Card (1998)
A Base Set Raichu with a ‘PRERELEASE’ stamp, believed to have been printed in a tiny batch for Wizards of the Coast staff. For years many collectors doubted it even existed, until graded copies surfaced. Only around ten are thought to exist, making i...
Prerelease Raichu (1999)
Awarded only to the top finishers at official Japanese Pokémon tournaments, these Pikachu cards say ‘No. 1 Trainer’, ‘No. 2 Trainer’ or ‘No. 3 Trainer’ to mark where the winner placed. You couldn't buy them anywhere, so every copy represents a real t...
Trophy Pikachu 'No. Trainer' Cards
Awarded at a 1998 Japanese Parent/Child Mega Battle, where kids and parents competed as teams. Fittingly, the art shows a mother Kangaskhan with her baby, making it a card you could only win as a family. Very few were ever handed out and far fewer su...
Kangaskhan Family Event Trophy Card (1998)
Given only to players competing at the 2010 Pokémon World Championships in Hawaii, and never sold in packs. The gleaming key artwork looks like treasure in a binder, and the tiny print run means it rarely comes up for sale. Every copy traces back to ...
Master's Key (2010 World Championships)
Handed to players at the 1999 Tropical Mega Battle in Hawaii, one of the very first international Pokémon TCG events, with kids flying in from around the world. The sunny art of Pokémon playing in the island breeze is iconic, and with so few copies e...
Tropical Wind (1999 Tropical Mega Battle)
Classic Set Chase Cards
The card every ‘90s kid wanted. A true 1st Edition has the small black ’1st Edition' stamp on the left under the artwork, and early copies are ‘shadowless’, with no drop shadow along the right edge of the art box. Gem-mint graded copies have sold for...
1st Edition Base Set Charizard (1999)
The chase card of Neo Destiny, from the ‘Shining’ subset that introduced alternate-coloured (shiny) Pokémon to the TCG. The black Charizard looks incredible, and Neo-era cards were printed in far smaller numbers than Base Set. 1st Edition copies in h...
Shining Charizard, Neo Destiny (2002)
Skyridge was one of the last sets Wizards of the Coast printed before Nintendo took the game in-house, and it had a small print run. Its Crystal Pokémon have a glittering holo that covers the whole card, and the Crystal Charizard is the crown jewel. ...
Crystal Charizard, Skyridge (2003)
The Neo Genesis holo that collectors call the ‘Charizard of the Neo era’. 1st Edition Lugias are notorious for off-centre printing and surface issues straight out of the pack, so perfectly centred gem-mint copies are genuinely rare. If you want a vin...
1st Edition Lugia, Neo Genesis (2000)
Gold Stars & Modern Grails
POP Series packs were small promo packs handed out at Play! Pokémon events, and the Gold Star Umbreon was an ultra-rare pull from Series 5. Gold Star cards show a shiny Pokémon with a little gold star next to its name, and Umbreon is a fan favourite....
Gold Star Umbreon, POP Series 5 (2007)
The other half of the most famous Gold Star pair. Espeon and Umbreon were the ultra-rare chase cards of POP Series 5, and collectors love owning them side by side. Like all Gold Stars it shows a shiny, alternate-colour Pokémon, here a green Espeon in...
Gold Star Espeon, POP Series 5 (2007)
The shiny black Charizard from EX Dragon Frontiers, and for many collectors the coolest Charizard ever printed. Gold Stars were among the hardest pulls of their era, and this one combines that scarcity with the most popular Pokémon of all. Watch for ...
Gold Star Charizard, EX Dragon Frontiers (2006)
Proof that modern cards can become grails too. The moonlit art of Umbreon perched over a sleeping town is stunning, and Evolving Skies alternate arts are famously hard to pull. It's the most wanted card of the modern era and a big reason the hobby ex...
'Moonbreon' Umbreon VMAX Alt Art, Evolving Skies (2021)