Pokémon TCG: The 10 Most Unbelievably Rare Gen 1 Cards That Are Worth A Fortune, Ranked

Pokemon TCG has been around for a long time and by now, certain rare cards from Gen 1 are worth a fortune. See if you have any diamonds here.

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We’re sure you’re definitely competent when it comes to Pokémon knowledge at this point. Who isn’t at this point? It’s only one of the biggest media juggernauts on the planets. Games, anime, a successful live-action movie, oh and one of the most played trading card games of all time.

Oh, you’ve never looked into the trading card game featuring everyone’s favorite pocket monsters? We’ll you really should if you want to hear about things like how some of these cards went for around $300,000 at an auction not too long ago. It doesn’t end at that price though! There are a lot of cards in this collection that go for tons and that’s what this list is all about.

10 $800 FIRST EDITION SHADOWLESS HOLOGRAPHIC MACHAMP

The list kicks off with the least expensive card of this top 10 and we use the word “least” lightly as this card can go from $100 up to $800 strictly depending on the card’s quality.

You may be wondering why this specific Machamp card goes for so much. Is it because it’s holographic? Well yes and no. There are tons of holographic Pokémon cards but that’s not what makes them as expensive and rare as the ones that make this list. These cards are a part of a very rare set that was printed with the defect of not having the holographic shadow. This error was quickly fixed.

9 $1500 FIRST EDITION SHADOWLESS HOLOGRAPHIC BLASTOISE

This card much like the previous one lacks the shadow and therefore is worth more than the average holographic Pokémon card. If you’re wondering why that shadow is so important with holographic cards, it’s because that shadow is half of the effect. It creates the cool 3D depth that makes those holographic cards we all love so much so special.

With that said this card can go from $1500 to $2000 just because of this factory printing defect. Bet you’re wondering if you had any of these bad boys as a kid because we definitely are.

8 $1500 FIRST EDITION SHADOWLESS HOLOGRAPHIC MEWTWO

Of course the first actual badass villain Pokémon is worth a lot in card form. Surprisingly though, he isn’t worth more than the next cards coming up. Mewtwo has always been a very popular member of the Pocket Monsters cast so it’s definitely completely expected for him to have a top dollar card.

Mewtwo’s shadowless defective appearance in the Pokémon trading card world will cost you from $1500 up to $4000 depending on the condition of the card. Bonus points if you’ve gotten it graded.

7 $2000 FIRST EDITION CHARIZARD

Who didn’t think Charizard would appear on this list? He’s only the second most popular Pokémon of all time right behind everyone’s favorite electric mouse. During the original Pokémon hype of the generation one original release he was the big go-to Pokémon.

This fiery dragon that isn’t a dragon type will run you from about $800 to $2000 depending on your card condition and the grading. This is not only due to being one of the original popular cards but also due to the fact that it was a part of the “Trade Please” promo.

6 $6500 FIRST EDITION SHADOWLESS HOLOGRAPHIC VENUSAUR

How could you not want a Venusaur to join your expensive Pokémon card collection? It’s one of the most iconic Pokémon of all time, making this card yet another must-have for collectors. Venusaur is another member of the shadowless holographic family line. What this one has over the other two, however, is its price.

Venusaur will run you from about $6500 in the worst condition up to the absolutely crazy pricing of $7500. We’re not sure that pricing is all that worth it but that isn’t as high as it goes. Let’s go even further down this rabbit hole.

5 $100,000 PRE-RELEASE RAICHU

There’s no way that (spoiler alert) Pikachu can be on this list without his cooler form making an appearance. Raichu is the evolution of Pikachu and while he isn’t as famous as his little brother/former self, he’s still worth a pretty penny in the trading card world.

There are only about 8 to 10 of this card in existence as it was printed with an error of having a large green ‘PRERELEASE’ stamp right next to Raichu’s cute little foot. This is one of the rarest cards in the card world as most of them were most likely destroyed due to that error. If you have it congrats, if you don’t he’s gonna cost about $100,000

4 $11,000 HOLOGRAPHIC SHADOWLESS FIRST EDITION CHARIZARD

Yup, there’s another very expensive holographic shadowless first edition card and it is, of course, the king of generation one Pokémon. Forget about those last holographic shadowless guys! This is Charizard and he’s here to show you how much a real man’s card will cost you!

Like we stated earlier due to this error being so quickly fixed it’s not easy at all to find these cards. Throw in the popularity of Charizard and you’ve got a formula for one of the most expensive generation one cards there are. Charizard usually runs for $11,000 or more.

3 TROPHY PIKACHU PRICE UNKNOWN

Now we’re up in the big boy ranks and of course Pikachu is here to hit us with the highest price so far one the list. This card may not be the most expensive of all time but it is the rarest of the rare. So rare in fact, that it’s hard to even find a solid pricing on it, let alone the card itself.

This card was only given to the winners of a Japanese Pokémon Trading Card Game championship tournament series. There were three of these tournaments and there were three of these cards. Each one was given to the tournament’s winner every year. It’s crazy when a card is so rare not even the price is known.

2 $132,000 KANGASKHAN FAMILY EVENT TROPHY CARD

A second Pokémon trophy card makes our list and this time featuring Kangaskhan! Why is this one so rare you may ask? It’s another Japan-exclusive trading card that is a recipe for an expensive card. This is another card that was won by the champions of a Japan-exclusive Pokémon trading card tournament, this time being the Parent/Child Mega Battle Tournament.

Yet another very expensive card that many will never have. However, unlike with Trophy Pikachu, there is actually a price set in stone for this baby and that price is around $132,000.

1 $195,000 PIKACHU ILLUSTRATOR

Pikachu has to top this list to let you all know who’s the top dog in this world of pocket monsters. The Pikachu Illustrator card is another one that is contest winner exclusive, but this time the contest and card that comes along with it weren’t exclusive to Japan!

That non-exclusivity didn’t stop this card from being one of the most expensive and rare cards though. This card is known as “The holy grail” of the Pokémon Trading Card game. It is the rarest card in the game, was given out to winners of the CoroCoro Comic Illustration Contest, and goes for $195,000.

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