1st Edition Charizard: Price by Grade and How to Spot One

A 1st Edition Base Set Charizard is worth about $9,527 ungraded and $335,180 in a PSA 10, according to PriceCharting's values retrieved 2026-09-25. Grade by grade:

• Ungraded: $9,526.88
• Grade 7: $18,605
• Grade 8: $25,673.30
• Grade 9: $28,241
• Grade 9.5: $70,401, about 3 sales a year
• PSA 10: $335,180.14, about 2 sales a year

The jump from 9.5 to 10 is almost five times, and the top two grades trade only a few times a year, so a single sale can move those figures a lot. PriceCharting's ungraded value covers every raw condition together; a heavily played copy sells below it and a clean one above it.

Wikipedia's list of the most expensive collectible card game cards records these sales of the English 1st Edition Base Set Charizard in a 10 grade:

• PSA 10: $420,000, March 2022, PWCC Marketplace
• SGC 10: $369,000, December 12, 2020, Goldin
• PSA 10: $350,100, December 12, 2020, eBay
• PSA 10: $336,000, March 4, 2022, Heritage Auctions
• PSA 10: $311,800, March 28, 2021, eBay
• PSA 10: $300,000, January 14, 2021, Heritage Auctions

Wikipedia's Base Set article adds that the card in its highest quality was worth $55,650 in 2017, and that Logan Paul and the rapper Logic bought copies for $150,000 and $226,000; it does not give those copies' grades.

Neither Wizards of the Coast nor The Pokémon Company has published a print count for it that we could find, so rarity is measured by grading records. CGC reports that of roughly 252 1st Edition Base Set Charizards it has graded, fewer than 20 reached CGC 9 or higher. For the Unlimited Charizard, CGC counts more than 300 high-grade copies out of nearly 6,000 graded. That gap in top-grade copies, more than the difference in print, is why a PSA 10 1st Edition costs about 27 times a PSA 10 Unlimited ($335,180.14 against $12,275, PriceCharting, 2026-09-25).

• The stamp. CGC describes it as a number 1 on a solid black circle with the word EDITION arching over the top. On Pokémon cards it sits on the left side, midway down.
• No shadow on the art box. Every 1st Edition Base Set card is also Shadowless: the art box has no drop shadow on its right side. A stamped Base Set card with a drop shadow is not a genuine 1st Edition print.
• Base Set, not Base Set 2. CGC notes Base Set 2 never had a 1st Edition print. Base Set Charizard is 4/102 and has no set symbol; the Base Set 2 Charizard is numbered out of 130.
• Not a reprint. The Celebrations Classic Collection reprint keeps the old number but adds a 25th Anniversary logo and a confetti holo finish; see our Celebrations page.
• Check it is genuine. A 1st Edition Charizard is the most faked Pokémon card; compare the back, the holo pattern and the print against the fake-card checklist, and have a high-value copy graded.

Three things stack up. Wikipedia's Charizard article says cards of it were the most desired of the series from the start and credits Logan Paul with raising demand further. The 1st Edition print is the earliest English run of the first English set. And top-grade copies are scarce: fewer than 20 CGC 9-or-better copies among about 252 graded, per CGC.

Lay the card flat on a dark surface in daylight and photograph it straight on with the whole card in frame, then take a close-up of the lower edge where the set symbol or set code, the card number and any edition mark sit. Tilt holo cards for a second shot so the foil pattern shows, and photograph the back. FoilLens reads the card name, set and number from the photo and shows a market reference; the edition, print and condition checks on this page decide which price line applies to your copy.

"1st Edition Shadowless Charizard" describes one card: every 1st Edition Base Set card is also Shadowless. A Shadowless Charizard without the stamp is a different, cheaper print. CGC explains that Shadowless cards came from the first two Base Set print runs, while 1st Edition cards came only from the first. PriceCharting, 2026-09-25:

• Ungraded: 1st Edition $9,526.88; Shadowless only $1,010
• Grade 9: 1st Edition $28,241; Shadowless only $9,974
• PSA 10: 1st Edition $335,180.14; Shadowless only $30,100

A listing titled "Shadowless Charizard" with no stamp in the photos is the second card, not the first. Check the left side of the card, midway down, for the black Edition 1 circle.

No print count has been published. Grading records are the best guide: CGC reported that as of May 31, 2022 it had graded almost 23,000 1st Edition Base Set cards, of which 252 were Charizards, fewer than 20 of those reached CGC 9 or 9.5, and none had graded CGC 10. A different card, a Shadowless (not 1st Edition) Charizard, later earned a CGC Pristine 10, reported by CGC in April 2023. These counts cover CGC only; PSA and other graders hold their own populations.

Some rankings quote higher figures than Wikipedia's $420,000 record for this card. A UK retailer's list (Display Armour, updated September 20, 2026) gives $954,800 for a 1st Edition Shadowless Charizard, and Athlon Sports (February 28, 2026) reports a $550,000 PSA 10 sale at Heritage in late 2025. Neither names the lot or date in a way we could check against Wikipedia or PriceCharting, so we treat them as unconfirmed. If you are pricing a copy, rely on sales you can open and match by grader and grade.

• Ask for the certificate number of a graded copy and look it up on the grader's own website; the label, grade and photos must match.
• Compare the price with the grade. A PSA 10 1st Edition Charizard is valued at $335,180.14 and an ungraded copy at $9,526.88 (PriceCharting, 2026-09-25); a raw "1st Edition" offered far below that is a warning sign.
• Check the stamp and the shadow. A stamped card with a drop shadow on the art box is not a genuine 1st Edition print.
• Compare the back and the holo with the fake-card checklist.