How to tell if your Base/Jungle/Fossil Pokemon cards are worth anything!

So you've got Pokemon cards, eh? Well so does anyone else who was 8 years old within the past 10 years! The real question is...
Are they worth anything??

This guide will cover relative card rarity with respect to the first three editions: Base, Jungle, and Fossil.

First, just to clarify for you noobs out there, these are the following types:


In general, base cards are the rarest. First edition fossil and jungle have very little value; so little that they will no longer be focused on henceforth.

There are 3 types of Base-1 cards:
1. 1st Edition Shadowless
2. Shadowless
3. Shadowed.

It is still debated to this day which is rarer; 1st edition shadowless, or just shadowless? Both were printed in fairly exclusive intervals, and as such are the rare cards of the Base set. "Shadowed" cards are not worth nearly as much; as such it's important to be able to differentiate between the two!



So can there be a 1st edition base card with a shadow? Yes! But only in these two cases:
1:

1: 1st edition Machamps were made prevalent through their issuance in many of the later Base booster packs. It is the only card in the set "1st edition, shadow"​

2:

2: This is a fake card (my favorite pokemon card in my collection ). Aside from the blatant anachronism of having both a 1st edition stamp and a shadow, this card has a purple, cheap tinge coloring on the back. It has also degraded significantly faster than other cards, further demonstrating its crappy manufacture. BEWARE OF FAKES. *​

* Remember, this is only applied to the Base set. All 1st edition fossil and jungle cards have shadows

Miscellaneous Cards/Error Cards:

Some cards are anomalies, and as such, are worth more. Examples include:

-Kakuna and Bulbasaur (Shadowless): Says "Length/Length" under card instead of "Length/Width"
-Vulpix, Caterpie, and Metapod (Shadowless): Says "HP XX" instead of "XX HP"​

Here is an example of an error Zapdos, notice the lack of holographic paper in the top left corner? This was an uncommon error for the card:


So how do you tell if a Trainer or Energy is Shadowless or Shadowed??
For these cards, look at the copyright dates. If it includes "99," it's shadowless (Fun fact: this applies to every shadowless card; another way to spot fakes!)


So the last question:

Code:

Ive gots a charizard!! yeah its my best card and its worth a lot roiight???

Unfortunately, this is a common misconception. 1st Edition (and as such, shadowless) Charizards are still worth upwards of $75.00-$100.00; the same goes for shadowless Charizards. Shadowed Charizards are extremely common, and as such, are only worth a few bucks. If you have a Charizard with a shadow like the card below I'm sorry to say it isn't worth much :


And that's it for now! Hope this helped some people!


​

 

Great guide, maybe I can actually sell some of my cards now :3

I looked through my cards, can you tell me if any of these are worth anything?:

Shadowless:
-Pikachu
-Jynx
-Growlithe
-Drowzee
-Staryu
-Dratini
-Abra
-Rattata
-Potion
-Gust of Wind
-Energy Retrieval
-Switch (x2)
-Energy Removal (x2)

Blah:
-1st Edition Dark Raticate (Rocket)
-Holographic Snorlax (Base)
-Holographic Flareon (Base)
-Holographic Dark Machamp (Rocket)
-Mewtwo (Promo #14)
-Holographic Entei (Promo #34) (x4)

 

Blah card= shitty, as are the trainers (although check your "switch," it's rumored that some of those cards have a typo on them )

Very nice find on the pikachu! You'll notice it has either really bold red cheeks or yellow ones; red is exclusive to the shadowless/1st ed. cards.

http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_trkpar...u&_sticky=1&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_sop=1&_sc=1


^^^^^^ Notice, however, that despite the high prices, many of those don't sell.

I'd really be interested in Pikachu Jynx Growlithe Drowzee Staryu Dratini Abra Rattata, but I'm not really sure what you're looking for. Feel free to pm me if you want to discuss some sort of trade.

 

Pikachu = red cheeks
Both Switches = "own" typo
Holographic Flareon is missing the Jungle symbol
Rapidash (Jungle) says "Put Rapidash on the stage 1 card"
Seaking (Jungle) says "Put Seaking on the stage 1 card"
Holographic Snorlax is missing the Jungle symbol

Not sure what I'm looking for, I don't really know what they're worth. Not all of them in in very good condition btw.

Checking for other error cards I might have

 

Updated^^^ I have 6 error cards, but I'm sure I could find more.

 

Dang I wouldn't have even noticed the difference between shadow/shadowless cards on my own had it not been for your guide.

 

Yes, most don't know the subtle yet important differences... if you guys have any criticism about the format feel free to extend those comments

 

Wow nice guide man, I never knew there was a difference in shadowed or shadowless. I merely thought that if it had darker text it was rarer or fake... I still remember the good 'ole days

 

Ha. Good guide. I had like 1000 pokemon cards like prior to 1998. My mum threw them all away. I had like some really rare Mutu thing and some dark Picachu which were my best.

 

I have a quick question, I have a Electabuzz with the Pokemon First Movie Stamp, and a Dragonite. Both made in 1999. Worth anything?

 

Promos. For the most part theyre worthless