YOUR GAMING BUDDY
In 2015, you could walk into a card shop, hand over $50, and walk out with a PSA 9 Base Set Charizard. Most collectors thought you were overpaying. Today, that same slab would fetch north of $1,500 — and a PSA 10 copy of the first-edition print is one of the most valuable trading cards on the planet, having sold for $369,000 at Heritage AuctionsHeritage Auctions. What happened?
The answer is a perfect storm of nostalgia, scarcity, celebrity attention, and a pandemic that drove millions of adults back to childhood hobbies with disposable income and nowhere to spend it. Pokémon cards — and Charizard cards specifically — became the poster child for a collectable market that rewrote the rules of what a "toy" could be worth.
When Slabs Were Cheap: A History Most Collectors Wish They'd Paid Attention To
For the better part of two decades, PSA-graded Pokémon cards were a niche within a niche. Most casual collectors saw no point in paying $15–$25 to have a card graded when the card itself might be worth $30. The result was a market flooded with raw cards and almost no incentive to submit.
Here is what that era looked like in real numbers — figures that are almost painful to read in hindsightPriceCharting:
| Card | ~2015 Price (AUD) | 2026 Price (AUD) | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Set Charizard Unlimited PSA 9 | $40–$60 | $1,200–$1,800 | ~30× |
| Base Set Charizard Unlimited PSA 10 | $120–$200 | $4,000–$6,500 | ~35× |
| Base Set Shadowless Charizard PSA 10 | $200–$350 | $18,000–$28,000 | ~80× |
| 1st Edition Base Set Charizard PSA 10 | $800–$1,500 | $250,000–$370,000 | ~300× |
| Skyridge Charizard Holo PSA 10 | $300–$500 | $28,000–$55,000 | ~90× |
The inflection point was 2020. A combination of factors hit simultaneously: the global pandemic locked people indoors, nostalgia for 1990s childhoods peaked among Millennials entering their peak earning years, and a string of high-profile celebrities — Logan Paul, Post Malone, DJ Khaled, and Gary Vee — began buying, cracking, and showcasing Pokémon cards to audiences of millions. PSA's grading submission volume went from roughly 1.5 million cards in 2019 to over 12 million in 2020PSA — an 8× increase in a single year.
The 5 Charizard PSA Slabs With the Most Growth
Not all Charizard slabs are created equal. Here are the five that have delivered the most extraordinary returns — and why each one commands its premium.
The holy grail of the entire hobby. First Edition Base Set cards carry a small "Edition 1" stamp on the left of the art box — an identifier that separates the very first print run from everything that followed. In PSA 10 (Gem Mint), the population is extraordinarily limited, with fewer than 120 confirmed examples.PSA Pop The card has sold for as much as $369,000 at Heritage Auctions in 2022Heritage, and private sales are believed to have exceeded that figure. Its value is anchored not just in rarity but in cultural significance — it is the card that made the entire hobby mainstream again.
Between the 1st Edition print and the standard Unlimited Base Set, Wizards of the Coast produced a short run of cards that lacked the drop shadow around the artwork box — hence "Shadowless." These were printed only briefly as the presses transitioned. In PSA 10, a Shadowless Charizard is rarer than many collectors realise, with a small population and a growing collector base who specifically seek out the print distinction. It occupies the sweet spot for buyers who want vintage blue-chip exposure without the seven-figure 1st Edition price tag.
Skyridge was the final E-Series Pokémon set released in 2003, and it had an extremely short print run before the WotC licence ended and Nintendo took over production. Most collectors at the time had moved on from the game, resulting in minimal preservation and almost no PSA submissions. Today, a PSA 10 Skyridge Charizard has one of the smallest populations of any mainstream vintage holo — fewer than 30 confirmed. Collectors who picked these up for $300–$500 in the mid-2010s are sitting on some of the hobby's best long-term gains.
The Legendary Collection set in 2002 reprinted Base Set cards with a unique reverse-holo treatment — a swirling foil pattern applied to the card's background rather than the artwork. It was a retail-only set in North America with limited distribution, and the reverse-holo Charizard in particular was notoriously difficult to pull in high condition due to the foil's tendency to show scratches. A PSA 10 example sat under $200 for years before the market woke up to its scarcity. It is now one of the most sought-after "budget grail" Charizards for serious collectors.
The most common of the vintage Charizard trio, but common is relative — a PSA 10 Unlimited Charizard still requires a near-perfect specimen from a print run that is now 27 years old. Centering, corner sharpness, surface clarity, and holo scratch-free conditions all need to align. It remains the most accessible blue-chip Charizard slab for collectors entering the market, and its growth trajectory — roughly 35× over a decade — speaks for itself. With the 30th anniversary generating new interest in the original cards, demand for PSA 10 Unlimited Charizards continues to outpace supply.
Where Could Prices Go? The Next 1, 2, and 3 Years
The speculative frenzy of 2020–2021 has largely corrected. Mid-tier and modern slabs pulled back 40–60% from their peaks, and many casual collectors who entered the market at the top have exited. What remains is a more mature, fundamentals-driven market — and for key vintage Charizard PSA 10s, the long-term outlook remains compelling.
The projections above apply specifically to PSA 10 examples of the key vintage Charizards outlined in this article. PSA 9s, lower grades, and modern Charizard cards carry a different risk profile and should be evaluated independently.
Is It Too Late to Buy?
Collectors asking "did I miss the boat?" are asking the wrong question. The real question is: what are you buying, and why? The 2020–2021 boom taught the market that not all slabs are equal. The cards that held — and continued growing through the correction — were the low-population, culturally significant vintage PSA 10s. Everything else was speculative froth.
For Australian collectors, the weak AUD relative to USD pricing creates an additional headwind on purchase but a tailwind on exit — if the AUD strengthens, your card's value in local currency increases regardless of card market movement. It is a currency hedge few traditional asset classes can replicate.
The bottom line: the window for buying a PSA 10 1st Edition Base Set Charizard for under $1,000 closed a decade ago. But the window for buying quality vintage Charizard slabs at prices that still look cheap in hindsight in five years? That window may still be open — just not for much longer.