Click to zoomReverse photography is not published for this piece while it remains encapsulated. Additional angles, macro detail of the label and slab, and a condition walkthrough are available on request before purchase.
Pokémon
The 1996 Japanese Basic printing that preceded every Western Charizard — in the highest grade PSA awards.
Authenticity
Encapsulated and graded by PSA. The certification can be verified directly against the PSA population database before any funds change hands. Photographed in-house under fixed studio lighting. The slab shown is the exact item offered.
The piece in context
Media Factory's 1996 Japanese Basic set is the origin point of the Pokémon Trading Card Game. Charizard appeared here three years before the English Base Set reached Western shelves, printed on thinner Japanese stock with a distinctly warmer holofoil. Early print runs carried no rarity symbol, marking them as the first cards to leave the press.
Collectors increasingly regard the Japanese Basic Charizard as the true first Charizard. Its cultural weight is undiminished, while its supply is a fraction of the English print run — a combination that has quietly moved it from a specialist's card to a cornerstone holding.
Japanese stock is unforgiving: the black-bordered reverse shows every handling mark, and centring on holofoil sheets was inconsistent. Gem Mint examples remain a small fraction of the graded population, and the census has grown slowly rather than in the waves seen with modern submissions.
Japanese Base Charizard at the top of the scale has traded consistently in the five-figure range at the major houses over recent seasons, with the strongest results attaching to eye-appealing, well-centred copies. Valuations here are referenced to those public results, not to asking prices.
Other printings of the same card
Pokémon
