BGS 9.5 Base Set Charizard Gem Mint
BGS 9.5 Base Set Charizard Gem Mint
Price: $19,999.99
Charizard from the Base Set, holo rare, slabbed at BGS 9.5. That artwork? Mitsuhiro Arita’s take on the fire-breathing beast mid-roar, wings flared, tail flame blazing—it’s got that raw power vibe that defined early Pokémon art. No wonder it became an icon.
On the card text side, it’s a Stage 2 Fire type with 120 HP. Pokémon Power: Energy Burn, treating all attached Energy as Fire for its attacks. Then the big one: Fire Spin, dealing 100 damage but you discard two Energy cards from it. Solid for back in the day, when decks revolved around heavy hitters like this. Weak to Water, resistant to Fighting, retreat cost of three—classic setup.
This printing dropped in the original Base Set back in 1999, the very first English release that kicked off the TCG craze in the West. What makes it stand out? It’s the chase card of the set, the one everyone ripped packs for, evolving from Charmeleon and tying into the video games’ starter evolution line. Compared to later Charizard printings, this one’s got that thick stock, no-shadow holo foil, and a simplicity that later sets built on with mega evos and shiny variants. It’s like the blueprint for all fire starters that followed.
Slab-wise, BGS 9.5 means it’s gem mint territory—subgrades likely hovering around 9.5 or 10 for centering, edges, corners, and surface. Eye appeal is strong with that vibrant holo shine popping under lights, no major whitening or scratches pulling it down. From what I recall on pop reports, there are a few hundred Base Set Charizards graded at BGS 9.5, not a ton considering how many got played hard back then. Centering can be tricky on these old holos, but a 9.5 suggests it’s dialed in nicely, with balanced borders and sharp registration.
I’d frame this one next to my old Game Boy, just for the nostalgia hit.
Quick Facts:
– Card Title: Charizard
– Set: Base Set
– Rarity: Holo Rare
– Condition: BGS 9.5
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