How to Check the Value of Pokémon Cards and Evaluate Your Collection - IGN Latin America (2023)

If you collected Pokemon cards in your childhood, chances are you have an old shoebox that keeps your collection in your mom's basement somewhere. Rare Pokémon cards have been known to sell for hundreds, if not thousands of dollars, but how can you tell?areAre the cards really worth money? Here's how to tell if your Pokemon cards are valuable collectibles or just a bunch of cardboard nostalgia.

We'll cover the two main factors that determine a Pokémon card's value (rarity and condition), then explain how to tell a card's value and where to redeem it for cash.

How to determine pokemon card value

pokemon card rarity

Anyone who's ever opened a Pokemon booster pack knows the thrill of flipping through the deck to see if there's a highly coveted rare inside. Rare cards are the most valuable cards printed by Pokémon, and different types have been released over the years. There are numerous factors that determine how rare a card is.

The black symbol in the bottom corner of a Pokémon card indicates its rarity: a dot is common, a diamond is uncommon, and a star is rare. Traditionally, the star is black, but a card with a star of a different color, such as white or gold, means it's extremely rare.

Card image courtesy of PKMNcards.com.

A card with a First Issue stamp on the side means it's from the first edition of a deck, giving it added value.

Card image courtesy of PKMNcards.com.

When a card is holographic, it's worth even more.

Card image courtesy of PKMNcards.com.

Over the years, new types of cards have been introduced that look a bit different than the standard Pokémon card. These rare cards have names like Pokémon EX, Pokémon GX, and Pokémon V/MAX, and are distinguished by the holographic artwork that covers the entire card.

Card image courtesy of PKMNcards.com.

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There are Standard, Full Art, Rainbow Secret Rares, and Shiny versions of these cards, each with their own set value.

Card image courtesy of PKMNcards.com.

All of these different types of cards can be very difficult for the uninitiated to process, so you can easily find out which card you have by looking it up online using the number in the bottom corner.

Card image courtesy of PKMNcards.com.

In addition to the symbol printed on it, there are other factors that can make a card valuable. Cards featuring popular Pokémon are highly coveted by fans, creating high demand that increases the value. Some popular Pokemon are:

• Glurak
• Blastoise
• Rayquaza
• Pikachu
• His death
• umbrella
• Lugia

Cards that are particularly good in the game are often worth more.

Card image courtesy of PKMNcards.com.

Then there are the limited edition cards that can only be obtained by participating in special events, contests and tournaments; These are some of the most valuable cards a Pokemon collector can get. We will cover this in more detail below.

Sorting your collection by these types of rarities is a good starting point for identifying the crème de la crème. These cards can be further evaluated to discover their true value.

Don't worry if most of your cards are not rare cards that are worth a lot of money, that's perfectly normal. If you find yourself with a lot of cards that aren't worth selling individually, you can still sell them in bulk.

pokemon card status

Once you've identified which cards in your set are rare enough to consider selling, the next step is to assess their condition. Any card that you think may be valuable should be placed in a protective sleeve and out of direct sunlight to preserve its condition.

A perfect or near perfect card will generally sell for full price, while any blemishes will cause it to lose value.

There are obvious blemishes, such as scratches, creases, and cracks, which are usually caused by playing with the cards or improper storage. This type of damage can drastically reduce the value of a card.

There are also minor blemishes such as centering and chipping that result from the print quality of the card. These blemishes are of minor value and are generally only considered when the card is professionally appraised.

Special letters to consider

In addition to the various rarities mentioned above, there are some unique traits worth looking out for that could mean a Pokemon card is of high value. Often misprints or limited distribution have made a map extremely valuable to collectors. Sometimes these cards are indistinguishable from others of the same type at first glance and require special attention to identify, so take a good look!

without shadow

You may have heard the term "shadowless" when referring to extremely valuable Pokémon cards. For example, a Charizard card from the Shadowless core set typically sells for a few thousand dollars on eBay. But what does this term mean and how do you know if your card is Shadowless?

After the first run of the Pokemon base set card, a drop shadow was added to the box art to bring some life to the design. Therefore, all cards in the original series are called Shadowless. Shadowless cards have become collectibles because there are only a small number of them.

Look closely at the edge of your main cards. If there is no shadow around the edge, you have a map with no shadows.

Card image courtesy of PKMNcards.com.

Tournaments and Promo Cards

Not all Pokemon cards come from booster packs. Some of the rarer Pokémon cards were only given out as tournament prizes or giveaways. These cards often have a stamp in the design to identify where they came from, or have a special promotional star in the bottom corner, so beware of these types of markings on your cards.

Some of these special cards were pretty common back then, like the Mew promo card that was given out in 1999 to those who bought Pokémon: The First Movie tickets, so they're now worth no more than a few dollars.

Card image courtesy of PKMNcards.com.

But some, like the Tropical Beach map from the 2011 and 2012 Pokémon World Championships, can easily fetch hundreds of dollars.

Card image courtesy of PKMNcards.com.

error cards

Certain cards have typos, formatting issues, typos, or other errors that make a regular card a rare collector's item.

For example, a 1999 Unlimited Blastoise base Pokémon is indicated with "Scenario" missing in the top right corner."Blastoise Pass Mistake"and can be counted by thousands.

There are dozens of different bug cards that have popped up over the years, so it might take a while to search your collection for them, but it might be worth it if you do end up finding one. While some bugs are common and not worth much, some are extremely valuable to collectors.

Boxis readyto see if you have a particularly rare error card.

How to make money with your Pokémon cards

After reviewing your cards and determining which ones may have value, it's time to see how much they're really worth and put them up for sale.

Unsurprisingly, one of the easiest ways to check a card's value is to look it up on an auction site like eBay. Be sure to check out the full listings to see how much the card actually sold for.

Other useful sites are liketcg playermitroll and toad, which act as digital storefronts for game stores and individuals who sell cards. After you shop for a card, you can check the market price to get an idea of ​​how much it's currently worth. Like eBay, these sites allow you to sell your cards for a fee.

A snapshot of the Charizard cards in TCGPlayer.

Once you know how much your cards are worth, you can list them on one of these websites to sell them, or visit a card shop or flea market to haggle in person whatever it takes to get the best price for scoring your Pokémon. cards

Joshua is a Senior Editor and Report Producer at IGN. If Pokemon, Green Lantern, or Star Wars are common words in his vocabulary, he should follow them.Twitter @JoshuaYehlmiIGN.