So I’m looking at PSA 9 values and then I see a Shadowless Charizard PSA 9 worth around 4.5-5.5k and then there’s the Gold Star Rayquaza in PSA 9 worth anywhere from 7.5-9k I’m assuming based off how strong the copies are.
Why is the ray more expensive compared to the king of the hobby ( yeah I get it , it’s no 1st Ed ) but it’s still a rare Shadowless variant and very popular
If anyone knows why this may be with pricing between these two I would love too know
This seems like it could be askes about any two cards and why one is valued higher than the other. That’s just how the supply and demand curve balances out 
Speaking subjectively, I enjoy shadowless cards, but prefer gold stars. They were hard to pull, hard to grade, and I enjoy the card design more.
Charizard pop is like 7200 and ray is 800
Ray is a cooler card imo and ex deoxys has ass print quality
Also you can go to any card show and find a dozen raw Shadowless zards but maybe 1 ray if your lucky. My local card shops get shadowless zards all the time but I’ve never seen a Rayquaza
If 1st ed/shadowless base Charizard is the king of set cards, then GS Rayquaza can be considered the prince. Yes, the shadowless Charizard is very popular. But so is the Rayquaza. And as @wisewailmer already mentioned, GS Ray is a much rarer card.
The pop report and print runs definitely plays a big part in it. Then there is emotion which trumps everything when something decides to skyrocket.
PSA 9 Shadowless Charizord = pop 781, total = 7,605
PSA 9 Rayquaza 
= pop 208, total = 845
The pop explains some of it. Overall though, PSA 9 shadowless charizord is like the definition of mid. If you have more money, you can go for a 10 or a 1st edition copy. If you have less money you can get a lower condition copy or unlimited. The demand is stretched out so far across all the possible charizords you could get, it really keeps down anything in the middle. A Rayquaza is a Rayquaza . There’s no better version of the card available (in English). Even lower condition copies are expensive. A better comparison would be probably to the first edition charizord, in which case charizord wins as expected.
I was pretty close on the pops lol
PSA 9 shadowless charizard is super meh, pretty common, has like 69+ variants, and its not 1st edition. GS rayquaza is the only one of its kind
I agree with others here.
This question perfectly sums up the smpratte-ism, “Show me the other option.”
For cards that have no other printing available (i.e., Rayquaza ), they will always maintain a high level of demand. Then add in a smaller population report for mint graded copies, and you have exactly what we see in the market.
The Base Set Charizard art has many reprints (Base Set 1st Ed, Shadowless, Base Set, Base Set 2, Legendary Collection Holo, Legendary Collection Reverse Holo, Legendary Collection Non-Holo, Stormfront Secret Rare, Evolutions Holo & Reverse Holo, Celebrations, and soon to be others), thus making it widely available at a variety of price points.
Rayquaza can do 100 damage to ALL ex
Charizard can only do 100 damage to the defending pokemon
Yes but a 10 is 70k for the charizard as opposed to 50k for the ray. All just depends on the demand
Give us gen 3 kiddos some time. We’re working it
They’re two very different cards with two different audiences so it’s difficult to do a simple comparison. But as others have said - rayquaza is more scarce. I can find multiple charizard shadowless PSA 9 copies in the market at all times. Rayquaza not all the time and not always multiple.
Thanks everyone I see the point you all are making and it makes sense too me.
Ray is more for lower pop , harder too grade thus the psa 9 is pricy , and rare as hell
Also the whole shadowless zard is the definition of mid made me laugh because that also makes sense lol
If the 1st Ed stamp didn’t exist, the Shadowless Charizard would probably beat it then as the demand and desirability would be far higher if Shadowless were valued the same as 1st Ed is. However, it places Shadowless cards like Charizard in that awkward position where they are cooler than regular Unlimited but not quite as cool as 1st Ed. Combine that with the supply/popularity factors, and Rayquaza naturally comes out on top between them I feel.
Personally I think both cards are long term winners in terms of being great collectibles and you can’t go wrong with either one.
I am happy owning one of them in a psa 9 but true , I think both will do great like term and with how the numbers are showing with how easy it is too grab a shadowless zard bs a gs rayquaza, something tells me the future may not change much for the price difference between the two
I can really appreciate the shadowless charizard for its historical significance but from an art and eye appeal perspective this card really falls flat for me. I think a lot of cards that are more modern than the OG set do really well because the design of the card continues to improve and better showcase the artwork. The Gold Star Ray is a more appealing card to look at imho I think and better showcases the artwork.
I mean as a whole base set has really basic art work. But it’s the first English set ever so it’s the best in my eyes. No bias whatsoever
Can’t go wrong with shadowless. It’s cheap right now and it’s the first Pokémon set. The Charizard is actually cheaper than you posted. You can get an entire holo psa 9 shadowless set for 10k.