Howdy! This is my first post on these forums, so let me take this opportunity to thank all of you for making such a fascinating place exist : reading through the articles some of you wrote here, I couldn’t help but feel a urge to go out and hunt rare Pokémon cards! Thankfully, I happen to live in Japan, which is indeed a good place to start looking for rare Pokémon stuff.
Having heard about the elusive No-rarity Japanese Base Set cards, I decided to go through all the base set binders I could find in specialty stores. And among the normal, already-cool-but-not-so-rare, base set cards, I found this big guy : No-Rarity Blastoise
A fine-looking No Rarity Blastoise, sightly damaged (see below) but still in good shape considering his old age.
Having put my hands on my first No Rarity – and a cool one at that – it should come as no surprise that I’m hesitating between keeping it for my casual collection, or handing it over it to more dedicated collectors.
As these forums are where I learned about the very existence of No-rarities, I thought maybe you guys and gals could help me guess how much this card might be worth!
The only noticeable damage on this card is on the lower-left border : two small notches on the front (see picture), which also appear as two small bumps on the back (see picture). The edges also seem very slightly used, and under the right light I can see two light scratches on the background of the illustration. Apart from that, he’s looking mighty good!
Let me know what you think – your input will help me define my standards for future finds! Who knows, maybe with your insight I will be able to dig up some gems that could eventually end up in your collections
EDIT : And yes indeed, with everyone’s insight I was later able to spot and get a No Rarity Zapdos in even better condition. The hunt goes on!
I see, thanks a lot for your input!
I fixed the first image link so that you can now get a nice few of the card’s front. I’d definitely say that it’s “not too bad”, at least
Dang that is pretty cool to find a no rarity in the wild in a binder, I am guessing you live in Japan? The dents would bring down the grade of this card pretty harshly in PSAs eyes (automatic PSA 5?), otherwise a very nice clean card! I would say it would sell on eBay for around $80-$100USD
Thanks Shizzlemetimbers for your insight!
Got it, dents shall be a big no-no for future purchases. And yes indeed, I do have the pleasure of living in Japan – land of random rare Pokémon finds!
If you ever find minty fresh no rarities @pokemonsyndicate is your guy. He currently has a trade offer in his tagline offering some essential organs in exchange for mint no rarities if I am not mistaken. Agree on the dings/dents/bends/creases automatically knocking a card down to a PSA 6 tops. Even if the rest of the card is immaculate.
Welcome to the Forum! I think it goes without saying you are living the dream as far as collecting pokemon is concerned! Actually a good friend/member of this site was in Japan for the summer and told me about the vast amounts of bulk in Japanese card shops. He said it would take a good week to go through everything. I am sure if you have the time to dig through boxes of cards you will find a few more no rarities.
As far as a value for the blastoise, I would say at least $100-150. No rarities aren’t exactly established, and ironically relatively a newly collected card. Basically the prices are still undefined, and not sure where the demand will be in a year or so when more have (hopefully) surfaced.
Very neat find indeed! Not bad overall but I do have to agree with Shizzle, those dents and edgewear would be a pretty decent grade drop unless PSA were to miss them.
Thanks to all of you for your insights! You are such a great, passionate community!
Having learned from all of your feedback, I was able to go on a new card hunt today with a keener eye. And believe it or not, searching through another shop’s forgetten collection, I did find another No Rarity holo ! And this time in seemingly much better quality : I proudly present to you, No-Rarity Base Set Zapdos.
This one has no dents standing out : the damage I can see is limited to slightly used edges, and very slight scratches on the back visible under a specific light and angle. Based on everyone’s previous inputs, I guess this one would have a chance at a higher rating than our old friend Blastoise!
Owning this guy brings up quite a lot of nostalgia : along with Charizard, he’s one of the original Big-100-hitters!
(I actually found several interesting cards during this latest hunt ; now might be a good time to start a collection thread to show my weekly finds?)
That zapdos will get a mint 9. Psa will not deduct from silvering on these cards. If the edges have a bit of fraying it can still get a 10 in some cases… But the centering is better on this then most zapdos I have seen… So what yoll need to do is pm to discuss further about dis zapdos. (ಥ_ಥ)
P.S yeese make collection thread xD or turn this into it… up to you.
I guess if there is no whitening on the back or just a dot or 2, it could still get the 9.
Thanks everyone for your appreciation, and special thanks to Pokemonsyndicate for your expert opinion!
If you want to chat about these cards and future finds, feel free to pm me too
I might start a collection thread in the proper category, rather than expand this price discussion thread to infinity. Look forward to it!
Yo hayo PM me - good to know someone else in Japan who’s on the hunt for big cards . Found a mint no rarity zard the other day as well as a blastoise. The hunt for these cards is real .
. Found a mint no rarity zard the other day as well as a blastoise. The hunt for these cards is real 
.