charbar ofc
After some thinking Charizard is the weapon of choice in this case.
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For myself it’s Charizard, the reasons being I have a stronger nostalgic memory from childhood about Base Set and first edition cards, as with the Illustrator it wasnt something I knew about until I was a few years older.
I also have my own bias towards trainer cards, and the Illustrator is somewhat similar to a trainer card, despite depicting a Pikachu. I always liked pulling Pokemon out of packs, and got really disappointed when the rare was a trainer instead of a Pokemon as a kid.
I also look at the Illustrator as a trophy or reward for a contest that I didn’t participate in or win. So it feels somewhat odd wanting someone elses trophy. This may be the result of playing competitive sports growing up.
I also personally feel the price of the illustrator is grossly inflated thanks to a false pretense or misrepresentation of its rarity years ago.
Articles and news websites and youtube videos used to credit the illustrator as the rarest card & oldest card. This simply isnt true as Parent Kangaskhan supersedes it as rarer and older.
There’s also the pokemon snap contest cards, which I think are rarer. I feel like these websites and videos talking up the illustrator years ago, just werent informed on all the other cards that existed.
Then you have celebrities buy into this misrepresentation as fact as well, which continued to perpetuate that sentiment or general understanding into the hobby.
Plus we now have more and more “extra” copies emerging onto the market, when it was previously believed to be capped, or atleast all known copies being accounted for. Which brings in some questionability regarding authenticity.
Its still a cool card, its still rare, its still valuable, but I think its desirability is entirely based off a false presence.
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The first illustrator sold in the year 2000 for 22k. That was way more valuable than any other card, and before any of the influences you mentioned. For reference, a PSA 10 1st Ed Zard was around 1k in 2007-09.
I do agree there is more smoke around recent extra copies, but that isn’t limited to the illustrator. Majority of the snap cards in circulation are extras. I don’t think that takes away from the fact that the Illustrator has always been the most valuable card; the total amount of graded illustrators is less than the total amount of PSA 10 zards.
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This is a tough one for sure. Seeing both in-person or in hand would make it even harder to choose. I feel like I’d have to lean towards the Illustrator simply because of the opportunity cost. You see Charizard in all grades trade hands fairly often, but the Illustrator I feel will always be one of those cards that you’ll have less and less opportunities to obtain one as time goes on.. even if you have the money.
I definitely have more of a nostalgic attachment to Charizard, it’s a timeless & beautiful card no doubt. But the uniqueness and increased rarity of the Illustrator I think for me personally it’d be my choice. I’d be more than satisifed owning it in a PSA 7 and buying a NM to mint 1st Ed Charizard and be quite happy with my overall collection in the end.
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Totally agree with Scott!! The number of PSA 10 1st edition shadowless charizards out there is 125 and if you count total number of 1st edition zards pop report among all grading companies is most likely > 10,000. Not to mention the number of raw 1st edition shadowless charizards still out there in binders. In contrast with the illustrator pikachu the total number graded among all companies is currently around 85 and that doesn’t include regrades, crack outs, crossovers so most likely around 70 in pop report factually. Also even if there were 100-150 total copies produced in the world of the card look at how many millions of collectors want it!! Hence, even with the extra copies over the next 5-10 yrs the card will become most desirable card in the hobby but scarcity and opportunity to secure one will become less and less with time. The value will shoot up exponentially in value even for authentic copies. This is my honest prediction. It will ultimately become unobtainable regardless of grade.
The Pikachu Illustrator will never be the most desirable card in the hobby. I would not confuse most expensive with most desirable.
Exponential growth is probably not the name of the game with the Pikachu Illustrator, given its current value. At some point, reasonable limits exist to what people are willing to pay for certain cards.
The exponential growth you see with high-end sports cards and comics is due to conditional rarity - it is exceedingly difficult to find a high-end mint condition card or comic book in the wild that is 70+ years old (but it does happen on occasion). Conversely, the Illustrator’s mint+ population has ballooned since the extra copies have floated around.
All of this said, yes it will increase in price over time. But my bets are not on this increase to be exponential.
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Yes, you are right on that. Exponential increase won’t happen but there will be slow and steady organic increase over the years unlike 1st edition PSA 10 charizard where hype and demand are dictating the price based on which cycle of boom and bust we are in. I can see 1st edition shadowless charizard going down from all time high now of 450-500 K to 200-250K in next 2-3 yrs. You have to remember the same thing happened in previous cycle of 2020/2021!!
I’d take the fake illustrator in a slab, then sell it, and buy a 1st edition base set charizard for my collection and stick it in the binder, nice and cozy like, and about a zillion other cool cards I want to fill up the gaps in binders across the ages.
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Illustrator because it’s one of a kind. I’d take it even at PSA 1. I appreciate the history behind the 1st edition, but base set Charizard artwork has been reprinted many times.
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While I’m not really a fan of the card, it’s cute but I find it to be very overrated, I’d choose the illustrator. I have no interest in English vintage unless it’s obtained for free or at like a dollar or two - so if either is free I may as well go for the one that is at least parallel to my collecting interests. Also, I would just crack either one for the binder anyway, so the charizard being in a 10 means nothing to me 
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Illustrator. Because it’s a trophy card.
In this scenario, I wouldn’t go for Charizard, because it’s a regular set card, it doesn’t bring me any nostalgia (I didn’t like base set when I was a child), it has so many reprints, and because 1st ed shadowless is English.
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Heritage Auction 13 December 2025:
Charizard 1st Ed Shadowless PSA 10 550k (
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Pikachu Illustrator CGC 9 325k (surprise not surprise)
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Pikachu Trophy No. 1 1998 PSA 9 450k (probably the real 
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psa 7 might be worth more than cgc 9 who knows 
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