Three Elusive Trading Cards Certified by CGC Trading Cards Stand Out in February and March PWCC Auctions

Two Pokémon cards and a Magic: The Gathering card certified by CGC Trading Cards® realized impressive prices in recent PWCC auctions. The three elusive cards were just a few of many CGC-certified trading cards graded through the partnership between CGC Trading Cards and PWCC Marketplace that sold in February and March 2023.

A Charizard, Pokémon (1999) Base Set Shadowless 1st Edition Holo graded CGC 9.5 realized $32,400, the second-highest price realized for any CGC-certified Pokémon card sold through PWCC. This Charizard sold just two months after a Charizard, Pokémon (2021) Japanese Creatures Deck: Corp. History 25th Anniversary – 1996 Promo graded CGC Pristine 10 with sub-grades of 9.5 for Centering and 10 for Surface, Corners and Edges realized $33,600 in PWCC’s January Premier Auction — the current record for any Pokémon card graded by CGC Trading Cards and sold through PWCC.

In addition to Pikachu, Charizard is one of the most iconic Pokémon in the world. The 1999 Base Set Charizard is the dragon’s first appearance in the official Pokémon Trading Card Game and features iconic artwork by Mitsuhiro Arita. The 1st Edition symbol and shadowless border around the Pokémon’s art box indicate that this Charizard is from the first print of the Base Set expansion. With a near-pristine CGC 9.5 grade, this particular card is extremely valuable to collectors.

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Meanwhile, two more cards certified by CGC Trading Cards realized impressive prices in the PWCC March 19 Weekly Auction. The first of these cards was a Time Walk, Magic: The Gathering (1993) Limited Edition Alpha graded CGC 9.5 with sub-grades of 10 for Centering, 9 for Surface and 9.5 for Corners and Edges, which realized $27,600. This is only the second CGC-certified Time Walk from the Limited Edition Alpha set to sell on PWCC; the other Time Walk, graded CGC 8.5 realized $16,330 in April 2021.

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The other card was an Espeon Gold Star, Pokémon (2007) POP Series 5 Promo graded CGC Pristine 10, which sold for $8,400. This is the highest price realized of any Espeon Gold Star graded by CGC Trading Cards sold through PWCC. It is the only Espeon Gold Star graded CGC Pristine 10, and the highest-graded example in the CGC Trading Cards Population Report.

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Other CGC-certified trading card highlights in the recent auctions included:

• a Venusaur, Pokémon (1999) Base Set Shadowless 1st Edition Holo graded CGC 9.5 with sub-grades of 9.5 for Centering, 10 for Surface, 9.5 for Corners and 9 for Edges that realized $4,080 on March 12
• a Heracross, Pokémon (2000) Neo Genesis 1st Edition Holo graded CGC Pristine 10 that realized $3,480 on March 12
• a Blastoise, Pokémon (1999) Base Set Unlimited Holo graded CGC Pristine 10 with near-perfect subgrades that realized $3,360 on March 12
• a Raichu, Pokémon (1999) Base Set Shadowless 1st Edition Holo graded CGC 9.5 that realized $3,120 on March 12
• a Poncho-wearing Pikachu, Pokémon (2016) Japanese XY & XY BREAK Promo – 208/XY-P M Charizard Y Poncho-wearing Pikachu graded CGC 9.5 with sub-grades of 9.5 for Centering, Surface, Corners and Edges that realized $2,520 on March 12
• a Blue Eyes White Dragon, Yu-Gi-Oh! (2002) Legend of Blue Eyes White Dragon – LOB-001 Ultra Rare – 1st Edition – Glossy graded CGC 8.5 with sub-grades of 8 for Centering, 8.5 for Surface, 10 for Corners and 9.5 for Edges that realized $2,280 on February 26
• a Kangaskhan, Pokémon (1999) Jungle 1st Edition Holo graded CGC Pristine 10 with near-perfect subgrades that realized $1,950 on March 5

PWCC is currently offering thousands of cards certified by CGC Trading Cards, both in Weekly Auctions hosted every Sunday and in the Fixed Price format. This week, they include this Charizard, Pokémon (2002) Legendary Collection Reverse Holo graded CGC 9.5 with sub-grades of 10 for Centering, 9 for Surface, 9.5 for Corners and 9.5 for Edges. It is one of only nine examples in this high of a grade in the CGC Trading Cards Population Report, with only one graded higher. Click here to see the latest CGC-certified highlights.

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PWCC Marketplace and CGC Trading Cards have formed an operational partnership to create a streamlined pathway to grading and selling cards online. This program is accessed through an online submission process on the PWCC website. Everything is managed through the PWCC Vault — there’s no need to manually fill out or print submission forms.

Cards sent to CGC Trading Cards through PWCC will receive priority grading and encapsulation. Graded cards are returned to PWCC and immediately added to the auctioneer’s Auction Builder Curation Algorithm process, which optimizes cards for sale in upcoming PWCC Weekly Auctions.

To learn more about CGC Trading Cards’ partnership with PWCC, click here.

Prices realized include a buyer’s premium.