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Although not quite appreciated in their day, Topps Pokémon Cards can be very valuable in the current market.
In fact, some incredibly rare variants fetch thousands of dollars at auction.
In this article, I’m going to show you the most expensive and sought after cards among collectors.
As you can imagine, the majority of this list is made up of Charizards and Pikachu’s! These are of course, the most popular characters.
But just quickly before we get into it, here are some very interesting facts about Topps Pokémon Cards, that you may not already know:
Interesting Facts About Topps Pokémon Cards
- There are 11 Topps Pokémon Card sets
- The first was released in 1999, and the final one was released in 2004
- The most valuable Topps Pokémon Cards come from two special release sets in 2000 – Pokémon Chrome Trading Cards Series 1 & 2
- This is because they have randomly inserted Spectra-Chrome, Sparkle-Chrome and Tekno-Chrome cards
- The pull rates of Spectra-Chrome is 1 every 2 packs
- The pull rates of Sparkle-Chrome is 1 every 10 packs
- And by far the rarest is Tekno-Chrome, with a pull rate of 1 every 15 packs!
- The other sets also have a whole variety of other types of cards including: die-cut embossed cards, animation stick on cards, clear cards, puzzle cards, TV episode cards, sticker cards, film frame cards and first appearance hologram cards.
- Topps Pokémon Cards have a tendency to stick together, when pulled from vintage packs! This makes them very hard to achieve high grades. Sealed pack buyer’s beware. But this is also very good for graded card collectors, as their populations don’t tend to increase a lot over the years.
Now we’ve covered a bit of background on the wide variety of cards available, this should help explain why certain cards on the list below are just do darn valuable!
Let’s get into it…
1.2000 Pokemon Topps Chrome Series 1 Tekno Charizard #6
PSA 10 Recently Sold for $60,000
[Source]
There’s only one place to start, the most expensive Topps Pokémon Card in existence! As mentioned above, the pull rates of Tekno cards are 1 in 15 packs. So imagine getting the Charizard and grading it a PSA 10! Only 7 variants have ever achieved Gem Mint status, so it’s no surprise this card sold for $60k!
2. 2000 Pokemon Topps Chrome Series 1 Sparkle Charizard #6
PSA 10 Recently Sold for $38,400
[Source]
Sparkle cards is also ridiculously rare, and hard to pull. 22 copies exist in a PSA 10, and this one sold for the big bucks in 2021!
3. 2000 Topps Chrome Pokemon TV Spectra Charizard #6
PSA 10 Recently Sold for $9,650
[Source]
This beauty is one of only 45 PSA 10’s that exist!
4. 1999 Topps Pokemon TV Foil Charizard #6
PSA 10 Recently Sold for $4,320
[Source]
This clear looking Charizard is from the first ever Topps Pokemon set, and is one of only 48 PSA 10’s.
5. 2000 Pokemon Topps Chrome Series 1 Tekno Pikachu #25
PSA 10 Recently Sold for $3,500
[Source]
This is by far the most valuable Topps Pikachu card, and one of only 6 PSA 10’s that exist!
READ NEXT: The Most Valuable Pikachu Cards of All Time!
6. 2000 Pokemon Topps Chrome Series 1 Sparkle Pikachu #25
PSA 10 Recently Sold for $3,500
[Source]
One of only 8 PSA 10’s that exist! How good does that sparkle look?!
7. 2000 Topps Pokemon The Movie 2000 First Appearance Foil Lugia #1
PSA 7 Recently Sold for $3,000
[Source]
Next up is something a bit different. You might be wondering how a PSA 7 sneaked onto this list, with all these gem mint Topps Chrome cards! Well, this card is insanely rare. In fact, only 81 graded copies exist, with 3 cards achieving a 9 – this highest grade ever achieved.
As part of the Pokémon: The Movie 2000 set, collectors had the chance to pull one of six ‘First Appearance’ cards: Hoothoot, Slowking, Bellossom, Ledyba, Elekid and Lugia. Rumour has it, the pull rates of these were one in every 2 boxes. So the chances of getting a Lugia is 1 in every 12 boxes! Combine that with what was (in comparison to Wizards of the Coast) low printing levels, it’s easy to see why so few of these exist – and why people are willing to pay £3k even for a PSA 7!
8. 2000 Pokemon Topps Chrome Series 1 Tekno Blastoise #9
PSA 10 Recently Sold for $3,000
[Source]
In a list dominated by Charizard’s, it’s great to see big boy Blastoise force his way in! This epic card is only of just 5 PSA 10’s in existence.
9. 1999 Topps Pokemon The Movie Edition Die-Cut Charizard #6
PSA 10 Recently Sold for $1,920
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These die-cut cards aren’t to everyone’s taste. But still, it’s super unique.
10. 2000 Topps Pokemon TV Animation Series 3 Pop-Up Charizard #9
PSA 10 Recently Sold for $1,358
[Source]
Although it looks like one of those early Japanese Pokemon cards from 1995, these cards are actually really cool… The character can be ‘popped out’ and made to stand up using the rest of the card to support it. Not that you’d do that if you’re an avid card grader though!
READ NEXT: The Rarest Pokemon Cards in the World
11. 2000 Topps Pokemon TV Animation Series 2 Stick-Ons Pikachu #8
PSA 10 Recently Sold for $1,000
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Again, something a bit different… The card animation is actually sticker that can be peeled off. Now your surfing Pikachu can go anywhere!
12. 2004 Topps Pokemon Advanced Challenge Evolution Die-Cut Charizard
PSA 10 Recently Sold for $765
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Another interesting die-cut card. This one will fit together with a Charmeleon and a Charmander to complete the evolution line and the puzzle!
13. 2000 Topps Pokemon TV Animation Clear Cards Charizard #PC3
PSA 10 Recently Sold for
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Finally, these clear cards are pretty cool, and because they’re made of plastic, they’re pretty easy to grade well actually! I recently sent off two of these to PSA and they both came back a 10!
Where to Go Next…
If you enjoyed this article, you’ll love my list of the most valuable Charizard cards of all time! Just follow the link 🙂
