That‘s right, a perfect BGS 10 is worth nearly 10 times more than a BGS 9! You see this across every grading company – PSA, CGC, SGC, etc. The effect grading has on prices is actually exponential! Let‘s look at Beckett Grading Services‘ recent sale prices: You might be wondering how mint condition factors into the value of Rainbow Rares. Modern Rainbow Rares benefit from the nouveau riche sentiment in the hobby right now. Regardless, it‘s clear the market mania extends beyond just correcting under-supply issues. Others suggest the investors and influencers whipping up hype are more responsible for the inflated prices than actual scarcity. Some experts argue Pokemon is intentionally short-printing their most popular character to keep values high. And as the only Rainbow Charizard in the Sword & Shield era so far, it was guaranteed to see speculative demand. Let‘s look at the newly released Charizard VSTAR Rainbow Rare from February 2022‘s Brilliant Stars set.ĭespite no competitive viability and no short supply like the Burning Shadows issue, this card still quickly rose to sell for over $500! Then again, it IS one of only 8 Rainbow Rares in the set. This 'perfect imbalance' made the card virtually unobtainable even in Unlimited prints.Īdd in the organic demand from Charizard fans, nostalgic adults with more spending power, and investors treating the cards like assets, and you have the perfect recipe for this card‘s legendary growth from a $50 card on release to $700,000 today! Modern Hype Inflates Prices for New Rainbowsīut it‘s not just vintage Rainbow Rares reaching insane heights.

Since most Burning Shadows openings resulted in one of the 14 more common Secret Rares rather than the Charizard, it became exponentially rarer despite the overprinting. 75+ copies EACH of the 14 other Secret Rares!.The English print run breakdown was estimated as: And specifically, the print sheet configuration resulted in a huge supply imbalance between the Secret Rare Charizard GX Rainbow and the other Secret Rares in the set. The set was massively overprinted compared to demand. Well, based on production information shared by The Pokemon Company, it appears Burning Shadows had a major print run disaster. What makes this specific card so much more valuable than other Rainbow Rares printed around the same time? Now we come to the most coveted Rainbow Rare of all – the Charizard GX from 2017‘s Burning Shadows set. With pull rates that low and supply that limited, it‘s easy to see why values skyrocket. Here‘s a breakdown of just how rare they are:Īnd remember, Rainbow Rares are limited to only 1 to 8 different cards per set. That makes Rainbow Rares around 6 times rarer than even your standard holo rare Charizard! To put that in perspective, you have about a 1 in 100 chance to pull any holographic rare card.

Unlike most cards, the illustration extends fully over the textbox for amazing artwork.īut here‘s the key factor – Rainbow Rares are ridiculously hard to pull from packs! On average, you‘ll only get 1 Rainbow Rare in every 600 booster packs. Starting in the Sun & Moon series, the Pokémon Company introduced this new 'secret' rare variant with a stunning multicolor shimmering pattern. Now let‘s talk about what makes Rainbow Rare cards so special. Rainbow Rares Are The Rarest Modern Card Variant Collectors and investors are willing to pay huge premiums for rare Charizard cards, even if they aren‘t the strongest in competitive play. So it‘s no surprise that Charizard consistently has the most valuable cards out of any Pokémon. Out of over 800 Pokemon now, the vintage originals like Charizard remain the most iconic and beloved. Who didn‘t pick Charmander as their first partner? And that sweet feeling when it finally evolved into the mighty fire-breathing dragon Charizard! As one of the original starter Pokémon from the Red/Blue video games, Charizard holds a special place in the hearts of 90s kids like us who grew up with Pokemon. Charizard‘s Popularity Makes it Pokemon‘s Most Valuable Cardįirst, we have to talk about the immense popularity of Charizard itself. Rainbow Rare Charizard GX cards have dominated the Pokémon TCG market in recent years, with some copies selling for an unbelievable $700,000! As your resident trading card expert, let me walk you through exactly why this blinged-out Charizard commands such astronomical prices compared to other cards.

Charizard gx rainbow rare