1999 Pokemon French Base Set 1st Edition Holo Charizard Dracaufeu #4 PSA 10 GEM

While the coastal city of Nice is considered the hottest place in France, the scientists who determined this never anticipated the birth of a Charizard. This mighty dragon-like Pokémon breathes fire hot enough to melt glaciers, with its fire growing hotter as it gains more experience. In France, Charizard is known as “Dracaufeu,” which keeps with the standard portmanteau naming convention for Pokémon. “Feu” is French for “fire,” while “Dracau” is derived from the Latin draco, meaning “dragon.” Therefore, Charizard’s French name roughly translates to “fire dragon” or “dragon on fire.” Yet, the character’s English name (Charizard) and Japanese name (Lizardon) are more accurate, as Charizard is not a dragon, despite looking like one and breathing fire. But this did not stop Charizard—or, in this case, Dracaufeu—from becoming one of the strongest Pokémon in the early iterations of the trading card game. Despite the difficulty of getting Charizard into play and its high Energy cost in a format where every deck ran Energy Removal and Super Energy Removal, Charizard’s 100-damage Fire Spin (Danseflamme) allowed it to one-hit KO any Pokémon character hailing from the Base Set through the Fossil expansion. Considering Charizard’s appearance, power, and place in Pokémon history, this 1st Edition issue has become one of the most coveted cards from the 1999 French Base Set. Like its English counterpart, examples of this card were incredibly prone to play and handling wear at the hands of young collectors, making high-grade offerings like this PSA 10 exceedingly rare. Charizard cards featuring Mitsuhiro Arita’s legendary artwork will likely always hold popularity, so even for collectors who do not speak French, this Dracaufeu promises to make a powerful addition to any Pokémon party.