1996 Pokemon Japanese Base Set No Rarity Symbol Holo Blastoise #9 PSA 10 GEM

Released in 1996 in Japan, the No Rarity Japanese Base set changed the world of Pokémon forever as the franchise’s first TCG set. Previous sets such as the 1996 and 1997 Carddass sets were intended to be collected, teach people about different Pokémon, and get fans excited about playing the Pocket Monsters Red and Green video games. After early success with those non-TCG sets, Pokémon turned their cards into a game where players could use their cards to battle against each other. The 1996 Japanese Base Set was released October 20th, 1996, and featured the original 102 Pokémon cards later released in the iconic 1999 Wizards of the Coast English Base Set. The 1996 Japanese Base Set is made up of two different releases. No Rarity cards were the first release. They are referred to as such because they are missing the rarity symbol that should appear on the bottom right corner of the card. No Rarity cards are extremely sought after for two reasons. They are the first Pokémon TCG cards ever released, and they are rare. The exact print run of 1996 Base Set No Rarity cards is not known, but there are significantly fewer No Rarity cards in existence today than there are 1996 Base Set cards with rarity symbols. As a result, there are few high-grade examples of No Rarity Cards today. To date, PSA has only graded six total PSA 10 No Rarity Blastoises compared to 564 PSA 10 examples of the 1996 Base Set Blastoise with rarity symbol. That makes this No Rarity gem arguably the rarest Blastoise card on the planet. The certification number on this card has been checked against the third-party grader's online database and is active as of 05/24/2024.