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

Released in 1996 in Japan, the Japanese Base set changed the world of Pokémon forever as the franchise’s first TCG set. Previous productions 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 created the now-beloved game in which players use cards to battle against each other. The 1996 Japanese Base Set was released on 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 consists of two main production runs. No Rarity cards were the first of those two. 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 – their importance and their scarcity. As the first print run of the first Pokémon TCG set, these cards act as TCG rookies of classic characters such as Blastoise. The exact print run of 1996 Base Set No Rarity cards is unknown, but there are significantly fewer No Rarity cards than issues from the second 1996 Base Set print run that includes rarity symbols. As a result, finding high-grade examples of No Rarity cards is difficult. PSA has only graded 6 PSA 10 No Rarity Blastoises compared to 638 PSA 10 examples of the 1996 Base Set Blastoise with rarity symbol. For even further context, there are 102 PSA 10s of the famous 1999 English Base Set 1st Edition Blastoise Holo. That makes this No Rarity gem one of the rarest Blastoise cards on the planet – and one that, despite the naming convention surrounding it, has plenty of rarity. The certification number on this card has been checked against the third-party grader's online database and is active as of 03/24/2025.