Though any Charizard card featuring legendary illustrator Mitsuhiro Arita’s now-iconic artwork remains highly coveted, collectors consider the Base Set Shadowless 1st Edition issue arguably the most iconic TCG printing of all time. This first English edition features a shadowless portrait border and a deeper color palette than its Unlimited counterpart, along with that sought-after 1st Edition stamp to the bottom left of the artwork window. “People will still come up to me and say that that’s still their favorite Pokémon card,” Arita said. “I think it’s amazing that I have polished my art skills for about 20 years now, and still the fact that people like that original one the best is really striking.” Because of its desirability and effectiveness within the Pokémon TCG, this card was often scuffed, scratched, bent, chipped, and destroyed as excited children’s fingers gripped and grabbed at it, making high-grade examples, such as this PSA 9 offering, all the more treasured today.
The certification number on this card has been checked against the third-party grader's online database and is active as of 09/03/2024.
