The second release of the groundbreaking 1999 English Base Set, Shadowless cards feature the same artwork, cardstock, and font as their 1st Edition counterparts. Emblematic of the strength and power portrayed in Mitsuhiro Arita’s legendary artwork, the Shadowless Base Set Charizard inspires awe even after almost a quarter century. Featuring the highest attack power of any of the original Pokémon TCG cards, the ferocity of the artwork coupled with the might of its Fire Spin cause most collectors to covet it above all others.
Thanks to the young target audience of the TCG upon release, a majority of the 1999 Base Set Charizard examples across all print runs incurred plenty of damage in the early years. That’s made finding PSA 10 copies of any version difficult. In a surprise to some, the PSA 10 rate for the Shadowless version of this hallowed issue is much lower than that of its 1st Edition counterpart. As of late April, only 57 of the 9,028 copies to hit the PSA grading floor have earned a 10 Gem Mint grade – good for 0.6%. Meanwhile, 123 of the 4,395 PSA-graded examples of the 1st Edition printing earned a PSA 10 grade, equating to a nearly 3% gem rate.
The certification number on this card has been checked against the third-party grader's online database and is active as of 4/12/2024.
