Squirtle Illustration Rare #170

It’s worth noting first what’s not in the top 10. The gold Mew ex—technically one of the rarest cards in the set—during the SWSH era would have been highly prized. This one is barely scraping over $10, mere pennies above full-art exes like Arbok and Jynx. And that’s much more than the next most expensive gold card, the Psychic Energy, struggling at around $7. Gold cards have unquestionably had their day, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them joining Rainbow Rares and being ditched entirely next year.

Also not showing up, to my considerable surprise, is the special illustration rare (SIR) of Giovanni’s Charisma. It’s the sort of card you could be certain would change hands for $50+ a year ago, but this one is sitting at $10.50.

A bunch of beautiful cards that would usually occupy top spots at their $15-ish prices also don’t make an appearance, but this is due to the extreme popularity of the set and the higher prices those Kanto starters are demanding. So the astonishing Dragonair illustration rare (IR) is currently 18th at just under $15. See also the Pikachu, just shy of $16. Even the IRs for Ivysaur, Charmeleon and Wortortle don’t make the cut, each just over $20.

More peculiar, and the final nail in the gold card coffin, is that the regular ultra rare version of the Mew full-art is beating them all at $22 in 11th position.

Which finally brings us to the ever-adorable Squirtle, and this joyful card by Mitsuhiro Arita. Yup, the Mitsuhiro Arita, who’s been designing Pokémon cards since Base Set in 1997. In fact, he drew that original bubbly-mouthed Squirtle, so it’s so wonderfully fitting to see him return to the character in 2023.

The card is currently changing hands for around $24