The Charizard Tax: how much more Charizard cards cost than four other icons
Prices as of 2026-11-02, Cardmarket price guide (EUR). Today's prices will differ.
Charizard, Blastoise and Venusaur are the final evolutions of the three Kanto starters. Collectors say Charizard carries a premium. We took the median trend price of every English printing of five iconic Pokémon to put a number on it.
Typical card value, by Pokémon
Median Cardmarket EUR trend price across every priced English printing. Median, not average, so one chase card can't inflate it.
The Charizard tax
How many times more a typical Charizard costs than a typical…
At the median, the typical Charizard trades at about 3.2× its two starter rivals. We measured the gap, not its cause: the three have different numbers of printings and a different mix of sets and rarities.
The chase card for each
| Pokémon | Priciest printing | Trend | 30-day avg | ≥ €100 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charizard | Charizard (Skyridge) | €4,918 | €4,013 | 42% |
| Mewtwo | Mewtwo ★ (Holon Phantoms) | €3,775 | €2,428 | 35% |
| Blastoise | Blastoise (Plasma Storm) | €672 | €417 | 28% |
| Venusaur | Erika's Venusaur (Gym Challenge) | €254 | €163 | 25% |
| Pikachu | Pikachu ★ (Holon Phantoms) | €4,525 | €2,841 | 14% |
Each figure is one Cardmarket trend on 2026-11-02. Single chase cards trade rarely, so a trend can sit far from the 30-day average beside it, and our live market pages, priced on a different date or from another source, can show a very different number for the same card. Read these as a snapshot, not a current price.
Method & sources
- We took every English printing of each Pokémon by name and joined it to Cardmarket's published product and price guide files on product id.
- Cardmarket's files name no set and no rarity, so each card was matched by name, moves and collector-number order inside its Cardmarket expansion, using the open pokemon-tcg-data catalogue for card details. We did not scrape any page.
- Per Pokémon we took the median trend price across priced printings, robust to one expensive chase card.
- We checked each trend against its 30-day average and its low. 7 trends over 5× from the 30-day average were left out as bad values. 143 trends over 8× their low stay in, because the low is often one cheap listing. 14 printings could not be matched to a product and have no price here.
- Cardmarket price guide (EUR trend), from Cardmarket's published download files. Valued 2026-11-02. Reference estimates, not sold or graded records; trend prices move.
What this data can’t tell you
- Why Charizard costs more. We did not control for rarity, era or how many chase printings each Pokémon got.
- Edition and condition. The price files do not name editions, and trends mix conditions. Base Set has more than one product for the same card, and we used the main one.
- Graded prices, Japanese cards and sealed product. None are included.
- Name matching. Cards are grouped by the catalogue name, so the exact count depends on which variant names (ex, VMAX, owner’s Pokémon) count as “Charizard”.
- The future. This is one snapshot (2026-11-02).
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FAQ
How much is a typical Charizard card worth?
Across all 108 Charizard printings (106 with a usable price), the median Cardmarket EUR trend is €67. That is the typical card, not the chase ceiling. 42% of Charizard printings trend at €100 or more. The priciest is Charizard (Skyridge) at €4,918, against a €4,013 30-day average. The Base Set Charizard's main product trends at €441. Cardmarket also lists another product for that card at €3,843, and the file does not say which edition each is, so treat Base Set figures as rough. We use the median (not the average) so one chase card can't inflate the "typical" figure.
Is Charizard really worth more than Blastoise and Venusaur?
At the median, yes. The typical Charizard (€67) trades at about 3× a typical Blastoise (€23) and 3.4× a typical Venusaur (€20). That gap is what we call the "Charizard tax". We did not measure why. The three do not have the same mix of printings (Charizard has more than twice as many cards in this data as Blastoise or Venusaur), and we did not control for rarity or era, so the gap is not proof of name alone.
Does Charizard out-value even Pikachu?
On a typical-card basis, yes. Pikachu has the most printings in this comparison (213) and its median is €11, so the typical Charizard trades at roughly 6.1× the typical Pikachu. Pikachu still has individual chase cards (its Gold Star trends around €4,525 in this data).
Where does this data come from, and is it reliable?
We took every English printing of each Pokémon by name, joined it to Cardmarket's published price guide, and took the median per name (Cardmarket price guide (EUR trend), from Cardmarket's published download files, valued 2026-11-02). These are reference estimates, not sold records, and trend prices move. We never scrape marketplaces and never invent a number.
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</p>Foilio (2026-11-02). The Charizard Tax: how much more Charizard cards cost than four other icons. Retrieved from https://foilio.net/studies/charizard-taxThe big picture, across every game we measure: The Chase Multiple · The Price Census · The Promo Premium · The Foil Premium