The Charizard Tax: how much more Charizard cards cost than everything else
Charizard, Blastoise and Venusaur are the three Kanto starters — same era, same rarity tiers, same "final evolution" status. So why does a Charizard cost so much more? We took the median trend price of every printing of five iconic Pokémon to measure the premium. It is real, it is large, and it even beats the mascot.
Typical card value, by Pokémon
Median Cardmarket EUR trend price across every printing. Median, not average — so one Base Set chase card can't inflate it.
The Charizard tax
How many times more a typical Charizard costs than a typical…
Charizard and its Kanto-starter rivals share the same sets and rarities, yet the typical Charizard trades at about 1.7× its starter rivals. The gap isn't rarity — it's brand.
The chase card for each
| Pokémon | Priciest printing | Trend | ≥ €100 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charizard | Charizard (Base Set) | €2,712 | 29% |
| Venusaur | Venusaur (Base Set) | €842 | 18% |
| Blastoise | Blastoise (Plasma Storm) | €190 | 16% |
| Mewtwo | Mewtwo ★ (Holon Phantoms) | €1,600 | 21% |
| Pikachu | Pikachu ★ (Holon Phantoms) | €1,715 | 10% |
Method & sources
- We pulled every printing of each Pokémon and its Cardmarket EUR trend price via the open pokemontcg.io API.
- Per Pokémon we took the median trend price across priced printings — robust to one expensive chase card.
- Cardmarket EUR trend price, via the open pokemontcg.io API. Valued 2026-06-23. Reference estimates, not sold records; trend prices move.
- TOS-clean aggregate stats. We never scrape marketplaces and never invent a number — these figures are reproducible from the open API.
FAQ
How much is a typical Charizard card worth?
Across all 108 Charizard printings (100 with a market price), the median Cardmarket EUR trend price is €36. That is the typical card, not the chase ceiling — 29% of Charizard printings trade at €100 or more, and the Base Set Charizard tops the list around €2,712. We use the median (not the average) so one Base Set card can't inflate the "typical" figure.
Is Charizard really worth more than Blastoise and Venusaur?
Yes, and it is not close. Charizard, Blastoise and Venusaur are the three Kanto final-evolution starters, but the typical Charizard (€36) trades at about 1.7× a typical Blastoise (€21) and 1.6× a typical Venusaur (€22). Same era, same rarity tiers, same starter status — the gap is pure brand. That premium is the "Charizard tax".
Does Charizard out-value even Pikachu?
On a typical-card basis, yes. Pikachu has the most printings of any Pokémon, which drags its median down (€12), so the typical Charizard trades at roughly 2.9× the typical Pikachu. Pikachu still produces individual chase cards (its Gold Star tops ~€1,715), but card-for-card Charizard commands the higher premium.
Where does this data come from, and is it reliable?
We pulled every printing of each Pokémon and its Cardmarket EUR trend price via the open pokemontcg.io API, then took the median per name (Cardmarket EUR trend price, via the open pokemontcg.io API, valued 2026-06-23). These are reference estimates, not sold records, and trend prices move. We never scrape marketplaces and never invent a number — the figures are reproducible from the open API.
Curious what your Charizard — or any card — is worth?
Foilio values any card across Pokémon, Magic, Yu-Gi-Oh, One Piece, Lorcana and more — live prices in EUR & USD, your whole collection tracked. Free, no signup.
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Source: <a href="https://foilio.net/studies/charizard-tax?utm_source=share&utm_medium=study_embed&utm_campaign=viral">The Charizard Tax: how much more Charizard cards cost than everything else — Foilio</a> · data CC BY 4.0
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