Blaine's Charmander

Blaine's Charmander is card 60 of 132 in Gym Challenge, released in October 2000, a Common. It is a Basic Fire-type with 50 HP.

As a Basic Pokémon, Charmander needs no prior evolution to put into play, which made it a practical card in the era's decks.

Blaine is the Fire-type Gym Leader of Cinnabar Island, the quiz-loving scientist behind the island's lab. Blaine's Charmander is part of that themed lineup.

Illustrated by Ken Sugimori. Sugimori is the lead character designer of Pokémon itself, so his card art carries the tight, on-model look that defined how the creatures appear in the games.

The fire starter. A small bipedal reptile with a tail-flame that signals its health. Famous for being the most-picked starter in the original generation. Base Set Charmander has outsized collector interest because of its connection to Charizard. PSA 10 examples are surprisingly difficult given the soft cardstock of the era.

Blaine's Charmander is a Common, so raw copies trade for very little and most of the print run survives. The only real value is in pristine, high-grade copies, where even a Common can reach low triple digits in 1st Edition PSA 10. See the live price above for the current figure by grade.

Gym Challenge shipped in 1st Edition and Unlimited, with no Shadowless print. The trainer-prefix naming runs across the set, and the 1st Edition Blaine's Charmander carries the Edition 1 stamp and a premium over Unlimited in matching grade.

Blaine's Charmander is the most forgiving tier to grade in the set. Centering on the framed border is the usual cap, and the soft Wizards-era cardstock picks up edge whitening easily, but high print runs keep clean copies affordable.

Raw copies of Blaine's Charmander are inexpensive enough that grading rarely pays unless you have a clearly pack-fresh example. For set completion, a clean sleeved Blaine's Charmander is the practical move.