Blaine's Ninetales

Numbered 21 of 132 in Gym Challenge, released in October 2000, Blaine's Ninetales is a Rare, a Stage 1 Fire-type carrying 60 HP.

It evolves from Blaine's Vulpix, so Blaine's Ninetales is a later-stage card that set-builders usually slot into a full evolution run rather than buy alone.

Blaine is the Fire-type Gym Leader of Cinnabar Island, the quiz-loving scientist behind the island's lab. Blaine's Ninetales 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 fully evolved Vulpix. Nine tails, mystical Japanese kitsune influence in the design. Base Set holo Ninetales is one of the more aesthetically beloved holos in the set and a steady performer in graded prices.

Blaine's Ninetales is a non-holo Rare. In Gym Challenge, value concentrates in the holo rares, so a Blaine's Ninetales trades modestly, though a clean, well-centered 1st Edition copy in PSA 10 is scarcer than the print run suggests and carries a real premium. Check the live price above for the 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 Ninetales carries the Edition 1 stamp and a premium over Unlimited in matching grade.

Non-holo Rares like Blaine's Ninetales are easier on surface but no kinder on centering. Wizards-era cards were less protected than the holos, so high-grade Blaine's Ninetales survivors can be scarcer than expected, with edge whitening the usual cap.

For Blaine's Ninetales, check centering by eye, edge whitening on all four sides, and surface under angled light. Non-holo Rares from this era are cheap enough that a PSA 10 submission on a clean Blaine's Ninetales can make sense.