Dark Alakazam · Team Rocket, what to know.
About the Dark Alakazam card
Numbered 18 of 83 in Team Rocket, released in April 2000, Dark Alakazam is a Rare, a Stage 2 Psychic-type carrying 60 HP.
It evolves from Dark Kadabra, so Dark Alakazam is a later-stage card that set-builders usually slot into a full evolution run rather than buy alone.
Team Rocket darkened Alakazam under its control for the set's villain arc, a grittier repaint of the familiar Pokémon with an altered attack profile.
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.
Printed on the card, the Alakazam Pokédex entry reads: "Almost as if it were being controlled by something else, it never changes expressions, even in the middle of battle."
About Alakazam in the Pokémon world
The fully evolved Abra line. Two silver spoons, large mustache. Base Set holo Alakazam (#1 in the set) is the first card in the run. Sells for a premium over other Base holos because of position significance.
What is Dark Alakazam worth?
Dark Alakazam is a non-holo Rare. In Team Rocket, value concentrates in the holo rares, so a Dark Alakazam 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.
Print variants and how to spot them
Team Rocket shipped in 1st Edition and Unlimited, with no Shadowless print. The 1st Edition Dark Alakazam carries the Edition 1 stamp under the artwork and trades above the Unlimited copy in matching grade. The set is also home to Dark Raichu, the first Secret Rare ever printed.
Grading and condition
On Dark Alakazam, look at the corners and the framed border first. Non-holo Rares took more handling than the chase holos, so a sharp, centered copy of Dark Alakazam in a true PSA 10 is harder to find than the print run suggests.
If you are collecting Dark Alakazam
For Dark Alakazam, 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 Dark Alakazam can make sense.
Three prints, three markets.
Edition 1 stamp under the artwork. Trades above Unlimited in matching grade.
No stamp. The standard, more affordable print.
