Ekans · Team Rocket, what to know.
About the Ekans card
Ekans is card 56 of 83 in Team Rocket, released in April 2000, a Common. It is a Basic Grass-type with 50 HP.
As a Basic Pokémon, Ekans needs no prior evolution to put into play, which made it a practical card in the era's decks.
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 card's flavor text gives Ekans a line of lore: "A carnivore that swallows its prey whole. Pidgeys and Spearows are its favorite food."
About Ekans in the Pokémon world
The Poison-type snake. Its name is "snake" spelled backwards, a recurring naming trick in Gen 1. Fossil Ekans is a low-demand Common but holds steady raw value among set completionists.
What is Ekans worth?
Ekans 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.
Print variants and how to spot them
Team Rocket shipped in 1st Edition and Unlimited, with no Shadowless print. The 1st Edition Ekans 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
Ekans 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.
If you are collecting Ekans
Raw copies of Ekans are inexpensive enough that grading rarely pays unless you have a clearly pack-fresh example. For set completion, a clean sleeved Ekans is the practical move.
Three prints, three markets.
Edition 1 stamp under the artwork. Trades above Unlimited in matching grade.
No stamp. The standard, more affordable print.
