Koga's Ekans

Koga's Ekans is card 77 of 132 in Gym Challenge, released in October 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.

Koga is the Poison-type Gym Leader of Fuchsia City, a ninja who later rises to the Elite Four. Koga's Ekans 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 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.

Koga's 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.

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

Koga's 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.

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