Meowth

Numbered 56 of 64 in Jungle, released in June 1999, Meowth is a Common, a Basic Colorless-type carrying 50 HP.

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

Illustrated by Mitsuhiro Arita. Arita painted the Base Set Charizard and much of the early holo run, and his work has a painterly weight that set the visual tone of the Wizards era.

Meowth carries this Pokédex flavor text: "Adores circular objects. Wanders the streets on a nightly basis to look for dropped loose change."

A cat Pokémon. Famous for being the talking Pokémon in Team Rocket in the anime, and for the gold charm on its forehead. Jungle Meowth has steady cross-set Team Rocket-themed demand. Cheap raw entry point with anime upside.

Meowth 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.

Jungle shipped in 1st Edition and Unlimited, with no Shadowless print. The Edition 1 stamp under the artwork separates the scarcer 1st Edition Meowth from the Unlimited copy. The set also has the famous No Symbol error from its first print run, which adds a premium when the lower-right set symbol is missing.

Meowth 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 Meowth are inexpensive enough that grading rarely pays unless you have a clearly pack-fresh example. For set completion, a clean sleeved Meowth is the practical move.