Moltres

Moltres is card 12 of 62 in Fossil, released in October 1999, a Rare Holo. It is a Basic Fire-type with 70 HP.

As a Basic Pokémon, Moltres 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.

The Pokédex entry printed on Moltres reads: "Known as the legendary bird of fire. Every flap of its wings creates a dazzling flash of flames."

A Legendary Fire-Flying bird. The Fire of the three Legendary birds. Fossil holo Moltres completes the Legendary bird trio. Steady collector demand.

Based on recent eBay sales, raw copies trade from $47 to $148 depending on the print and a PSA 10 runs from $1,830 to $3,440. The 1st Edition print is the most valuable, with a PSA 10 near $3,440. The table on this page breaks the price down by print and grade, updated 2026-06-05.

Fossil shipped in 1st Edition and Unlimited, with no Shadowless print. The Edition 1 stamp under the artwork separates the scarcer 1st Edition Moltres from the Unlimited copy.

For graded buyers, the holo window on Moltres is where most points are won or lost. Surface scratches and foil misregistration are common on Wizards-era cards, and centering was inconsistent enough that clean PSA 10s stay scarce. Read the fire foil at a 45-degree angle under strong light before committing.

If you are buying Moltres, work in order: confirm the print variant first, then the grade, then price against recent sales for that exact variant and grade. For a raw Moltres above a few hundred dollars, insist on angled-light photos of the holo so you can spot hairlines.