Muk

Numbered 16 of 110 in Legendary Collection, released in May 2002, Muk is a Rare Holo, a Stage 1 Grass-type carrying 70 HP.

It evolves from Grimer, so Muk is a later-stage card that set-builders usually slot into a full evolution run rather than buy alone.

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.

Printed on the card, the Muk Pokédex entry reads: "Thickly covered with a filthy, vile sludge. It is so toxic, even its footprints contain poison."

The fully evolved Grimer. Larger sludge mound. Fossil holo Muk is a quietly underrated card. Its Pokémon Power 'Toxic Gas' was a tournament-defining mechanic in 1999, which means surviving high-grade copies are scarcer than the print run suggests.

Muk is a holo rare, one of the cards that holds Legendary Collection's value. The print variant decides most of it: a 1st Edition copy in high grade commands a large premium over a Shadowless or Unlimited one. In top-grade 1st Edition, Legendary Collection holos range from the mid hundreds for the lesser cards up to the set's marquee chase; raw and Unlimited copies trade for a fraction of that. The live market price above shows the current figure by grade.

Confirm the print and finish on Muk before pricing it, since variant and rarity set the market more than the card name alone.

Muk lives and dies on its holo surface in grading. The grass foil catches light at angles that hide hairlines in a flat photo, so tilt it under a lamp, then measure the borders, where Wizards-era centering is the second-most-common grade cap.

For Muk, variant comes before condition. A 1st Edition and an Unlimited Muk are different markets for the same art, so settle the print before you negotiate. Demand a clear photo of the Muk holo for any raw purchase.