Nidoran ♂

Nidoran ♂ is card 55 of 102 in Base Set, released in January 1999, a Common. It is a Basic Grass-type with 40 HP.

As a Basic Pokémon, Nidoran♂ 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 Nidoran♂ a line of lore: "Stiffens its ears to sense danger. The larger, more powerful of its horns secretes venom."

The male half of the Nidoran split-evolution line. Different evolution path and final form from the female counterpart. A cleaner Common card than the female variant. Quietly traded by collectors who want both halves of the line.

Based on recent eBay sales, raw copies trade from $2.97 to $22 depending on the print and a PSA 10 runs from $85 to $525. The 1st Edition print is the most valuable, with a PSA 10 near $525. The table on this page breaks the price down by print and grade, updated 2026-06-04.

Base Set produced three print waves that collectors track separately: 1st Edition (the launch print, with an Edition 1 stamp under the artwork), Shadowless (no stamp and no drop shadow on the right of the frame), and Unlimited (the long-running print with the drop shadow restored). On Nidoran ♂, the price gap between these prints can run 10x or more, so confirm the variant before any purchase.

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