Staryu

Staryu is card 56 of 66 in Neo Revelation, released in September 2001, a Common. It is a Basic Water-type with 40 HP.

As a Basic Pokémon, Staryu 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 card's flavor text gives Staryu a line of lore: "At night, the center of its body slowly flickers with the same rhythm as a human heartbeat."

A star-shaped water Pokémon. Misty's second signature. Fossil Common. Easy and cheap.

Staryu 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.

Neo Revelation produced 1st Edition, Unlimited, Shining prints. For Staryu, the print variant can change the price several times over, so identify it before you buy.

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