Zapdos

Zapdos is card 19 of 110 in Legendary Collection, released in May 2002, a Rare Holo. It is a Basic Lightning-type with 90 HP.

As a Basic Pokémon, Zapdos 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 Zapdos a line of lore: "A legendary bird Pokémon said to appear from clouds while wielding enormous lightning bolts."

A Legendary Electric-Flying bird. The Electric of the three Legendary birds. Both Base Set holo Zapdos and Fossil holo Zapdos exist. The Base Set print is more famous and more valuable.

Zapdos 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 Zapdos before pricing it, since variant and rarity set the market more than the card name alone.

For graded buyers, the holo window on Zapdos 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 lightning foil at a 45-degree angle under strong light before committing.

Buying Zapdos well means pricing the exact print and grade, not the card name. The 1st Edition Zapdos trades above the Unlimited copy, so confirm the stamp before you agree a number. Always see the holo surface in good light first.