Blastoise · Base Set, what to know.
Blastoise is card 2 of 102 in Base Set, illustrated by Ken Sugimori. The card uses the same Stage 2 layout as the other starter finals and prints the holo behind the central artwork. Most centering and surface issues sit on the right border where the holo print run had inconsistent registration. Worth checking carefully on any raw copy.
There is a separate, much rarer artifact: the 1999 Galaxy Star Holo Blastoise presentation prototype, which is not a tournament-legal card but has cleared $360,000 at auction. That is a different object from the standard Base Set Blastoise, but their stories tend to get blurred together in headlines.
For the standard card, the same three-variant pattern applies. 1st Edition PSA 10 examples have cleared the mid five figures; Shadowless trails it; Unlimited remains the most accessible. Raw copies are widely available and a good starting point for anyone building a Base Set holo run.
Three prints, three markets.
Edition stamp present. The chase variant.
No drop shadow on the right edge. Short print window.
Drop shadow visible. Most common print.
